Following a beautiful Memorial Day weekend and a successful visit to Washington DC to celebrate the AICPA's 125th Anniversary, it's important that we present two exciting new developments from the Institute that were a major focus of the Meeting of Council and our subsequent visits with Rhode Island's Congressional delegation on Capitol Hill.
AICPA's Total Tax Insights™ Calculator
At a time when our country faces unprecedented levels of debt and extraordinary amounts of governmental operating deficits, tax issues continue to be one of the most pressing topics for public discourse. Every year, discussions take place among politicians, economists, tax practitioners and others about making changes to our tax system.
Some of the proposed changes are more fundamental in approach while other proposals call for varying degrees of changes to the existing federal tax system. Some ideas include, adding or expanding tax incentives to encourage savings, modernizing the international tax rules to better address today's global economy or making procedural changes to improve compliance.
As a longtime advocate for sound tax policy and effective tax administration, the AICPA has encouraged a principled framework for analyzing tax law changes. One of those principles is the notion of transparency and visibility to better inform citizens about the taxes imposed upon them and others. To help educate citizens about their federal and local annual tax obligations, the AICPA recently introduced a
Total Tax Insights™ Calculator. This new tool links federal tax rules together with the diversity of our country's state and local tax conventions, including 20 of the most widely used taxes, into one central location. The
Calculator is a first of a kind tool offered by the AICPA to help the public understand their estimated annual tax obligation. It also serves as a valuable resource to foster awareness of the need for financial planning and making better informed decisions.
In all, the tax calculator will provide taxpayers with several key insights:
- A greater understanding of the number and variety of taxes they pay and the estimated amounts of each;
- An increased awareness of the need for better financial planning; and,
- Additional information to consider when changing jobs, making a large purchase or assessing the tradeoffs of buying versus renting a home.
To gain a better view of this important financial tool, click here.
What's at Stake?
CPAs are committed to helping the public understand complex financial issues. To help promote this effort, the AICPA has produced a new non-partisan video appropriately named, What's at Stake? A CPA's Insights into the Federal Government's Finances. This video offers guidance on how the data in the US government's financial statements can be used for greater understanding of the country's fiscal health.
As part of this pro-educational effort, the AICPA, on behalf of the profession, encourages all policy makers to use the important information that the financial statements contain to work towards setting sustainable fiscal policy for the US. Both the policy makers and the public are being called upon to engage in a national dialogue to improve the country's fiscal health. AICPA Chairman of the Board, Gregory Anton, CPA, CGMA, offers insights into the critical information revealed through a thorough understanding of the Federal Government's financial statements. We strongly recommend you view the video.
RISCPA Members Honored
