NACUBO On Your Side: September 6–18, 2023
9/18/2023
As things move quickly in Washington, DC, NACUBO is your constant advocate in action. NACUBO On Your Side covers important legislative and agency activity NACUBO staff are tracking, what we’re currently advocating for, and how you can take action with us.
Here are the issues we are tracking and advocating for this week.
Agency Action
IRS Halts Processing ERC Claims Through End of the Year
After clearing a backlog of valid employee retention credit claims, the IRS announced a moratorium on processing new claims through the end of this year. During this pause, the IRS will implement additional safeguards intended to protect taxpayers from the aggressive marketing and predatory tactics by certain firms to ineligible applicants.
CFPB Report Looks at Higher Education Payment Plans
On September 14, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a report, “Tuition Payment Plans in Higher Education,” which examines the uses of tuition payment plans by colleges and universities. NACUBO data show that over 95% of institutions make these useful tools available to students to assist in paying for their education.
Research
CUPA-HR Employee Retention Survey Finds New High for Employee Turnover
The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) has shared results from its 2023 Higher Education Employee Retention Survey, which asked nearly 5,000 members of the higher education workforce. CUPA-HR found that the 2022-23 academic year had the highest voluntary turnover of exempt and non-exempt full-time staff since 2017-18. The findings align with NACUBO’s recently published Top 5 Higher Education Business Issues of 2023 project, which named workforce issues as one of the primary challenges facing business officers.
Advocacy
IPEDS Finance Working Group Will Have NACUBO Representation
NACUBO’s senior director of accounting policy, Sue Menditto, has been invited to the IPEDS Finance Working Group. Working group members will provide their expertise and perspectives on higher education financial reporting topics in an effort to improve the quality and usability of finance survey data.
Research Shows Broad Support for Universal Charitable Deduction
A poll by Independent Sector found nearly unanimous support for expanding charitable giving incentives for taxpayers who do not itemize deductions. Importantly, 87% of respondents support permanently restoring the universal charitable deduction for all taxpayers, and 82% support expanding the deduction to up to $4,500 for all Americans. As a member of the Charitable Giving Coalition, NACUBO has advocated for the 118th Congress to pass the Charitable Act to renew and expand the universal charitable deduction.
Accounting
GASB Tackles New Project
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has added a project on accounting and financial reporting issues for subsequent events to its current technical agenda. GASB’s objectives are to address challenges with existing guidance, improve reporting consistency, and clarify the definition of subsequent events. Given the nine-month due date time for single audits, NACUBO will follow this important project.
