SEC chair Paul Atkins has decided to sweep the board.

In a much-anticipated move, the SEC announced on January 30 the appointment of four new members to the PCAOB, replacing Kara Stein, whose term was set to expire in October of this year; Anthony Thompson, whose term was up in October 2027; and Christina Ho, who announced her resignation in December 2025. Acting chair George Botic will remain on the audit board as a member.

Demetrios (“Jim”) Logothetis, a retired EY partner with 40 years’ experience, will serve as PCAOB chair. The other new board members include two men who already hold roles in the Trump administration: economist Mark Calabria, who is associate director and chief statistician with the US Office of Management and Budget and senior advisor to the office of the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and Kyle Hauptman, chair of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

Attorney Steven Laughton, who was Christina Ho’s board counsel, is the other new PCAOB member.

Keep reading.—CV

Accountants and CFOs, brace yourselves for IRS gridlock this filing season.

Reduced staffing levels, new tax legislation, and a backlog of taxpayer correspondence could combine to make for a difficult tax season, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) warned in a January 26 memo. And it backed up that claim with plenty of quantitative evidence.

IRS staffing levels were down 19% in October 2025, TIGTA said. The number of “key filing season” staff, whose tasks include processing and fixing returns and answering taxpayer questions on the phone, was down by 17%.

The government shutdown that began October 1 (IRS employees returned to normal operations on November 13) and the agency’s new hiring policies, which state that the IRS CEO and the Department of the Treasury must approve job postings and individual hires, have also slowed down the hiring process.

Keep reading.—CV

Companies are increasingly willing to shell out more money on shorter-duration software contracts if it gives them the opportunity to test-drive the newest AI tools.

A January IT Brew poll found that almost half (48%) of 283 respondents have inked shorter software contracts to keep up with the latest and greatest AI tools. Another poll showed that 49% of 380 respondents have seen at least a 25% price hike on these short-lived contracts.

Trial run. Michael Hornby, CEO of tech service provider Techmentum, said he is seeing clients opt for shorter contracts and even monthly subscriptions for AI tools, partly because the tools are new and they don’t know what to expect.

“It’s like marrying someone before you date them,” Hornby said. “You don’t really know what you’re getting yourself into.”

Keep reading on IT Brew.—BM

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