Financial reporting

Planning to pass a business to the next generation, or to non-family members, involves a combination of complex issues requiring legal, tax, financial and management planning.Too often, a business owner devotes her entire career to building the enterprise, but fails to plan for the future of the business. When a thorough succession plan is in place, however, the business owner can anticipate and effectively manage change. The process must involve family members, professional advisors, shareholders, partners and key employees. A successful plan will address many issues, the more common of which are: the decision to pass the business to family, or sell the business to outsiders; the death, disability or retirement of the owner or co-owner; tax and estate planning; and the retention of key employees.

For contributions, bequests, and gifts made after Aug. 17, 2006, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 limits deductions for charitable contributions of fractional interests in tangible personal property. It also provides rules for valuing the donor's additional fractional interest contributions, and provides for recapture of the charitable deduction.In calculating deductions, the PPA requires consistent valuation of all the fractional interests in the same item (or collection of items) of property that has appreciated in value since the initial contribution.

I went to Central High School of Philadelphia. I hear it now. Big whoop! Actually, it is. It is the oldest public high school in the country (founded 1836), the second oldest high school in the U.S. (Boston Latin is first), and was originally called Centre College, as part of the University of Pennsylvania. It had only boys and you needed to pass an entrance exam to get in. If you graduated at a certain level, you would be granted a Bachelor of Arts degree as set by the state. And, my other claim to fame is that Bill Cosby and I were classmates.

H&R Block Inc. said that it will provide better and more transparent notification to customers detailing all the costs tied to its refund anticipation loans.

My first visit to Las Vegas 30 years ago, consisted of a two-night stay at a long-since razed flophouse called “The Lone Palm Motel,” and the $1.99 dinner buffet at Circus Circus -- which I’m told still exists in some form.

According to the American Society of Appraisers, many chief executives and company presidents simply don’t know what their own company is worth and, as a result, they are making corporate decisions from an unenviable position.So, the society is now offering specific tips to understand why every company needs to have a current business valuation.

As a study from the American Institute of CPAs put it, Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 “are caught between a Baby Boomer rock and a fiscal hard place.”The institute recently commissioned the study to examine the spending and saving habits of the so-called Generation Y. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are approximately 40 million Americans in the demographic.

I always believed that New York had a deserved reputation of aggressively going after individuals regarding whether they have New York residency with regard to collection of its income and estate taxes.

I’ve heard it repeated time and time again that the Baby Boomers are heading for the proverbial fiscal train wreck because they are simply under funded, notwithstanding repeated warnings all over the landscape about the need to save money.

The Internal Revenue Service announced adjustments to the dollar limitations set for pension plans in the 2007 tax year.

AMERITAS DIRECT ROLLS OUT NO-LOAD ANNUITY: Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. has unveiled its Genesis No-Load Variable Annuity, distributed via its Ameritas Direct unit, which markets the No-Load series of insurance and annuity products to self-directed consumers.Ameritas Direct designed the Genesis Variable Annuity, which features no commission, no sales charge, no withdrawal charge and no policy fee. (Gains are taxed as ordinary income and additional penalties may apply to withdrawals made prior to age 59-1/2.)

Do you have clients who complain that their life insurance was supposed to be paid up by now, but it isn't? Notices from their insurance companies may even indicate that their suggested premium payment has increased, or that their policies are about to lapse.Do you have clients whose investment-type life insurance policy is not performing as projected? Ever have clients cancel their life insurance and get a taxable statement of gain? This can even happen if their policy lapses and they get nothing back (they had a paper gain).

"The individual investor should act consistently as an investor and not as a speculator. This means that he should be able to justify every purchase he makes and each price he pays by impersonal, objective reasoning that satisfies him that he is getting more than his money's worth for his purchase."These are the words of Benjamin Graham, a stock market investor and economist who was famous for remarkable returns from investing in stocks, value investing and influencing Warren Buffet.

A Senate panel’s review of interactions between imprisoned former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a number of tax-exempt organizations had lead the committee to question the groups’ tax status and a portion of the federal Tax Code dealing with unrelated business income taxes.

Merrill Lynch, considered the world's largest employer of brokers, is now undergoing a change on what it is teaching its trainees. Instead of instructing them on how to make cold calls, they are putting those new employees in classrooms that emphasize statistical analysis, financial planning, and wealth management. Merrill’s new training program specifically covers the Monte Carlo analysis and they also have psychology classes such as behavioral finance.

Improving the accounting and disclosures for mergers and acquisitions by non-profit organizations is the aim of two exposure drafts released by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has asked for information on the NCAA’s finances -- suggesting in the process that he might next be questioning the association to justify its tax-exempt status. "Most of the activities undertaken by educational organizations clearly further their (tax) exempt purpose," Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., wrote in a letter to NCAA president Myles Brand. "The exempt purpose of intercollegiate athletics, however, is less apparent, particularly in the context of major college football and men's basketball programs." Specifically, Thomas asked for information on the NCAA’s television contract, the salaries of coaches, school sports facilities and total annual revenues and expenditures for Division I-A football programs and Division I basketball programs. He requested a response by the end of this month. Since 2004, the Ways and Means committee of Representatives has been conducting a broad review of the tax-exempt sector -- already looking into the tax-exempt status of nonprofit hospitals and credit unions among others. The NCAA's projected 2006-07 budget anticipates nearly $563 million in revenue, most from its TV contracts. More than half that figure is distributed to member leagues and schools, through student-athlete welfare, academic-enhancement and other programs. The remainder is paid according to the success of schools in the annual NCAA men's basketball tournament. Thomas notes in his letter that the annual returns filed by the NCAA with the IRS states that the primary purpose of the NCAA is to "maintain intercollegiate athletics as an integral part of the educational program and the athlete as an integral part of the student body,” and goes on to obliquely question college athletics' connection to higher education.

It’s no secret that more and more people are turning to professionals for help in preparing their financial future. The problem becomes a question of who do you actually turn to for such advice. Manarin Investment Counsel based in Omaha, Nebraska, is an independent investment advisory firm offering professional financial planning and investment management services to small businesses, families, and individuals. Founded in 1983 by Roland Manarin, who immigrated to Omaha from northern Italy at the age of 10, it is an independent, fee-based investment advisor registered with the SEC. Manarin has some 30 years of experience working as a professional in investment management. He says that he educates the public in a variety of ways including a Wealth-Building Seminar Series, which he has presented since 1977 teaching investors to ignore conventional wisdom and practice true wealth-building strategies,a weekly radio talk show, "It’s Your Money," that he hosts, and a quarterly newsletter -- not to mention numerous lectures around the country. In 2004, he was named one of "America's Best Wealth Advisors" by Barron's and in 2005 was selected as a keynote speaker for the "Excellence in Financial Planning Conference." Manarin feels there is a basic question the vast majority of Americans face: Do you ‘go it alone’ when it comes to planning your financial future, investments, and savings plans; or do you get the help of an ‘expert’ to guide you through the process and ensure you get the most bang for your buck? “Increasingly, most of us choose to seek professional help. But to whom do you turn to and trust? There are five essential facts one needs to know before hiring a financial professional.”

I speak at numerous conventions and conferences, and attendees sometimes contact me for additional information about abusive tax shelters and Circular 230.Among other things, Circular 230 sets forth the requirements for disclosure of certain tax shelter transactions by tax professionals. Regulations also impose new obligations on tax professionals, and on taxpayers engaged in any kind of tax-avoidance transaction.

A surviving spouse who is the sole beneficiary of the balance remaining in their deceased spouse's traditional IRA may leave the account as it is, or roll over the decedent's IRA into their own IRA, or elect to treat the IRA as their own for all purposes, including the rules of IRC §72(t) as to the imposition of a 10 percent penalty tax if the amount in the IRA is withdrawn before age 59-1/2.Whether a rollover to the surviving spouse's own IRA or an election to treat the deceased spouse's IRA as their own should be made depends mainly on the surviving spouse's age.