Legal

The Office of General Counsel (OGC) is responsible for all legal matters involving the AICPA. The OGC provides legal advice to AICPA committees, service and staff task forces as appropriate, interpret and write legislation, interface and provide support for Washington lobbying activities, and draft and edit briefs filed by the AICPA.

April 6, 2015

NCACPA and AICPA Together File Amicus Brief in Support of the Accounting Firm, Butler & Burke, in the matter of Commscope Credit Union v. Butler & Burke

The brief of proposed amici curiae addresses the question whether an auditor engaged to conduct an audit is or may be a fiduciary of the subject of the audit under North Carolina law, notwithstanding state and federal law requiring an auditor to be independent.  The brief submitted by proposed amici curiae supports Defendant-Appellant and requests reversal of the decision of the Court of Appeals.

July 15, 2014

AICPA Files Federal Lawsuit Against IRS Challenging Purportedly “Voluntary” Program for Tax Return Preparers

The AICPA has filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the IRS’s new rule regulating tax return preparers. The AICPA has been a steadfast supporter of the IRS’s overall goals of enhancing compliance by tax return preparers and elevating ethical conduct. However, the IRS’s new rule regulating tax return preparers is an unlawful exercise of government power. By implementing a purportedly “voluntary” program that is mandatory in effect, the rule is an end-run around a judicial opinion which struck down the IRS’s earlier attempt to regulate tax return preparers. In addition, the rule will confuse consumers by creating four new categories of tax return preparers (for a total of eight). The new rule also does not address the problem of unethical or fraudulent tax return preparers.