Fighting scope creep; QCDs as the year ends; advising ministers; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Questions for the moment

• CLA (https://www.claconnect.com/en/resources?pageNum=0): One major question of the moment: What can nonprofits expect from future federal tax policies?
• Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/): Not long ago, about a dozen states would seize property for failure to pay property taxes and, instead of simply taking their share of unpaid taxes, interest, and penalties and returning the excess to the property owner, they would pocket the entire proceeds of the sales. Did high court intervention stem this practice? Not so much.
• TaxConnex (https://www.taxconnex.com/blog-): What are the best questions to pin down sales tax risk and exposure?
• Current Federal Tax Developments (https://www.currentfederaltaxdevelopments.com/): In Surk LLC v. Commissioner, the Tax Court was presented with the question of basis computations related to an interest in a partnership. The taxpayer mistakenly deducted losses that exceeded the limitation in IRC Sec. 704(d), raising the question: Should the taxpayer reduce its basis in subsequent years by the amount of those disallowed losses or compute the basis by treating those losses as if they were never deducted?

Creeping

On the table

• Don’t Mess with Taxes (http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/): What to remind them, as end-of-year planning looms, about this year’s QCD numbers.
• Parametric (https://www.parametricportfolio.com/blog): If your clients are using more traditional commingled products for their passive exposures, they may not know how much tax money they’re leaving on the table. A look at possible advantages of a separately managed account. 
• Turbotax (https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com): Whether they’re talking diversification, gainful hobby or income stream, what to remind them about the tax benefits of investing in real estate.
• The National Association of Tax Professionals (https://blog.natptax.com/): Q&A from a recent webinar on day cares’ unique income and expense categories.
• Boyum & Barenscheer (https://www.myboyum.com/blog/): For larger manufacturers, compliance under IRC 263A is essential. And for all manufacturers, effective inventory management goes beyond balancing stock levels. Key factors affecting inventory accounting for large and small manufacturing businesses.
• U of I Tax School (https://taxschool.illinois.edu/blog/): What to remind them — and yourself — about the taxation of clients who are ministers.
• Withum (https://www.withum.com/resources/): A look at the recent IRS Memorandum 2024-36010 that denied the application of IRC Sec. 245A to dividends received by a controlled foreign corporation.

PwC made a $1.5 million investment to Bryant University, in Smithfield, Rhode Island, to fund the launch of the PwC AI in Accounting Fellowship.

The experiential learning program allows undergraduate students to explore AI’s impact in accounting by way of engaging in research with faculty, corporate-sponsored projects and professional development that blends traditional accounting principles with AI-driven tools and platforms. 

The first cohort of PwC AI in Accounting Fellows will be awarded to members of the Bryant Honors Program planning to study accounting. The fellowship funds can be applied to various educational resources, including conference fees, specialized data sheets, software and travel.

Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

“Aligned with our Vision 2030 strategic plan and our commitment to experiential learning and academic excellence, the fellowship also builds upon PwC’s longstanding relationship with Bryant University,” Bryant University president Ross Gittell said in a statement. “This strong partnership supports institutional objectives and includes the annual PwC Accounting Careers Leadership Institute for rising high school seniors, the PwC Endowed Scholarship Fund, the PwC Book Fund, and the PwC Center for Diversity and Inclusion.”

Bob Calabro, a PwC US partner and 1988 Bryant University alumnus and trustee, helped lead the development of the program.

“We are excited to introduce students to the many opportunities available to them in the accounting field and to prepare them to make the most of those opportunities, This program further illustrates the strong relationship between PwC and Bryant University, where so many of our partners and staff began their career journey in accounting” Calabro said in a statement.

“Bryant’s Accounting faculty are excited to work with our PwC AI in Accounting Fellows to help them develop impactful research projects and create important experiential learning opportunities,” professor Daniel Ames, chair of Bryant’s accounting department, said in a statement. “This program provides an invaluable opportunity for students to apply AI concepts to real-world accounting, shaping their educational journey in significant ways.”

The International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation and its International Sustainability Standards Board released a new sustainability guide Tuesday.

The guide can help companies identify and disclose material information about sustainability-related risks and opportunities that could reasonably be expected to affect their cash flows, their access to finance or cost of capital over the short, medium or long term.

Investors and global capital markets are increasingly requesting such information to inform investment decision making. The guide focuses on helping companies understand how the concept of sustainability-related risks and opportunities is described in IFRS S1, the ISSB’s sustainability disclosure standard, including how these can come from a company’s dependencies and impacts. Those dependencies and impacts on resources and relationships can lead to sustainability-related risks and opportunities that could reasonably be expected to affect its prospects.

The guide discusses how companies applying ISSB standards can benefit from the process they might already follow in making materiality judgments when preparing financial statements, particularly when applying IFRS accounting standards. The IFRS Foundation oversees both the ISSB and the International Accounting Standards Board.

The guide describes the process a company can follow which is closely aligned with the four-step process illustrated in the IASB’s IFRS Practice Statement 2: Making Materiality Judgments. As a result, although the ISSB standards can be used with any generally accepted accounting principles, those companies already applying IFRS accounting standards — in over 140 jurisdictions worldwide — as well as those such as in the U.S. where there is strong alignment with a focus on providing material information to investors, will be particularly well prepared to apply the concept of materiality using ISSB standards.

The guide also discusses some of the considerations a company might make to drive connectivity between sustainability-related financial disclosures and a company’s financial statements. For those looking to meet the information needs of a wider set of stakeholders, it provides considerations for those applying ISSB standards alongside European Sustainability Reporting Standards or Global Reporting Initiative standards.