Auditors' Tax Advice Shelf Life Extended 6 Months

Peekaboo is giving a sop to accounting firms it appears!

Rule 3523 or "Tax Services for Persons in Financial Reporting Oversight Roles" was adopted on July 26, 2005 and approved by the SEC on April 19, 2006. This rule prohibits auditors from providing any tax services to persons in a financial reporting oversight role at an audit client during the "audit and professional engagement period". As it is likely that the audit firm was providing tax services before it became an auditor, the PCAOB wants to revisit the language vis a vis to only the "audit period". While it thinks through this change, the rule 3523's application has been now delayed to April 30, 2007 from October 30, 2006, thus giving audit firms an additional six months to comply with the rule