Talking Tax

On this episode of Talking Tax, we highlight a new project that examines the anxieties and uncertainties of tax professionals around the billions of dollars in coronavirus relief funding that Congress has allocated.Host Jeff Leon speaks with Bloomberg Industry Group deputy team leaders Colleen Murphy and Jay-Anne Casuga about the questions they received from subscribers and about what trends they were able to glean from these queries.Click here to read more from our multi-part series about navigating virus aid and minimizing risk.

On this episode of Talking Tax, we speak with former IRS Commissioner Mark Everson about some of the many tax credits that small businesses may not be aware they can claim. For example, Everson says businesses that are operating differently or making new products due to the coronavirus pandemic may be eligible to receive a research and development tax credit.Everson also weighs in on how his former agency is struggling to respond to the mountains of correspondence it has received since the pandemic started and also tells host Amanda Iacone that the IRS' struggles here have affected him personally.

On this week's episode of Talking Tax, we hear from public policy researcher Donnie Charleston with the group E Pluribus Unum about how the tax system in America provides white taxpayers with benefits people of color often don't or can't enjoy.Charleston speaks with Bloomberg Tax's Yuri Nagano about how the racial history of real estate in the U.S. is still causing great inequality today in the way property taxes are levied and collected.

Numerous tax-related provisions, including changes to the Paycheck Protection Program and the expansion of anti-layoff credits, could make their way into a larger pandemic relief bill being drafted in Congress right now.However, even though lots of these provisions enjoy bipartisan support, the broader legislative package is stalling as Democrats and the White House can't come to an agreement on its bottom line price tag.On this episode of our podcast, Talking Tax, host Amanda Iacone speaks with Bloomberg Tax congressional reporters, Colin Wilhelm and Kaustuv Basu, about which of these tax provisions will wind up in the final bill—if and when the two sides can reach an agreement.

The IRS doesn’t collect data on taxpayers’ racial or ethnic backgrounds, which advocates say makes it difficult to determine whether tax policies disproportionately hurt minorities.In this week’s episode of Talking Tax, host Amanda Iacone speaks with reporter Allyson Versprille about the push to allow the IRS to collect more detailed demographic data. Ally also talks about how recent pandemic relief laws have put an enormous amount on the agency’s plate at a time when it may be least able to handle that extra work.

The months of self-isolation and social distancing are beginning to weigh on all of us, and tax professionals are no different. On today's episode of Talking Tax, which originally aired on May 7, we hear from four different accountants about the new stresses they're facing and how they're managing to cope.Talking Tax host Amanda Iacone speaks with a nearly 40-year veteran of the industry, the owner of a husband-and-wife practice juggling her firm and her five kids, and more. We learn how work practices have been forced to change and about how the crisis has made it imperative that tax professionals shift their role from accountant to adviser.Producers: Amanda Iacone and David Schultz

Black people are hugely underrepresented in the accounting profession, with some estimates putting the share of CPAs who are African American at less than one percent.A long and ugly history of racist hiring practices at accounting firms has a lot to do with this, but so do current CPA license requirements, according to Theresa Hammond, professor at San Francisco State University’s College of Business. She says aspiring CPAs must take an additional two to three extra semesters of coursework after graduation, which can put people from low-income backgrounds, who may need to start earning income right away, at a disadvantage.On this episode of our podcast Talking Tax, host Amanda Iacone speaks with Hammond about her research into why the accounting field still struggles with diversity. She’s joined by Shannon Nash, chair of the National Society of Black CPAs, who talks about her efforts to reform the way CPA licenses are awarded and change the way the African American community views accounting as a profession.

Apple scored a huge and definitive win last week in its lawsuit against the European Commission, effectively blocking the Commission's attempt to force the tech giant to pay tens of billions in taxes.But Bloomberg Tax's Isabel Gottlieb says this is just one battle in the broader war over how and where multinational companies should pay taxes. On this episode of Talking Tax, Isabel breaks down the lawsuit and talks about where it fits into the escalating global tax debate.

The IRS' delayed tax deadline came and went this week, but many taxpayers are far from stable as the coronavirus pandemic shows no signs of letting up.On this episode of Talking Tax, reporter Allyson Versprille talks about what practitioners are telling clients who, despite the three month delay, are still struggling to pay their taxes. And she discusses whether the IRS may take even further measures to provide these people with additional relief.

The U.K.'s financial regulator made big waves this week when it ordered the big four accounting firms to split up their auditing and consulting businesses. But Bloomberg Tax correspondent Michael Kapoor says, despite a string of auditing scandals, this move is not nearly as aggressive as it could be.Kapoor speaks with Talking Tax host Amanda Iacone about what this will mean for the big four firms and whether Parliament will make time in its already busy schedule to enact stronger accounting laws.