News Updates

State corporate income tax systems are complicated to administer, difficult to enforce, and yield modest revenue, but the recent rush to cut or eliminate business taxes raises larger questions for some about collecting revenue fairly and financing state services. According to Adam Thimmesch, a professor of tax law at the University of Nebraska College of Law, the states have more to lose than gain if they choose to shave or eliminate corporate income taxes. Thimmesch advised that states should streamline and modernize their corporate tax systems, not do away with them.

The IRS has provided a comprehensive, updated list of changes in tax accounting methods to which the automatic change procedures in Rev. Proc. 2015-13 apply. The list includes 29 changes that the Service describes as significant.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is warning users of payment apps such as Venmo, PayPal, and CashApp not to store their money in those apps for long periods of time because it could be at risk in a crisis. The CFPB notes that these apps may lack deposit insurance protection, with certain exceptions.

State senators ended a tumultuous 2023 session Thursday, giving a final OK to bills concerning voter identification, tax breaks for economic development and criminal justice reform. The 90-day session ended two days early and will be remembered for historic tax cuts, hard feelings aired during floor debate, and an almost session-long string of filibusters mounted in protest of a bill that banned gender-affirming procedures for minors. State Sen. Tom Briese of Albion, a key player in the legislation that delivered income tax cuts and property tax relief,summed it up best: It was a "momentous session" for what got done and for how hard it was to get those things done.

Nebraska and Iowa enacted Pass-Through Entity Tax (PTET) legislation during the 2023 legislative sessions, joining 33 other states that allow PTET.

State lawmakers largely stuck with Gov. Jim Pillen on Wednesday, approving only one override of his budget vetoes — an additional $1.2 million for the State Auditor's Office. State Auditor Mike Foley had asked for additional funding, arguing that he was losing auditors to other state agencies because they could offer $20,000 to $30,000 more a year in pay due to 22% pay raises for state employees effective July 1 — raises not granted to auditor personnel.

States vary in their treatment of Sec. 529 education savings plans, with some offering benefits including deductions or credits. Here is a state-by-state breakdown of tax treatment, as well as some advice for finding the right plan for your situation.

The Great Accountant Shortage, a 17% decrease in employed accountants and auditors since 2019, may soon disappear as end-to-end accounting processes are automated and, down the line, aligned with generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools to produce “autonomous accounting.”

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) plans to introduce the SALT Fairness and Deduction Act, which would raise the state and local tax (SALT) cap from $10,000 to $60,000 for single filers and $120,000 for joint filers.

Accounting Today's experiment with ChatGPT revealed some best practices to get good results from the AI chatbot.

The institute is asking for more guidance on how to help taxpayers compute their losses on digital assets such as cryptocurrency.

The recent rise in the use of artificial intelligence suggests it is only a matter of time before the powerful tools are used to find tax loopholes. A Johns Hopkins University-based project aims to create an AI program that "can find loopholes better than a legion of blue-chip tax accountants" before major corporations develop their own. The purpose is to build software called Shelter Check that Congress, the IRS and the court system could use to identify potential loopholes in legislation or rulings. The IRS already uses AI to track down alleged tax cheats, but Shelter Check would help the feds flag sophisticated tax shelters before they can even be used. University of Maryland law professor Andrew Blair-Stanek, a former tax attorney who is part of the Shelter Check team, says the program is aimed at corporate tax dodgers with complex returns and emphasized "this is not something the average taxpayer has anything to worry about." Separately, Muse Tax, an early-stage startup based in New York, is working on a system that is also capable of navigating complex and quickly-changing tax codes, but with the aim of finding ways in which users can keep their bills to a minimum. The Muse Tax system employs OpenAI’s GPT-3 and GPT-3.5, and the company plans to soon move to the latest version, GPT-4, according to co-founder Colin Horsford. Muse Tax’s publicly announced partners include Bilt Rewards, a rewards program that allows people to earn points when paying rent, and Nestment, which facilitates pooling of capital among home buyers, primarily younger ones.

In a letter written to the Lincoln Journal Star, NE Chamber President Bryan Slone, the Platte Institute and the National Taxpayers Union Foundation discuss what makes Nebraska uncompetitive for remote workers – our tax code.

Using "tax day" as a backdrop, Gov. Jim Pillen joined some key state senators and two tax groups Tuesday in touting legislative proposals that aim to reduce Nebraska's top income tax rate to 3.99% by 2027. Tuesday was the deadline to file state and federal income tax returns, and the governor and others maintained that the state needs to be more competitive when it comes to taxes. "It's really important that we have a tax policy that gets us in the game," Pillen said.

Churchill once said, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” It’s surely messy and sometimes maddening. But democracy is self-correcting, so more of it truly is the solution. - George Ayoub

63 days into the 108th session, the Nebraska Legislature passed its first bill – LB376E – and forwarded it to the Governor for signature. The bill creates a brand registration for the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, allowing the Commission to better identify alcoholic products being imported into or produced in the Cornhusker state.

The length of the average U.S. workweek has dropped compared with the period prior to the pandemic, affecting labor market dynamics and giving some people more time for other activities, according to new research.

The program, offered by a financial wellness coaching service, joins a burgeoning patchwork of wealth management support systems for student-athletes.

Two universities found approaches to attract more students to accounting programs and encourage them to pursue CPA licensure.

Adding someone to your bank account can be a convenient financial planning tool, but it can also lead to unintended consequences, such as disrupting the terms of a will or triggering federal gift tax issues in certain cases. Here are some alternatives that can avoid these issues.