Private companies may win another one-year deferral from the Financial Accounting Standards Board on a requirement to disclose more information about uncertain tax positions.

In its weekly meeting today, FASB voted reluctantly to propose a one-year deferral on the effective date of Financial Interpretation No. 48 Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes for all non-public companies. FIN 48 is the controversial, tell-all interpretation of Financial Accounting Statement No. 109 Accounting for Income Taxes, requiring companies to disclose where they may have positions on their tax returns that may not hold up to scrutiny.

FASB adopted FIN 48 in 2006, and it became effective for public companies with the 2007 calendar year, despite their urgent appeal toward the end of 2006 for a one-year deferral. Non-public companies won a one-year deferral, however, on the argument that they didn’t get adequate information about the requirements of FIN 48 and needed more time to learn and apply them.

Now they’ve likely won a second one-year deferral as FASB staff still wrestles with guidance on how to apply FIN 48 to pass-through entities. “I take some responsibility for not following up and making sure we were making adequate progress to address the issue,” said FASB member Leslie Seidman in the board’s meeting.

The board toyed with various ideas to defer FIN 48 only for pass-through entities so that it would still apply to tax-paying C corporations that have already enjoyed a one-year reprieve from FIN 48. Ultimately, however, the board conceded those alternatives would result in scoping problems and complexities that were too big to swallow.

“I have a difficult time giving a blanket deferral to all private companies when there are a number of private companies that don’t have pass-through status,” he said. “They should have known the day was coming and should have been doing their homework.”

The board agreed it will task the staff to make meaningful progress on the guidance pass-through entities have been demanding and will pay closer attention to the training materials being distributed at various professional conferences to assure they adequately communicate imperatives regarding emerging accounting standards.