The Protectors for Big Business –

SOX 404

THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT was promulgated in the USA on July 30, 2002, primarily in response to the major corporate and accounting scandals in the USA such as Enron , Tyco International , Peregrine Systems, and WorldCom . Sarbanes-Oxley (also known as SOX or Sarbox) was promulgated to restore investor confidence in the reliability of the information provided by companies trading their stocks on USA stock exchanges.

SOX 404, which is an acronym for Sarbanes-Oxley Act , 2002 section 404, states, Read More

The Protectors for Big Business

Introducing the Protectors

THE TERMINOLOGY MAKES one think of these acronyms as famous sporting teams. But as famous sporting teams command attention, so do these regulations insofar as they impact on tax risk. What follows is a brief summary of these regulations, their impact on tax risk management, and why an orchestrated Tax Risk Management process will help with overall regulatory compliance.

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Communication to Eliminate Tax Risk –

Communication and Beyond Tax Risk Management

IN AN ATTEMPT to address the occurrence of material weaknesses under SOX 404 (dealt with in chapter 8), and in an attempt to limit these exposures, Margaret S. Thomas CPA in her lecture notes on “Sarbanes-Oxley 404: Compliance and Beyond,” 2006 states that “an ethical cultural environment should be created in any business. Management should create policies that create a positive environment for employees, without fear of reprisal, to report unusual occurrences. All incidents of alleged fraud or discrepancies must be investigated promptly and action taken. Employees must be encouraged to come forward with any information that may have an impact on the business.” Read More

Communication to Eliminate Tax Risk –

Tax Risk Management Web Interface System —V1.01 –

On-the-Radar Screen Issues

This is one of the key areas. This displays all tasks that have been identified by the tax team as risk areas within the organization and are known to the IRS. These risks have been quantified, and a total value of the overall tax risk exposure is displayed.

Off-the-Radar Screen Issues

This is another key area. This displays all tasks that have been identified by the tax team Read More

Communication to Eliminate Tax Risk –

Tax Risk Management Web Interface System —V1.01

The Tax Risk Management Web Interface design should entail some of the following features:

– Interface customization according to each division in the business to be separately identifiable, with a consolidation option.

– Log on through a three-level log-on secure method:

– Username Read More

Communication to Eliminate Tax Risk

Tax Risk Management Web Interface System —V1.01

The purpose of this IT specification of a Tax Risk Management Web Interface System (phew! a mouthful of IT jargon, but simply put as the “Tax Risk Management Web Interface”) is to determine an organization’s tax risk and from that point forward to help manage that tax risk. The Tax Risk Management Web Interface is one of the key Tax Risk Management tools used.

The following aspects are important in the execution of Tax Risk Management Web Interface: Read More

Communication to Eliminate Tax Risk –

The Communication Questions

THE QUESTIONS PUT to the operations divisions in the business that will require regular review, as part of the Tax Risk Management strategy, will include the following:

• Do you know which perks or fringe benefits are subject to VAT?
• Have you accounted for VAT on any perks or fringe benefits?
• Have you exported any goods or services?
• Have you imported any software over the Internet and accounted for the VAT?
• Are your export documents 100% compliant with the tax regulations? Have you actually Read More