There may be a bright side to indirect taxes. In a new CFO advisory, Deloitte said that companies could receive a much-needed refund due to past overpayments. How much money? Up to 2 percent to 3 percent of sales, Deloitte claims, based on its work on clients’ sales taxes.

The idea of value added tax (VAT), which is already in use in more than 130 countries, is looking more appealing to legislators who need to find cash to combat the growing federal deficit.

Corporate tax pros looking for a change should check out job opportunities with the IRS. Under President Obama's 2010 budget proposal, the agency would receive a $400 million increase in funding. This money would be used to beef up the IRS' tax enforcement efforts, which would include hiring new talent.

Companies with a wellness program not only have healthier workers and lower health care costs, but soon they could also save money on taxes if Congress passes the Healthy Workforce Act, which would give companies that offer "effective and comprehensive" health promotion programs a tax break. The bill will certainly appeal to the White House, as it casts about for ways to slam the brakes on rising health care costs.

Should college athletic programs be taxed as businesses? Sports programs are big moneymakers for colleges, and like other nonprofits, colleges and universities are generally exempt from federal income tax because they provide a public service and benefit. However, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), athletic programs "derive a considerably larger share of their revenue from commercial activities than do other parts of the universities." So the question becomes: Are college athletics programs primarily commercial rather than educational?

The Senate Finance Committee, which has been discussing policy options for financing health-care reform, has so far come up with a hodge-podge of proposals for savings within the current health-care system cobbled together with a bunch of health-care-related and "lifestyle-related" revenue raisers. Options to modify the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance are firmly on the agenda, as are some modifications to health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs). Also included are "lifestyle-related" schemes, which would slap an excise tax on alcohol and "sugar-sweetened beverages."

The new administration's plans for a fundamental reshaping of the national health-care ecosystem may mean a drastic revision of the time-hallowed tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance. If the idea of taxing corporate health benefits to pay for government health benefits seems perverse, it's good to remember that, in the view of some economists, not doing so seems equally odd. Princeton economics professor Uwe E. Reinhardt looks at the basic issues raised by proposals to scrap, or at least cap, the exclusion.

Global investors are demanding stricter corporate governance and compliance requirements for publicly held companies. Read this Oracle white paper in the BPM Resource Center to learn more about the issues, new principles, and technologies underlying these new requirements.

The 6th Annual BPM Summit 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 access to the audio and slide shows from the keynote presentations at our on-demand archive.

Has the downturn helped or hampered tax executives' quest for a more strategic and proactive role? What tactics and technologies are tax leaders embracing to steer through economic turmoil? Help us track the forces shaping today's tax departments by participating in this 10-minute survey. All of the information you provide will be kept strictly confidential. The results will be presented in an upcoming issue of Business Finance. If you respond by June 26, you'll be entered into a drawing for one of two $100 Visa gift cards!

Because you're a part of the Business Finance community and we've entered into a partnership with Palladium, you can SAVE $1000* off Palladium's Planning & Budgeting Conference, June 11-12 in Boston, with code BFNL! Hear best practice examples from American Express, APQC, Electronic Arts, Giant Eagle, Inc., Google, HP, Lenovo, Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation (LWWC), Millipore Corporation, The Stanley Works, Wal-Mart, and More! Click here or call 800.554.2111 to register.