Month: April 2004

Here it is tax season and the awesome Joe Kristan is still going full steam over at RothCPA.com with a friendly reminder here about complying with the tax laws. And thanks for this fascinating quotation (here) from IRS Commissioner Mark Everson testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee yesterday:

The length of time it takes us to complete the audit of a large, complex corporation is five years from the date the return is filed, which in most cases is already eight and one-half months after year end. And these figures don’t include the appeals process, which runs another two years before the matter is settled or goes to court. That means that half of our current inventory of large cases is from the mid 1990s or the early 1990s. In today’s rapidly changing world, we might as well be looking at transactions from the Civil War.

From the WashingtonPost.com: “Companies Ask Congress to End Impasse Over Pensions“:

Corporations that operate traditional pension plans pleaded with Congress yesterday to resolve the dispute that has prevented passage of legislation that would reduce the amount of money most companies would have to pay into their pension funds. . . Staff members from both parties have said the conferees are close to agreeing on the overall funding formula and on the special relief, but are hung up over how much to assist troubled multi-employer pensions, which are common in the trucking and construction industries.

From the Mercury News, “OK, change the world, but protect my 401(k)“:

The workers of the world have awakened to find they own big portions of corporate America through stock in their pension funds, and now they’re rising in righteous anger to set things straight. . .This is proxy season, when shareholders vote on directors, executive pay and other corporate matters. The number of initiatives from dissident stock owners figures to hit a record, and union and government pension funds are leading the parade.

From Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, “HSAs and the HIPAA Privacy Rules: The Clash of the Acronyms“:

The focus of this legal alert will be on an issue that has received little discussion—the impact of the HIPAA privacy rules on the operation and design of HSAs. . . If an HSA satisfies the definition of a “health plan” under the HIPAA privacy rules, then the HSA is considered a “covered entity” and would need to comply with the applicable HIPAA privacy rules.

From the Rocky Mountain News, “Mutual funds wary of SEC plan: Firms say disclosing policies could help traders fool system“:

The SEC is considering a rule that would require mutual funds to say in prospectuses how they value holdings and what they do to detect market timing, rapid trades that exploit gaps in values of underlying investments. . . In comment letters to the SEC about the rule proposal, mutual fund companies said disclosure of their fair-value policies would alert market-timers to how best to make their rapid trades.

From SFGate.com, “Employers audit workers’ health claims“:

Looking to bring down soaring health-care costs anywhere they can, more employers are scouring their health plans for fraud, abuse and simple mistakes by employees or administrators. Audit programs often find that between 10 percent and 15 percent of employees had an illegible dependent on a company health plan.

From Business Insurance.com, “IRS, Treasury resolve key HSA issues“:

Joint Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department guidance issued Tuesday resolves several key questions that employers and others have raised about health savings accounts. . . Treasury Benefits Tax Counsel William Sweetnam said additional guidance will be provided in a few months dealing with the interaction of HSAs with flexible spending accounts and health reimbursement accounts.