It has been a long time since financial accounting has been a topic of discussion in Congress, but suddenly it's in vogue as the House begins to consider a corporate tax reform bill. Rep. Dave Camp (R.-Mich.), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, held a hearing in February on how accounting rules affect corporate evaluations of potential changes to tax policy. This discussion generally devolves into a comparison of the financial accounting effects of lower corporate income tax rates vs. their effects with regard to retaining accelerated depreciation or expensing. Those accounting effects are important because corporate America is going to have to choose between lower rates and tax incentives. It can't have both.
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