NYSSCPA Members in the News

John Lieberman (Manhattan/Bronx)
Donald Trump Claims He'll 'Fix' Tax System, So What Would He Do?
NBC News
The latest revelations about Donald Trump's taxes are pushing questions about his business record, personal finances, and transparency back into the campaign spotlight. But they also connect to a larger policy fight: Trump is calling for a significant decrease in taxes on the wealthy while Hillary Clinton is calling for a significant increase. That distinction is likely to come into sharper relief after a New York Times report that Trump, by claiming $916 million in business losses in 1995, may have been able to avoid paying federal income tax for up to eighteen years.

James Bowers (Syracuse)
Albion native awarded for non-profit community involvement
The Daily News
The New York State Society of CPAs announces that NYSSCPA member James Bowers, an Albion native and Syracuse-based CPA, has been chosen to receive the 2016 Urbach CPA Community Builders Award for his leadership in recovering a number of nonprofits throughout his career. The Urbach Award is named in honor of the late Michael H. Urbach, CPA, who was also a partner at Urbach, Kahn and Werlin (now called UHY Advisors); former NYS Commission of Tax and Finance; and former board leader of a number of charities.

Michelle Stabell (Rochester)
Tax filing extensions due October 17
WROC News 8
CPA Michelle Staebell discussed the upcoming tax extension deadline Monday on News 8 at Sunrise. "An extension is exactly what it sounds like, an extended time to file your tax return," said Staebell.  "Usually tax returns are due in April. If you file this extension, which is really easy, you don't even have to say why you are filing an extension. You have six months to file it, so that would bring you to October seventeenth this year to file your extended tax return."

Randy Siller (Westchester)
Randy P. Siller of Siller & Cohen Named Vice Chairman of the New York State Society of CPA’s Estate Planning Committee
InsuranceNewsNet.com
Randy P. Siller, CPA®*, CIMA®, partner of Siller & Cohen and registered representative of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., was recently appointed vice chairman of the Estate Planning Committee by the New York State Society of CPA's (NYSSCPA), serving a term of two years in this role. As vice chairman, Siller will help lead the Estate Planning Committee in underscoring the organization's mission to continue to educate clients and the general public about the transfer tax laws and latest planning techniques and strategies available today.

Other Accounting and Financial News Stories

The New IRS Email Scam Coming to Your Inbox
Wall Street Journal
Americans, beware: the Internal Revenue Service isn’t emailing you. Just recently, a new scam has started involving fake tax bills tied to the Affordable Care Act. In one sure sign the notices are fake, many are arriving by email—and the IRS doesn’t initiate taxpayer contact by email. Even so, some of the fakes are paper notices sent by regular mail and taxpayers should watch out. The new fraud attempt purports to be a CP-2000 notice from the IRS. Genuine versions of such notices are computer-generated letters asking for payment based on a mismatch between a taxpayer’s return and what’s reported by a third party, such as interest on a bank account.

AICPA ENGAGE to Feature Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary and Google Executive Abigail Posner
Digital Journal
With six conferences rolled into one, AICPA ENGAGE is a singular event for CPAs, financial planners, advisory professionals and the marketers who support them. Its programming is unique, too, with specialized keynotes and session panels for each conference and thought-provoking, high-level presentations from speakers designed to appeal to all attendees. AICPA ENGAGE, sponsored by the American Institute of CPAs in partnership with the Association for Accounting Marketing, will be held June 11-15, 2017, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Groups Push FASB to Require Multinational Companies to Disclose More Tax Information
Accounting Today
A group of advocacy organizations is urging the Financial Accounting Standards Board to require multinational companies to disclose more information about their taxes. The groups, which include the AFL-CIO, Citizens for Tax Justice, the Economic Policy Institute, the FACT Coalition, Global Financial Integrity, and the Patriotic Millionaires, want FASB to require multinational companies to publicly disclose their revenues, profits and taxes on a country-by-country basis.

Donald Trump’s Tax Numbers Sharpen Focus on Treatment of Losses
Wall Street Journal
The weekend revelation of some of Donald Trump’s tax records put the New York real-estate developer on the defensive by showing the extent of his 1990s financial troubles and suggesting those setbacks could have eliminated his federal income-tax bill for years afterward. Parts of Mr. Trump’s state tax documents from 1995, published over the weekend by the New York Times , show that the Republican presidential nominee reported a $916 million loss on that year’s tax return.

U.S. Will Require Its Contractors to Provide Paid Sick Leave
New York Times
The Obama administration, in its latest effort to update workplace policies it says have lagged far behind the realities of Americans’ lives, will require federal government contractors to provide paid sick leave to their workers. The rule, which was issued on Thursday and which the Labor Department estimates will directly affect more than 1.1 million people once fully in effect, enables workers to accrue up to seven days of paid sick leave a year.

U.S. Government-Bond Yields Rise
Wall Street Journal
U.S. government bonds pulled back Friday as a rally in financial shares helped investors regain their appetite for risk at the expense of haven debt. Stocks gained and bond prices declined after a report by Agence France-Press said Deutsche Bank is nearing an agreement to settle a mortgage-securities investigation by paying a $5.4 billion fine to the U.S. That would be well below the Justice Department’s original proposal of $14 billion.

Trump Had $916 Million Loss in '95, Cutting Taxes, NYT Says
Accounting Today
Donald Trump was facing renewed pressure to release his personal tax information after a New York Times report that he recorded a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax return, a deduction that might have allowed him to cut his federal income tax for several ensuing years. The Times, citing tax analysts, reported on Saturday night that based on Trump’s 1995 income tax documents, he might have been able to reduce his tax bills for as many as 18 years.