AICPA Ethics Committee Finalizes New Independence Rules for Tax Services
PEEC revised the Tax Services interpretation of the Code of Professional Conduct, adding express coverage of tax advisory and planning work for attest clients. Effective January 15, 2027, with early implementation permitted.
What PEEC Finalized
What Actually Changed
- Tax advisory and tax planning services for attest clients are now expressly covered, where the earlier interpretation did not address them specifically
- The "more likely than not" threshold that appeared in earlier drafts was dropped in favor of professional judgment factors
- A standalone factor addressing transactions that lack economic substance was removed, and those situations fall under the broader guidance on support in the tax law
- The guidance walks through evaluating advocacy and self-review threats, the two that tax work raises most often
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Brennan Kolar
Founder, Atlas CPA Index
Brennan Kolar is the founder of Atlas CPA Index, an independent CPA review comparison platform covering all 55 U.S. jurisdictions. With over 10 years of experience with CPA review, he built Atlas to help candidates find the right review course based on how they actually learn, not which provider has the biggest ad budget.
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