The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has posted a series of online “knowledge checks,” or multiple-choice questions, to help auditors gauge their understanding of various aspects of the PCAOB’s new quality control standard.

Some of the topics in the knowledge checks include risk assessment, roles and responsibilities under QC 1000, considerations related to ethics and independence, and more. The knowledge checks are anonymous, the PCAOB noted, and the results won’t be made public or used in the PCAOB’s oversight activities.

The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the PCAOB’s QC standard in September. QC 1000, A Firm’s System of Quality Control, will require all registered public accounting firms to identify specific risks to their practice and design a quality control system that can safeguard against those risks. The standard will require an annual evaluation of firms’ QC systems and reporting to the PCAOB. It takes effect on Dec. 15, 2025.

Last November, the PCAOB posted two pieces of staff guidance to help auditing firms familiarize themselves with the new standard.

The House Ways and Means Committee passed a set of bipartisan bills aimed at improving tax filing and administration at the Internal Revenue Service.

Two of the bills, which were backed by the American Institute of CPAs, would treat electronic tax filing and payments the same as paper equivalents, and require the IRS to explain to taxpayers any reassessment due to alleged math errors. 

The Electronic Filing and Payment Fairness Act would apply the “mailbox rule” to electronically submitted tax returns and payments. Currently, documents and payments properly addressed and sent through the U.S. mail by the due date are considered to be timely, even if they’re received later, which is known as the “mailbox rule.” The legislation would expand that rule to include electronically submitted documents and payments that are submitted by the due date, even if the IRS processes them at a later date.

The Electronic Filing and Payment Fairness Act would enable payments electronically submitted to the IRS to be treated the same as those sent through the mail. In fiscal year 2023, over 213 million—79% of all filings— returns and other forms were filed electronically. The bill would enable electronic payments and documents that are submitted by midnight on the due date to be considered timely. The bill passed the committee by a unanimous vote of 41-0.

The IRS Math and Taxpayer Help Act aims to improve the transparency of the IRS in addressing and rectifying simple accounting mistakes on taxpayers’ returns. The Internal Revenue Code allows the IRS to make “math error” corrections, which are expedited adjustments to tax returns containing simple math or clerical errors. The bill would require the IRS to notify taxpayers of the specific reasoning for math errors and provide 60 days to challenge the IRS’s assessment of the alleged error. 

Each year, the IRS sends millions of “math error” notices to taxpayers that propose to adjust their tax liabilities. But the notices often don’t explain the reasons for the adjustments, and some are never received by the taxpayer due to lost mail. The IRS is not currently required to inform taxpayers that they must dispute the adjustments within 60 days if they disagree or generally forfeit their right to do so. As a result, many taxpayers fail to dispute the IRS assessment. The bill would require the IRS to ensure all math error notices provide a clear explanation of the alleged error including showing the mathematical change and informing taxpayers they have 60 days to challenge the alleged math error. The bill passed the committee by a unanimous vote of 43-0.

“The AICPA is pleased that these bills have been included in the markup and is encouraged by the momentum generated by these provisions moving forward in a bipartisan way,” said Melanie Lauridsen, vice president of tax policy and advocacy for the AICPA, in a statement Wednesday. “These policies are common-sense reforms that will significantly help taxpayers, tax practitioners and tax administration, and we assert our strong support for these bills. We look forward to continuing our work with the committee to advance comprehensive proposals to achieve these goals.”

The bills were also part of a set of IRS administrative proposals that were included late last month in a bipartisan discussion draft by leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Oregon. 

The House Ways and Means Committee also advanced several other bills in the package. One would help protect the independence of the National Taxpayer Advocate at the IRS.

The National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act of 2025 would prevent IRS interference with National Taxpayer Advocate personnel by granting the NTA responsibility for its employees. In advocating for taxpayer rights, the National Taxpayer Advocate often requires independent legal advice, its proponents noted. Currently, staff hired by the National Taxpayer Advocate is accountable to internal IRS counsel, not the Taxpayer Advocate, creating a potential conflict of interest to the detriment of the taxpayer. The bill authorizes the National Taxpayer Advocate to hire attorneys who report directly to her, helping establish independence from the IRS. The bill passed the committee by a unanimous vote of 43-0.

The Recovery of Stolen Checks Act would require the IRS to create a process for taxpayers to request a replacement via direct deposit for a stolen paper check. If a check is determined to be stolen or lost, and not cashed, a taxpayer will receive a replacement check once the original check is cancelled, however many taxpayers are having their replacement checks stolen as well. Taxpayers who have a check stolen are then unable to request that the replacement check be sent via direct deposit. The bill would require the Treasury Secretary to establish processes and procedures under which taxpayers, who are otherwise eligible to receive an amount by paper check in replacement of a lost or stolen paper check, may elect to receive such amount by direct deposit. The bill passed the committee by a unanimous vote of 41-0.

The Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act would extend the statute of limitations for CARES Act-related unemployment insurance fraud from five to 10 years. The statute of limitations for prosecuting fraud in COVID-era pandemic unemployment insurance programs expires on March 27, 2025. After this date, Congress cannot retroactively change the statute of limitations on criminal prosecutions. The bill would extend the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution and civil enforcement actions in pandemic unemployment programs from five to 10 years. The bill passed the committee by a more divided vote of 24 to 18.

“The statute of limitations for these investigations runs out in 43 days on March 27,” said House Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith, R-Missouri. “If we don’t extend the statute of limitations, those that perpetrated the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history will not be brought to justice.”

Taxes on seniors

Separately, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-New York, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced two pieces of legislation Monday to reduce the tax burden on seniors.

The Bonus Tax Relief for America’s Seniors Act, would amend the Tax Code to increase the additional bonus deduction for seniors age 65 and over from $1,950 to $5,000 for single filers, and from $3,100 to $10,000 for married couples. On average, this bipartisan legislation would reduce federal taxes by $2,100 for married couples filing jointly earning $85,000 per year.

The Tax Relief Unleashed for Seniors by Trump (TRUST) Act, would increase the amount of income that is tax exempt and index the threshold to inflation, allowing seniors to keep more of their benefits. The legislation would double current exempt income from $25,000 to $50,000 for single filers and from $32,000 to $64,000 for married couples age 65 and older.

“Our seniors have worked hard and paid taxes their whole lives and they should be able to keep more of their Social Security and retirement income without Uncle Sam trying to reach into their pockets again,” Malliotakis said in a statement. “Many of our seniors have been crushed by inflation, and are being forced to stretch their retirement savings further than ever before. The bills I’m introducing today would reduce the tax burden on our seniors, keep more money in their pockets and allow them to retire with greater financial security.”

Estate tax

Over in the Senate, a group of 46 Senate Republicans reintroduced legislation the Death Tax Repeal Act on Thursday to eliminate the estate tax. Senate Republicans had attempted to repeal the estate tax when Congress considered the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017. The final version of the TCJA did not fully repeal the death tax, but it effectively doubled the individual estate and gift tax exclusion to $10 million (approximately $13.9 million in 2025 dollars) through 2025, which prevents more families and generationally owned businesses from being affected by this tax. The increased exclusion expires at the end of 2025. 

Matt Miner was appointed vice chair, legal, regulatory and compliance, and general counsel at KPMG, New York, effective Feb. 28.

CohnReznick, New York, announced leadership changes: Mike Barber to office managing partner, Texas; Brett Burgan to restructuring and dispute resolution practice leader; Eric Danner to lead the restructuring segment of the practice; Michael Fussman to lead dispute resolution; Jason Burian to regional managing partner, South/West; Emily Butler to office managing partner, Miami; Kash Hussain to office managing partner, San Diego, in addition to his role as office managing partner, Los Angeles; Ryan Mills to office managing partner, Atlanta; Zubin Mistry to South/West regional assurance service line leader; and Wesley Prato to office managing partner, Chicago.

Deloitte, New York, announced the winners of its 2025 Deloitte FanTAXtic competition, challenging university students to tackle a complex, business tax case. This year’s case asked 16 teams to evaluate the impact of a potential change in corporate income tax rate on the decision to operate a new business entity as a corporation or a partnership and the national finals were held Jan. 24-25 at Deloitte University in Westlake, Texas. The first place team was Brigham Young University, second place: Baruch College, City University of New York, and third place: University of Florida. 

Grassi, New York, received the 2025 Best of Accounting award for service excellence from ClearlyRated for the fifth consecutive year.