Employers of people who bicycle to work stand to gain a $20 per month tax credit per cycling employee, according to the Senate’s version of the Wall Street bailout bill, H.R. 1424.

The bill passed yesterday by a vote of 74 for and 25 against the bill and now goes to the House for a vote. The bicycle tax provision was part of an additional $110 billion in line items added to the already $700 billion bailout package.

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Senate Bailout Bill… to Benefit Bikers for $20/mo?

Increased scrutiny of company finances and accounting procedures will continue to create opportunities for accountants, particularly CPAs. Management accountants and internal auditors are also in higher demand to discover and eliminate fraud before audits. Efforts to make government agencies more efficient and accountable will increase demand for government accountants. And the government’s watchdog role requires forensic accountants to detect illegal financial activity by individuals, companies, and organized crime rings.

Strong growth of accountant jobs is expected over the next decade. Employment of accountants and auditors combined is expected to grow by a quarter-million jobs between 2006 and 2016, faster than the average for all occupations. Continued expansion of the number of businesses, changing financial laws and corporate governance regulations, and increased accountability for protecting an organization’s stakeholders will drive growth. Increased demand also arises from annual changes in the tax code, financial reporting standards, and business mergers and acquisitions.

The IRS said the scheme usually works by the victim paying the scam operator a fee for preparation of a false refund claim and possibly a percentage of any refund received. This hoax fleeces the victims for the up-front preparation fee. Plus, the law does not allow such a refund of Social Security taxes paid, so participants could be subject to a penalty for filing a false tax return.

“The IRS is very concerned that some people in the metro Atlanta area have fallen for this scam,” said IRS spokesman Mark Green. “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Getting a refund of Social Security taxes is generally not an option and, in this case, it’s not legal.”

The federal government discovered the scam when workers in the Atlanta IRS office noticed several people coming in and asking for copies of their Social Security income statements. When questioned, some of the people explained a person was preparing refund claims for them.

The IRS said it is still gathering information and working to stop the scam. But taxpayers who got a refund from one of the false claims before the scam was detected must return the funds. If they have cashed the check, the IRS said it will usually work with them to arrange an immediate return of the funds.