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IRS Updates Business Travel Per-diem Rates

Published October 18, 2021

The IRS issued its annual update of special per-diem rates for substantiating ordinary and necessary business expenses incurred while traveling away from home (Notice 2021-52). The new rates are in effect from Oct. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2022. Specifically, they are the special per-diem rates, including the transportation industry meal and incidental expenses rates; the rate for the incidental-expenses-only deduction; and the rates and list of ...

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IRS Updates Per Diem Rates for Travel Expenses for 2021-2022

Published October 12, 2021

The Internal Revenue Service has issued the special per diem rates that take effect Oct. 1, 2021, which taxpayers can use to substantiate the amount of expenses for lodging, meals, and incidental expenses when traveling away from home. Notice 2021-52 includes the special transportation industry rate, the rate for the incidental-expenses-only deduction, along with the rates and list of high-cost localities for purposes of the high-low ...

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How Many of Your Primary Controls Are Preventive?

Published October 4, 2021

When I started my auditing career during the rollout of Sarbanes-Oxley, there was sustained debate within the industry as to which type of internal control was better: preventive or detective. While preventive controls are intended to prevent unauthorized or unwanted activities and variances from the established process, some argue that such events are bound to occur. Organizations should therefore focus intently on detective controls ...

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Lease Accounting: Private Companies on the Clock After Delay

Published September 24, 2021

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic added another element of business disruption for organizations to manage while the effective dates to comply for FASB's new lease accounting standards were quickly approaching. Following a pandemic-related delay, the new standard takes effect for entities within the "all other entities" category for fiscal years starting after Dec. 15, 2021, and for interim periods within fiscal years beginning after Dec.

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Business Meal Deductions after the TCJA

Published September 13, 2021

The legislation known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), P.L. 115-97, eliminated the general deduction of business entertainment expenses under Sec. 274(a). The TCJA mostly left intact, however, the deductibility of food and beverage expenses as a business expense (generally, at 50% of the expense amount). But because of a long-standing understanding and practice of treating business entertainment and meals as congruent, practitioners sought ...

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