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ABSTRACT Tax provisions that reduce deductions and credits by imposing floors and phase-outs have become an increasingly popular tool used by Congress. However, these provisions also obscure the marginal tax [...]

This case engages students by featuring a relatable scenario of a new accounting professional being asked by a friend for help filing his individual tax return. The friend's return is more complex than expected because of unclear filing requirements related to his discharged student loan debt and his disability status. An amended return may be needed for a previous year, in part because of a reportedly erroneous W-2 from a former employer; and taxpayer withdrawals from an employer-sponsored tax-deferred savings account. Requirements include researching and documenting federal tax law, using judgement to make recommendations within the context of conflicting information, and evaluating the ethical implications of a friend's assistance as well as professional codes of conduct. Students are also asked to write a client memo. This case will be of particular interest to students who are considering tax careers. It is appropriate for undergraduate and graduate tax courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of several articles that have been published in the March 2003 issue of the journal "Auditing." The authors examine whether auditors of different professional ranks are influenced by opportunities to generate additional client business. While business opportunities may put pressure on auditors to agree with a client-suggested aggressive accounting treatment, risk management concerns may make auditors more cautious. To promote growth, the culture and incentive structures of large audit firms may encourage contact partners to evaluate new clients as favorably as possible. Contact partners may thus be tempted to associate with clients that are overly risky, which could trigger litigation and diminish firm reputation. Two developments have heightened audit firms' interest in imposing their understanding of knowledge transfer. First, the number of different professional services has increased substantially. Second, advances in information technology have improved the capacity to capture and disseminate knowledge throughout the organization. There have been shortages of experienced assurance services professionals. One way firms deal with this problem is to offer flexible work arrangements to help professionals balance work and family demands.

This research addresses the importance of tax holidays in the subsidiary location decisions of U.S.-based multinationals. The study uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a basis for the development and analysis of the importance of location and firm-specific factors in multinationals' plant location decisions. Sixty-six experienced tax executives of major U.S.-based multinationals were asked to review a case study involving a subsidiary plant location scenario and to evaluate the relative importance of all of the relevant location-specific factors using the AHP method of pairwise comparisons. The results indicate that tax holidays are rated among the lower half of a set of 29 factors that firms consider. However, when tax holidays are relevant they act as an incentive to investment rather than discouraging it. The availability of tax-sparing credits and the firm's foreign tax credit status have little impact in making tax holidays more influential relative to other decision factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]