Podcast
Talking Tax
Hosted by Bloomberg Tax · EN
Talking Tax, from Bloomberg Tax, is a weekly discussion of the most pressing issues facing tax and accounting professionals. Each week the podcast features discussions with lawmakers, federal regulators, lawyers, and journalists. From the courts to Capitol Hill to the IRS, Talking Tax has it covered.
27episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
US Audit Board Awaits Latest Shake-Up With New Slate of Leaders
Feb 400:14:13Tap to summarizeA new slate of leaders is poised to make its mark on the US audit board and launch the next chapter for the embattled regulator. Among those set to serve on the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board are two administration officials who have held key roles at federal agencies targeted by a White House campaign to hobble federal agencies and derail regulations. Those agencies include the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the National Credit Union Administration. The PCAOB last year was also caught up in the administration’s efforts to rein in the federal bureaucracy. Republican lawmakers attempted to sunset the board and hand its duties over to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees the board and named the new leaders. On this episode of Talking Tax, Senior Reporter Amanda Iacone discusses the incoming board members and what this latest leadership shake-up means for the future of the independent audit regulator. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
Transcribe →Fiscal Stress Permeates Government Accounting Rule Writer's Work
Jan 2900:16:40Tap to summarizeTrump administration cuts to federal funding are trickling down to cities and states across the country—and a top public-sector accounting leader is taking note. Governmental Accounting Standards Board Chair Joel Black is leading his team in crafting public sector financial reporting rules at a time when local governments are assessing resource constraints following cuts to funding resulting from the 2025 GOP tax law. The board establishes financial reporting and accounting rules for state and local governments that follow generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. Municipal bond insurers, taxpayer groups, and research institutes are among those that use government financial reports to analyze fiscal health. The board's work during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic informs its efforts now during another period of strain for governments. "It really honed us in to be sure we're working on only those things that are significant improvements, only those things our stakeholders are really asking us to work on," Black said. Black's board is currently undertaking a project that aims to improve financial reporting rules for governments grappling with fears they won't be able to meet their financial obligations. In this week's Talking Tax, Black sat down with Bloomberg Tax reporter Jorja Siemons to discuss GASB's financial stress-related project and the resource challenges accounting teams are facing. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
Transcribe →US Tax Carve-Out Beats Retaliation, OECD Business Rep Says
Jan 2100:10:33Tap to summarizeA global minimum tax deal that exempts American companies from key provisions is a better outcome for European business than the alternative of US retaliatory taxes, the co-chair of the OECD’s business committee said. The package agreed to this month by more than 145 countries at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development headed off a threat of steep US taxes on foreign companies if global concessions weren’t made. In this episode of Talking Tax, Christian Kaeser, global head of tax at Siemens AG, told Bloomberg Tax reporter Ryan Hogg that some of his European counterparts regarded the deal as “lopsided” but welcomed new permanent safe harbors that were created with input from Business at OECD, known as BIAC. Kaeser is co-chair of BIAC’s tax committee. “I’m pretty happy with the outcome,” he said. Competitive disparities created by the deal can be remedied by simplification of the EU’s own rules, including scrapping of the bloc’s controlled foreign companies anti-tax avoidance regime, he said. As for Pillar One, the other main part of a 2021 OECD-led tax agreement, Kaeser saw little hope. Further talks on the pillar, which would reallocate taxing rights to countries where big companies make their profits, have stalled for years. It “should be called Pillar Zed, zed for zombie,” he said. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
Transcribe →OECD Deal Success Hinges on Implementation, Rep. Estes Says
Jan 1400:15:59Tap to summarizeRepublicans on Capitol Hill are keenly watching how other countries implement a long-sought OECD agreement that exempts US companies from parts of the global minimum tax framework. Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.), a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, hasn't ruled out resurrecting legislation imposing retaliatory taxes on firms from nations that slow-walk codifying the deal. The deal was reached earlier this month after the Trump administration demanded a carve-out for American companies and for the US tax system to work alongside the global minimum tax framework without interference. Estes sat down with Bloomberg Tax Congress reporter Zach C. Cohen in his Capitol Hill office to talk about the importance of the agreement to American businesses and how he will "trust, but verify" other countries' tax code changes, especially if they pursue the same kind of exemption Washington just secured. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
Transcribe →Making Sense of the Global Tax Carve-Out for US Companies
Jan 700:16:29Tap to summarizeThe OECD just published the parameters of a deal that would exempt US companies from two key enforcement rules in the global minimum tax framework. The deal, which spans 88 pages in the form of administrative guidance, includes a slew of safe harbor rules that address everything from how US companies can get the exemption to more advantageous treatment of substance-based tax incentives like the US R&D credit. It includes a permanent, simplified global minimum tax calculation. Other countries would be able to obtain carve-outs like the ones obtained by the US and its multinational companies—if they meet certain criteria. This week on Talking Tax, reporters Lauren Vella and Somesh Jha discuss why the deal and the timing of its release is important, what it means for multinational businesses, how key US lawmakers reacted, and what the deal means for the efficacy of the global minimum tax going forward. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
Transcribe →What an IRS CEO Means for Tax Administration, Agency Functions
Oct 800:15:12Tap to summarizeTaxpayer advocates are keeping close watch on this week's decision to name Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano as CEO of the IRS, and have many questions about what it could mean for the agency. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday he was creating a new IRS CEO position, and Republicans in Congress seem to be generally supportive, though some said the White House should still name an IRS commissioner nominee. The Treasury Department assured staff in GOP Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley's office that a commissioner nominee would still be sent to the Senate. At the same time, the Senate Finance Committee voted Wednesday to advance Derek Theurer's nomination to be undersecretary for legislative affairs and Donald Korb's nomination to be IRS chief counsel. That's good news for Pete Sepp —president of the National Taxpayers Union, a taxpayer advocacy group—who is concerned that many of the top IRS positions remained unfilled. Sepp, who sat down with Bloomberg Tax Senior Reporter Chris Cioffi for this episode of Talking Tax, said Congress is right to seek answers about how the CEO job interacts with the commissioner. He said he hoped the CEO position, in the future, would be selected by an IRS oversight board that has been dormant for more than a decade. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
Transcribe →How Transfer Pricing Can Help Fix a Student Athlete Pay Problem
Oct 100:12:39Tap to summarizeEver since student athletes gained the right to be compensated for use of their image in advertisements and merchandise sales, the money has flooded in, but so have some problems. While the athletes can now be compensated for their name, image, and likeness—or NIL—schools still can't directly pay them for playing, and the NCAA has rejected any notion of "pay-for-play." Instead, athletes can receive compensation when merchandise with their name or number is sold or for showing up in advertisements or social media posts for businesses. But the line between NIL and pay-for-play can get blurry. A business owner who wants to support the team could overpay an athlete in an NIL deal, raising a question: Is it a bona fide business deal? On this week's episode of Talking Tax, University of Kentucky professor Stephen Lusch talks with reporter Caleb Harshberger about how transfer pricing and tax law concepts can help show whether the deals are done at reasonable prices that really reflect the value the student brings. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
Transcribe →Hashing Out US-World Tensions on 'Side-by-Side' Global Tax Deal
Sep 2400:13:53Tap to summarizeAbout three months have passed since Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the US, along with its Group of Seven allies, agreed to work on a system that would exempt American companies from parts of the global minimum tax. In that time, the US proposed a technical solution to separate its tax system from the global minimum tax. But other countries have raised concerns about what the US position means for their own tax sovereignty and whether their companies will be left at a competitive disadvantage compared to their American counterparts. In this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporters Saim Saeed and Lauren Vella hash out these countries' frustrations and discuss the feasibility of coming to an agreement on a "side-by-side" system by Dec. 31, the deadline suggested by the Trump administration. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
Transcribe →How IRS Attorney Departures Will Prolong Cases, Spur Settlements
Sep 1700:12:41Tap to summarizeBig job cuts and reductions in resources at the IRS are liable to prolong disputes over tax bills and force the agency to leave money on the table when cases are finally resolved. More than 170 attorneys have withdrawn from representing the IRS in cases in US Tax Court since Donald Trump became president in January, according to a Bloomberg Tax analysis. Many have quit the IRS altogether amid a major exodus of employees. Some Justice Department attorneys who represented the IRS in tax disputes in federal appeals courts have also left, moves that could impact some of the biggest, most prominent tax-related cases in the courts. The diminished resources suggest it’ll take longer to resolve cases, former attorneys and former IRS and DOJ officials say. The IRS may also be pushed into considering settlements in some cases where perhaps it wouldn’t otherwise. That would mean settling cases on less favorable terms for the agency, and potentially give taxpayers a leg up in dealing with the IRS. In this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax senior reporter Michael Rapoport discusses the attorney departures and their implications, as well as attorneys’ frustrations about their jobs and fears about the future that prompted some to leave the IRS. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
Transcribe →Companies Face Tariff-Induced Transfer Pricing Audit Risks
Sep 1200:12:34Tap to summarizePresident Donald Trump's widespread tariffs are boosting tax dispute risks for companies that are scrambling to understand how to factor the new trade duties into their transfer pricing and tax planning without attracting an audit. Tariffs raise the prices of imported goods, meaning companies importing products from their own affiliates may have to—or want to—adjust the pricing of those transactions to meet transfer pricing rules that require them to treat the deals as though they were done at arm's length, with unrelated parties. The added cost of the tariff will likely knock the pricing for many goods out of that arm's-length range, so companies may have to adjust these prices to stay compliant. Additionally, companies may be able to make adjustments to mitigate the tariff impacts by reducing the price the US entity pays for the good. These adjustments can attract scrutiny, however, from both tax and customs agencies. And growing geopolitical tensions may make it hard for companies to rely on tax dispute resolution mechanisms like mutual agreement procedures. In this episode of the Talking Tax Podcast, Crowe LLP transfer pricing practice leader Sowmya Varadharajan talked with reporter Caleb Harshberger about the choices, and risks, companies are facing. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
Transcribe →