Long Island accountant Marvin Schaffer was arrested for scalping U.S. Open tickets near the will-call booth at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium on Aug. 31.

The latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that while the unemployment rate ticked slightly up this past August, 9.5 percent to 9.6, the private sector actually added about 67,000 jobs, the eight straight month in a row this has happened. By contrast, government employment fell, mainly due to the shedding of about 114,000 temporary census jobs.

The sentencing for David G. Friehling, the auditor of notorious Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, has been delayed until March 18, 2011, according to a spokesperson for U.S. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Manhattan.

Society CPA members should be on the lookout for a Sept. 1 special issue of The Trusted Professional. It will come in a cellophane wrapper with balloting materials for a membership vote on proposed revisions to the NYSSCPA Code of Professional Conduct and a proposed bylaws change that would create a new associate category of Society membership.

The set of proposed amendments to the Code of Professional Conduct are intended to bring the code in line with the New York State Accountancy Reform Law of 2009. The other proposed change to the bylaws would add a new category of associate membership for non-CPAs working under the supervision of a CPA in industry, government or academia. These changes were unanimously approved by the NYSSCPA Board of Directors on July 13, after receiving approval from the Executive Committee.

A law amendment in Chapter 340 of the Laws of 2010, amended Title 15 of Article 5 of the New York State General Obligations Law, excludes from its requirements a power of attorney created on a form prescribed by a governmental agency for a governmental purpose.

As of Sept. 12, 2010 State Tax Form POA-1 will not require acknowledgment or witnessing if the appointed representative is licensed to practice in the state of New York as a certified public accountant, or public accountant, an attorney-at-law, or is a New York state resident enrolled as an agent to practice before the Internal Revenue Service. The acknowledgement requirement for the representative's signature would also no longer be required for the Department of Taxation and Finance power of attorney.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been ranked as the number two organization to work for in the federal government for the second year in a row.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has spent $600 million in overtime pay from January 2008 and December 2009, with 144 MTA employees doubling their annual income through overtime pay, according to an audit released Aug. 5 by the Office of the New York State Comptroller.

The President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) released its report today on tax reform options designed to achieve three goals: simplify the tax system, improve taxpayer compliance and reform the corporate tax system.

Congressmen Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) and Michael Conaway (R-TX), both CPAs, are speaking out against the IRS' new requirement for all paid tax-return preparers to register for a preparer tax identification number (PTIN), saying the new rule will increase paperwork, costs and confusion over preparer qualifications.

This week, David Lifson was quoted in a New York Times article about a new requirement beginning next year that corporations provide a brief description of their uncertain tax positions and their rationale.