Tax Segment P5 - Ethics Code

Something that is wrong but not illegal is a good way to say that something is unethical. Usually something that is ethical is something that is legal, but not always. Something what is legal or within the law can also be wrong (or unethical). Our history is full of instances where something is legal but now considered unethical (or wrong). You get the idea.

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Use The CPA Journal, What is Ethics and NIEHS, IRS Circular 230, Form 2848, Form 2848 Instructions, Form 8821 to complete this part.

Please just print the page which the links goes to and not the links that are within that page.

1. Accountants in industry are often key to the planning and control processes of their organizations.       

True False

2. A professional whom is in a good position to discover organizational wrongdoing because of their heavy involvement in their companies' planning and control processes.

A. An accountant.
B. An attorney.
C. A painter.
D. A doctor.

3. Some people, both inside and outside the profession, would view the accountant's decision to blow the whistle as

A. Morally justifiable.
B. Professionally justifiable.
C. Harmful to the employing organization and would advise against doing so.
D. Any of the above.

4. This causes the greater amount of turmoil, creating an atmosphere of unpleasantness that may lead to retaliation against the whistleblower. 

A. Wrongdoing reporting.
B. Inside Snitching.
C. Internal Whistle-blowing.
D. External whistle-blowing.

5. As a member of any of the professional organizations, the accountant in industry is expected to comply with their

A. Codes of ethical conduct.
B. Tax Prepare license guidelines.
C. Law enforcement agencies.
D. Board of Accountancy.

6. MAs have an obligation to the organizations they serve, their profession, the public, and themselves. The IMA, in its Standards of Ethical Conduct for Management Accountants, state that: "Management accountants have a responsibility to refrain from disclosing confidential information... to communicate unfavorable information..., and to disclose all relevant information..."                   

True False

7. The AICPA's Code of Professional Conduct states that members should act with integrity, guided by the precept that when members fulfill their responsibility to best serve

A. The public interest.
B. Their clients' interests.
C. Employers' interests.
D. All of the above.

8. According to the "What is Ethics" article, being ethical is clearly

A. A matter of following one's feelings.
B. Not a matter of following one's feelings.
C. Has to do with religious beliefs.
D. Doing what the law requires.

9. According to the "What is Ethics" article, ethics is the same as religion.        

True False

10. Our own pre-Civil war slavery laws and the apartheid laws of present-day South Africa are

A. Examples of feeling of right and wrong.
B. Examples of religious beliefs.
C. Grotesquely obvious examples of laws that deviate from what is ethical.
D. All of the above.

11. Being ethical is not the same as doing "whatever society accepts". In any society, most people accept standards that are, in fact, ethical. An entire society can become ethically corrupt. According to the article, a good example of a morally corrupt society is

A. Drug problem in the American continent.
B. Nazi Germany.
C. The war in the Middle East.
D. All of the above.

12. According to the article, the following is what ethic is.

A. Well based standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness or specific virtues.
B. Those standards that impose the reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud.
C. The continuous effort of studying to ensure that we live up to standards that are reasonable and solidly-based.
D. All of the above.

13. Ethical standards include standards relating to rights, such as the right to life, the right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy.                     

True False

14. The law often incorporates ethical standards to which most citizens subscribe. Therefore, being ethical is the same as following the law.                    

True False

15. Ethical norms tend to be broader and more informal than laws. Although most societies use laws to enforce widely accepted moral standards and ethical and legal rules use similar concepts, it is important to remember

A. That ethics and law are not the same.
B. That if an action is legal it is ethical.
C. That ethics and law are the same.
D. None of the above.

16.  Strive for honesty in all scientific communications. Honestly, report data, results, methods and procedures, and publication status. Do not fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent date. Do not deceive colleagues, granting agencies, or the public. This is an example of

A. Adopted specific code by different professional associations, government agencies, and universities have.
B. What ethics is.
C. What ethics is not.
D. None of the above.

17. Although codes, policies, and principles are very important and useful, like any set of rules, they do not cover every situation that arises in research, they often conflict, and they require considerable interpretation.               

True False

18. Another way of defining "Ethics" focuses on the disciplines that study standards of conduct, such as philosophy, theology, law, psychology or sociology.        

True False

19. This is the most common way of defining "Ethics": Ethics are norms for conduct that distinguish between or acceptable and unacceptable behavior. When most people think of ethics (or morals), they think of

A. Rules for distinguishing between right and wrong, such as the Golden Rule ("Do onto others as you would have them do onto you").
B. A code of professional conduct like the Hippocratic Oath ("First of all, do no harm").
C. A religious creed like the Ten Commandments ("Thou shalt not kill...") or wise aphorisms like the saying of Confucius.
D. Any of the above.

20. One plausible explanation for so many ethical disputes and issues in our society is that all people recognize some common ethical norms but different individuals interpret, apply, and balance these norms in different ways in light of their own values and life experiences.