JAY MALLIN/BLOOMBERG NEWS

The Internal Revenue Service will begin taking applications for 2026 Low Income Taxpayer Clinic matching grants from qualified organizations this Thursday, May 15, through July 14.

Organizations may request up to $200,000 for the 2026 grant year. For every dollar of funding awarded by the IRS, a taxpayer clinic must provide a dollar in matching funds, and it must provide services for free or at a nominal fee.

For 2026, the IRS is looking to obtain LITC coverage for Hawaii, Kansas, Montana and West Virginia. Florida, Nevada and South Dakota are also only partially covered by LITCs; uncovered counties in these states include:

• Florida: Brevard, Citrus, Glades, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Indian River, Lafayette, Lake, Madison, Martin, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor and Volusia.
• Nevada: Carson City, Churchill, Douglas, Elko, Esmeralda, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lincoln, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Pershing, Storey and White Pine.
• South Dakota: Aurora, Beadle, Bennett, Bon Homme, Brookings, Brown, Brule, Buffalo, Butte, Campbell, Charles Mix, Clark, Clay, Codington, Corson, Custer, Davison, Deuel, Dewey, Douglas, Edmunds, Fall River, Faulk, Grant, Gregory, Haakon, Hamlin, Hand, Hanson, Harding, Hughes, Hutchinson, Hyde, Jackson, Jerauld, Jones, Kingsbury, Lake, Lawrence, Lincoln, Lyman, McCook, McPherson, Meade, Mellette, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, Oglala Lakota, Pennington, Perkins, Potter, Sanborn, Shannon, Spink, Stanley, Sully, Todd, Tripp, Turner, Union, Walworth, Yankton and Ziebach.

The IRS is “especially interested” in applications from organizations providing services in underserved areas. 
More information is in IRS Publication 3319, “2026 Grant Application Package and Guidelines.” The LITC Program Office will have a webinar about LITCs and the application process on May 22 from 1-3 p.m. EST. Details are on the LITC Grants website.

The American Institute of CPAs and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy have given their approval to new model legislation providing an alternative path to a CPA license in an effort to attract more people to the accounting profession.

The optional path aims to maintain public protection while offering additional flexibility and options for CPA candidates. The changes will add an extra pathway to CPA licensure requiring a baccalaureate degree, including an accounting concentration, along with two years of experience, and passage of the Uniform CPA Examination. 

Other revisions to the model legislation, which can be used by states, include a shift from state-based mobility to an individual-based practice privilege that would maintain a CPA’s ability to practice across state lines with just one license. There’s also new safe harbor language allowing CPAs who were licensed under differing education, experience and exam requirements as of Dec. 31, 2024, to continue to have practice privileges under mobility.

The AICPA and NASBA proposed the changes to the UAA last September and an alternative path to CPA licensure in February.

“By aligning our model legislative framework with the laws recently adopted in certain states, we’re encouraging removal of outdated barriers and reaffirming our commitment to a truly mobile CPA profession,” said Susan Coffey, the AICPA’s CEO of public accounting, in a statement Wednesday. “Businesses today demand seamless practice across state lines, and this action provides legislators and regulators with a model under which CPAs can meet that need without disruption. This is how we protect the public while keeping the profession strong, relevant, and ready for what’s next.”

The additional path will be included in the amended Uniform Accountancy Act to be released early this summer by AICPA and NASBA. The UAA offers state legislatures and boards of accountancy a national model that can be adopted in whole or in part to meet the needs of each individual jurisdiction.

“NASBA and Boards of Accountancy remain committed to maintaining public protection while implementing these changes to the UAA,” said NASBA president and CEO Daniel Dustin in a statement. “We will continue to work closely with state boards as the new pathway and changes to CPA mobility are implemented.”

The new pathway envisions a wider role for experience to be determined at the jurisdiction level. Individual states will still need to formally enact legislation and/or adopt rules and regulations, depending on the jurisdiction, before candidates can pursue this path. To date, 14 states have done so.

The new pathway would be added to the existing pathways:

Post-baccalaureate degree with an accounting concentration plus one year of experience plus passage of the CPA Exam;

Baccalaureate degree with an accounting concentration plus 30 credits plus one year of experience + passage of the CPA Exam.

The updated edition of the UAA maintains that oversight and disciplinary authority over licensees continues with a state board of accountancy.

The AICPA and NASBA asked for feedback on the proposals in March, and the various comments on the proposals can be found on the NASBA and AICPA  websites. They intend to continue to have discussions on maintaining the relevance of the UAA while also exploring the knowledge and skills needed for a newly licensed CPA to serve the public, promote public protection, and be positioned for a career as a CPA. The organizations said they’re discussing conducting a wide-ranging study that will include research and engagement with stakeholders, including regulators and the CPA profession.

As they begin this new phase, the AICPA and NASBA are also exploring opportunities for how to help CPAs navigate practice mobility as states enact legislation.

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Microsoft’s Recall AI tool — which captures and indexes screenshots of user activity every three seconds — is being reintroduced after facing significant privacy concerns when it was initially announced in 2024. Now available to Windows 11 Insiders, the feature requires users to opt-in and authenticate via Windows Hello, aiming to address earlier criticisms. However, privacy advocates remain apprehensive, noting that even with these measures, sensitive information from non-users can still be inadvertently captured and stored on others’ devices. This raises ongoing concerns about data security and the potential for misuse, despite Microsoft’s efforts to enhance privacy controls. (Source: Wired) 

Why this is important for your firm and clients: Of course there’s data and privacy issues. Think about it: If you opt-in, then all of the activity on your device is being captured by Microsoft and then stored who-knows-where in the cloud. But on the upside, it will make recovering from a problem — a malware attack, a natural disaster — much faster, which could reduce losses. Like everything in tech, there’s a trade-off. Do you give up your privacy and your confidential information for increased productivity? There’s no right or wrong answer. Everything is judged by risk vs. reward. In case you’re wondering, I’ll opt-in.