Talking Tax

Companies have rushed to apply for an expiring Texas program that offers hefty school district property tax abatements for new manufacturing and renewable energy projects.The Chapter 313 incentive has drawn big investment through its 20-year history, but has been criticized as too expensive and harmful to some schools and populations. It wasn't renewed, and policy makers are determining whether and how to redesign it. In the meantime, applications for it leaped to more than 400 this year as companies including Tesla Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and Micron Technology Inc. try to get their awards while the program still exists. There were 74 applications in 2021 and 49 in 2020.Bloomberg Tax’s Angélica Serrano-Román sat down with representatives of key players—school groups, researchers, and transparency organizations—to talk about the tax incentive, its impact on state revenues and budgets, and the possibility that lawmakers will take up the issue next year.Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Over the past decade, some of the biggest changes to the international tax framework have come out of the Paris-based OECD—from the worldwide crackdown on base erosion and profit shifting to the two-pillar plan to overhaul global tax rules.Pascal Saint-Amans, the man at the helm of the organization's tax division through those years, recently announced he would be stepping down from his role at the end of October.Bloomberg Tax's Isabel Gottlieb sat down with Saint-Amans to talk about what he's doing next, what it will take to get the tax deal's Pillar One over the finish line, and the future of international cooperation on environmental taxation.Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The global tax pact that’s been agreed to by nearly 140 countries has run into some obstacles, but the new global vice chair of tax for EY thinks chances are good that the big changes the agreement calls for will ultimately be implemented.EY’s Marna Ricker acknowledges that there’s a lot of work still to be done on both of the key parts of the agreement—Pillar One, which would reallocate a chunk of the taxing rights on big companies’ profits to other countries, and Pillar Two, which would impose a 15% global minimum tax.“I think this is going to be a really interesting window of time,” Ricker said.On this episode of Talking Tax, senior reporter Michael Rapoport discusses the OECD agreement and the new Inflation Reduction Act taxes with Ricker, who assumed her new post on Oct. 1. She’s been with EY for 28 years, and had previously been vice chair of tax for EY Americas.Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

An estimated 43 million Americans qualifying for the Biden administration’s student loan debt forgiveness program won’t have to account for the $10,000 benefit on their federal 1040 tax returns next year, but they could face a very different reality when they file their state returns.The federal government and most states are waiving taxes on the cancellation of debt program. According to one analysis, roughly seven states—Arkansas, California, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Wisconsin—plan to make debtors pay income taxes ranging from a few hundred dollars to as much as $900, depending on the state.On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax senior correspondent Michael J. Bologna caught up with Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects at the Tax Foundation, to help sort through some of these potentially complicated state tax issues. He explained which states plan to tax student loan debt cancellation and how taxpayers should account for the benefit. 

Richard Jones took the helm of the board charged with writing US accounting rules the same year the coronavirus pandemic upended the economy.Jones and the six other members of the Financial Accounting Standards Board had to act quickly to tackle questions on how to use accounting standards during such an uncertain time. Two years later, FASB is plotting its next big moves, including writing rules for buzzy topics like cryptocurrency and figuring out how the new tax-and-climate law will impact its work.On this episode of Talking Tax, Jones speaks with Bloomberg Tax's Nicola M. White about FASB's agenda and how the standard-setter works with a Securities and Exchange Commission that's increasingly active in accounting issues.Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Ernst & Young faces numerous challenges as it tries to gain ground in the competitive advisory market while maintaining its place in the audit industry as its leaders push ahead with a planned breakup of the $40 billion revenue firm.The consequential deal could hinder EY's ability to retain and hire the skilled professionals it needs to deliver in-demand audit and reporting services as a stand-alone audit firm, said Jim Peterson, former in-house attorney for Arthur Andersen, the former top audit firm which collapsed in 2002.On this episode of Talking Tax, Peterson discusses with Bloomberg Tax's Amanda Iacone about what EY’s breakup means to the accounting industry and the risks that firm leaders face as they try to decouple the global business.Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Tax data and technology can be helpful for companies when making projections for tax planning purposes, but companies have to weigh when the best time is to implement them.Data can give more certainty for companies in scenario planning, such as for the Inflation Reduction Act and everyday business decisions, said Greg Engel, vice chair of tax at KPMG LLP. Still, 52% of companies aren’t using tax data for this work, according to a recent KPMG report.On this episode of Talking Tax, Engel speaks about the importance of companies incorporating tax data into tax planning, how companies are trying to hire to fill this need, and why now is the best time to integrate it.Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The IRS is seeking to prevent new, potentially abusive transactions from gaining traction with taxpayers. Early this year, the agency launched a group, called the Joint Strategic Emerging Issues Team, so that representatives from a wide range of IRS offices can collaborate to quickly identify areas where there's a high risk of noncompliance and determine how best to address these issues.On this episode of Talking Tax, we speak with two IRS officials involved in the team: Benjamin Swartz, senior adviser to the commissioner of the Small Business/Self-Employed Division, and Holly Porter, associate chief counsel for passthroughs and special industries.Swartz and Porter discuss the goals of JSEIT, the makeup of the team, and the types of issues the group is focusing on.Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Tax directors around the world are grappling with a two-pillar global tax agreement that will require multinational companies to change where and how much tax they pay.As details of how these complex new rules will work in practice come to light, some companies have begun modeling their effect on their tax bills.Rio Tinto PLC, which is part of the OECD's business advisory group, has had a front row seat during the development of the rules and has already put together a team to analyze their impact.On this episode of Talking Tax, we speak with Mark Munsel, general manager of the OECD digital project at Rio Tinto. He heads up the multi-disciplinary team at the company that has been tasked with figuring out how the rules work.Munsel advises companies to start early and begin collecting and organizing the data required to comply with the rules, or risk not being ready when countries start implementing them.Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The accounting world has been shaken up with several high-profile mergers and acquisitions among firms in recent years, reflecting the growing needs of clients.Abe Schlisselfeld of Marks Paneth LLP had a front-row seat to this trend, serving as the firm's managing director during its acquisition by accounting firm CBIZ Inc. in 2021. Schlisselfeld was at the helm to help shepherd the top-50 accounting firm's transition.On this episode of Talking Tax, Schlisselfeld, senior managing director of CBIZ Marks Paneth, speaks about his experience of overseeing an accounting firm merger, focusing on the challenges faced and lessons learned, as well as sharing advice about how to retain talent and manage major changes.Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.