It's time to put a ring fence around the tax function. However, protecting your company's tax accountants from escalating headcount reductions might not be so easy.

A proposal to extend the carryback period for net operating losses (NOLs) has resurfaced in President Obama's budget blueprint after all but vanishing from the stimulus bill. The proposal, one of the juicier business tax breaks in early versions of the stimulus package, lets companies apply NOLs against income that was taxed in the five years before 2008 instead of the two years allowed by current law, raising the prospect of sizable refunds.

The stimulus bill tossed a lifeline to companies that are having trouble meeting their debt obligations by allowing them to defer income tax on forgiven debt over five years and then spread the payments over another five years. Critics argued that the main beneficiaries of the tax break would be private-equity-owned firms that were among the most aggressive borrowers in the years leading up to the credit crisis. Seems that the critics were right.

Here are some steps finance executives can take to help lead their companies through difficult times and become stronger in the process.

Ireland's economy is in trouble, and now, as if the economic news isn't bad enough, the country has to endure a bout of whining from rock icon Bono, who says he feels "stung" and "hurt" by criticisms leveled at his band for moving its music publishing operation to the Netherlands to reduce its tax burden.

How far ahead can companies peer into the economic gloom? How are budgeting processes holding up in the downturn? Help us find out by participating in this 10-minute survey. If you respond by April 3, you will have the opportunity to enter into a drawing for one of two $100 Visa gift cards.

The 6th Annual BPM Summit, Generating Value Through Visibility, brought together some of the business world's foremost practitioners to explore the transformational role of finance in the enterprise. If you missed the live event, you can still enjoy unlimited access to the audio and slide shows from the keynote speaker presentations at our on-demand archive.

Tax departments are stretched dangerously thin. Technology can help, but most companies have a long way to go to realize the full benefits of automation, according to a Business Finance/Longview survey report.

U.S. companies are taking advantage of tax havens and "financial privacy jurisdictions," according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. It found that 83 of the top 100 U.S. companies by revenue have subsidiaries in questionable locations or jurisdictions with strict banking secrecy laws and 63 of the 100 largest publicly traded U.S. Federal contractors reported having subsidiaries in tax havens or financial privacy jurisdictions.