The 2012 Elections: What Do They Mean for Accountants?—NYT, WSJ, FT, Private Equity, Accounting Today, CPA Trendlines, Reason

Media Vary on Whether Election Increases or Decreases  Uncertainty;  Concur It’s Good for Business

A number of media outlets have begun to weigh in on the topic. At Accounting Today, the editors have put together a topical list of some of the relevant issues:

Check out all of our post-election coverage and find out what the results mean for accounting and tax professionals:

• Tax Reform Prospects Dim in Wake of Election
• Accounting PACs See Wins in Senate
• Obama Re-Election Likely to Result in Major Tax Changes
• Obama Wins Re-Election, Pledging to Reform Tax Code
• Planning in Case the Tax Cuts Go Away Next Year
• Post-Election Tax Policy Direction Remains Unclear
• Obama Needs to Hammer out a Tax Deal with Congress

 Two days after the election, Accounting Today added:  Tax Reform Prospects Dim in Wake of Election.” 

CPA Trendlines opines that right now “it may also be the best busy season for accountants since the Crash of ’07.”   

The “fiscal cliff” or “taxmageddon” is hardly likely to get resolved any time soon, but may get kicked down the road, maybe as far as a year from now, according to some tax mavens I’ve heard from.   At the same time, however, Obama needs no cooperation from Congress for several ground-breaking initiatives to continue.

1. The Affordable Health Care Act will keep rolling out through 2014.
2. New Dodd-Frank regulations will continue to pile up.
3. And there’s little doubt that the Bush tax cuts will expire at the end of the year, along with the AMT patch, the payroll tax cut and a bevy of smaller business and stimulus tax cuts. Taxes, at least in the higher brackets, are going up.

 

The 2012 busy season was the best in years, according to accountants surveyed by CPA Trendlines, and 2013 is shaping up as even better — better in revenue and better in profits.

At The New York Times Dealbook blog, Andrew Ross Sorkin notes “The Election Won’t Solve All Puzzles.” 

Here comes more uncertainty.

It may sound counterintuitive, but whatever the outcome of the election—whether President Obama or Mitt Romney wins—the economy and markets are likely to face more uncertainty, not less, over the coming year.

Initially, the London-based Financial Times disagreed, declaring “Markets Welcome Clarity as Obama Wins Second Term,” noting initial Asian and European reaction.  

But the U.S. markets on Wednesday had a different reaction.  

“Dow Plunges 312.95 to 3-Month Low, “The Wall Street Journal reported November 8th, that it isn’t necessarily for a single clear reason:  “The financial markets took a header Wednesday on (take your pick) the return of European troubles, the risk of a Beltway breakdown over the looming tax cliff, or the greater prospect of a major tax increase arriving in 2013.”

Private Equity International one day before the election identified “How the US Election could change private equity:  Five ways in which the US election campaign might change private equity, regardless of the result of tomorrow’s election.”    

1. Changes to the Tax Treatment of Carried Interest  

2. Changes to the Tax Treatment of Debt

3. A More Intelligent Debate About Job Creation  

4. A More Active Role for Big LPs   

5. More (and Bigger) Political Donations

Reason Magazine weighs in with a brief video from its editor: “Obama Wins and Nothing Changes; The Wildly Unpopular Status Quo Is Ratified!”   Billions of dollars were spent and the result was . . .  today’s existing status quo.  The same president.  The same Senate.  The same House.    

Earlier, David Brooks at the New York Times queried:   “It could of course be that Obama keeps the White House and the current Congress stays basically the same. In that circumstance, then it would be time to fire the voters. They say the country is heading in the wrong direction. They want change. They rehire the management. What’s up with that?”

The 2012 Election Results, and Looming 2013 Tax Changes, Will Keep Accountants Busy