Bulloch, DuPertuis, Schulman, Seger & Co.

“When Congress resumes the budget debate on Wednesday, many companies will be nervously counting the days. That is because 55 federal tax breaks are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. The uncertainty over their fate already is muddying financial forecasts for next year, corporate executives say.”

“The IRS has failed to clamp down on improper refundable tax credit payments, according to a new federal audit…. Due to a 2009 executive order, the IRS is supposed to have targets for rolling back those improper payments. But the agency has yet to do so, and the Treasury inspector general says in its audit that the IRS needs to rethink its methods for cutting down on waste in EITC payments.”

“The IRS announced on Tuesday a delay of one or two weeks in the start of the 2014 filing season as a result of the 16-day government shutdown to allow adequate time for the IRS to prepare and test systems.”

“Unfortunately, uncertainty is everywhere in the business world. From a financial management and reporting perspective, uncertainty is never a welcome environment. Predictability is the desired environment. Corporate management and business owners live and die (and often are compensated) by the financial performance of the business. But CFOs and their companies can play a role in reigning in the uncertainty in the state and local tax (SALT) world that can arise from states’ use of discretionary authority provisions.”

“Wednesday’s deal to fund the federal government through Jan. 15 and to extend the federal government’s borrowing authority through Feb. 7 in the end contained only one tax provision, making a minor change to 2010’s health care legislation.”

With airfares and hotel rates rising, dining expenses are declining for business travelers. Fine dining was once the norm, but now, travelers are choosing restaurants that are fast and convenient over anything fancy. The number one place to stop and go? Starbucks, followed by MdDonald’s and Subway.

“A few faint glimmers of hope surfaced on Monday in the U.S. fiscal standoff, both in Congress and at the White House, with President Barack Obama saying he would accept a short-term increase in the nation’s borrowing authority to avoid a default.”

House Speaker John A. Boehner promises that he will not let the country default for the first time on its debt. “Given that a bloc of hard-line conservatives is unlikely to vote to increase the limit under any circumstances, Boehner has told fellow Republicans that they must craft an agreement that can attract significant Democratic support.”

“Chief executives from major financial institutions met with President Barack Obama on Wednesday and warned of adverse consequences if government agencies remain closed and if lawmakers fail to raise the U.S. debt ceiling by mid-October.”

“Construction employment increased in 26 between July and August and in 35 states for the year, according to an analysis by AGC of America of Labor Department data. Association officials cautioned, however, that construction employment remains below peak levels in most states and warned of the potential impact of a halt in federal construction investments.”