NYSSCPA Members in the News
Tom Walpole (Rochester)
Taxing Social Security
WROC Rochester First
CPA Tom Walpole discussed Social Security recipients and marriage Monday on News 8 at Sunrise. The topic was inspired by a viewer question which asked how much is taxed when it comes to Social Security recipients and marriage. "The answer is, it depends," said Walpole. "It's never easy with the government. You start out with a number called MAGI, which is an acronym for Modified Adjusted Gross Income. You take your adjusted gross income, and from that, you add any tax-exempt interest that you might have.
Other Accounting and Financial News Stories
Why Boomer Women Are Worse Off Financially Than Their Predecessors
Wall Street Journal
Baby Boomer women–now in their 50s and 60s–are doing worse financially than older women in the 1990s. My new research with Annamaria Lusardi of the George Washington University explains why, using national representative survey data from the Health and Retirement Study and the National Financial Capability Study. We track changes in older women’s work plans and debt burdens, along with the links to financial literacy and debt stressors.
Meet the U.S.'s First Ever Cyber Chief
Fortune
A retired Air Force general. Retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Gregory Touhill just got a promotion. The White House has named Touhill as the first ever federal chief information security officer, a role that is focused on bolstering the U.S. government’s digital defenses. The Obama administration first announced the creation of the position in February as part of a $19 billion “cybersecurity national action plan” that included IT investments and new hires.
Encouraging Accounting Groups to Work Together
Accounting Today
The International Federation of Accountants wants accountant organizations to partner together more widely and share their success stories and best practices. Last week, IFAC released guidance on how professional accountancy organizations can partner with one another to strengthen the accounting profession around the world. The paper, Counting on Each Other: Establishing & Maintaining Effective PAO Partnerships, aims to improve collaboration among organizations that all too often are rivals.
Is It a Business or an Expensive Hobby?
Wall Street Journal
If you’re convinced nobody in Washington really cares about you, here’s some advice on how to get an unforgettable reaction from at least one influential government bureaucracy: Try deducting hefty net losses from an expensive and enjoyable activity, such as photography or horse breeding, that has been a consistent money-loser for many years and has no reasonable hope of ever turning a profit. Use those losses to offset most, or even all, of your other income. While you’re at it, don’t bother creating or writing a formal business plan.
Lower Manhattan revival shines spotlight on lucrative tax breaks
Crain’s New York Business
The cost of state and city subsidies designed to help lower Manhattan recover from 9/11 is inching up, even as officials continue to portray the area as one of the city’s most vibrant. In the wake of the terror attacks, city and state officials came up with a number of incentives to restart investment south of Chambers Street—in addition to pre-existing subsidies at the World Trade Center site that have been on the books since the 1970s.
Morning Agenda: A.I.G.’s Ex-Chief on Trial, Apple Taxes, Driverless Updates\
New York Times
Maurice R. Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group, goes to trial this week — a mere 11 years after charges were filed. Mr. Greenberg, who is known as Hank, and A.I.G.’s former chief financial officer, Howard I. Smith, are accused of engineering bogus reinsurance transactions to bolster reserves, and orchestrating other transactions to allow the company to convert insurance losses into investment losses.
Why Swiss Private Banks Still Face Taxing Times
Wall Street Journal
In polite circles they call it “regularization.” More bluntly it is coming clean. Wealthy people in Europe have been admitting for years to having money they should have declared to tax authorities. For Swiss banks, that has been money out the door as clients moved it home or withdrew funds to pay taxes. In polite circles they call it “regularization.” More bluntly it is coming clean. Wealthy people in Europe have been admitting for years to having money they should have declared to tax authorities.
Pence’s 2015 Tax Return Shows $8,956 Tax on $113,026 in Income
Bloomberg Politics
Indiana Governor Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, earned adjusted gross income of $113,026 in 2015 and paid $8,956 in federal income taxes, according to a copy of the Republican vice presidential nominee’s return that was released Friday -- a move toward transparency that his running mate, Donald Trump, has yet to make. The Pences paid an effective tax rate of 7.9 percent and donated about that same portion of their adjusted gross income to charity, the return shows. In all, the couple released 10 years’ worth of their tax records, going back to the 2006 tax year.
All Eyes on Last Fed Speech Before a Week of Silence
Wall Street Journal
Talk about a reality check. Conflicting signals from the Federal Reserve on the timing of the next rate increase jolted financial markets on Friday. Soon, though, investors may be pining for more of the Fedspeak they have been cursing. While odds are still good that the Fed will hold rates steady at next week’s policy meeting, as has been expected all summer, recent comments from some Fed officials have sown doubts. Tuesday marks the onset of a one-week quiet period ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s Sept. 20-21 meeting.
After 11 Years, Case of A.I.G.’s Ex-Chief Is Going to Trial
New York Times
It will not be the trial of the century. It may just feel as if it has taken that long to get underway. More than 11 years after civil charges were filed, New York’s case against Maurice R. Greenberg, the former chief executive of the insurance giant American International Group, goes to trial this week. The charges date to an era when Eliot Spitzer, then the New York State attorney general, brought a barrage of cases accusing Wall Street research analysts of biased research, mutual fund operators of trading practices that shortchanged average investors, and insurance brokers of bid-rigging and kickbacks.
NYSSCPA Members in the News
Tom Walpole (Rochester)
Taxing Social Security
WROC Rochester First
CPA Tom Walpole discussed Social Security recipients and marriage Monday on News 8 at Sunrise. The topic was inspired by a viewer question which asked how much is taxed when it comes to Social Security recipients and marriage. "The answer is, it depends," said Walpole. "It's never easy with the government. You start out with a number called MAGI, which is an acronym for Modified Adjusted Gross Income. You take your adjusted gross income, and from that, you add any tax-exempt interest that you might have.
Other Accounting and Financial News Stories
Why Boomer Women Are Worse Off Financially Than Their Predecessors
Wall Street Journal
Baby Boomer women–now in their 50s and 60s–are doing worse financially than older women in the 1990s. My new research with Annamaria Lusardi of the George Washington University explains why, using national representative survey data from the Health and Retirement Study and the National Financial Capability Study. We track changes in older women’s work plans and debt burdens, along with the links to financial literacy and debt stressors.
Meet the U.S.'s First Ever Cyber Chief
Fortune
A retired Air Force general. Retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Gregory Touhill just got a promotion. The White House has named Touhill as the first ever federal chief information security officer, a role that is focused on bolstering the U.S. government’s digital defenses. The Obama administration first announced the creation of the position in February as part of a $19 billion “cybersecurity national action plan” that included IT investments and new hires.
Encouraging Accounting Groups to Work Together
Accounting Today
The International Federation of Accountants wants accountant organizations to partner together more widely and share their success stories and best practices. Last week, IFAC released guidance on how professional accountancy organizations can partner with one another to strengthen the accounting profession around the world. The paper, Counting on Each Other: Establishing & Maintaining Effective PAO Partnerships, aims to improve collaboration among organizations that all too often are rivals.
Is It a Business or an Expensive Hobby?
Wall Street Journal
If you’re convinced nobody in Washington really cares about you, here’s some advice on how to get an unforgettable reaction from at least one influential government bureaucracy: Try deducting hefty net losses from an expensive and enjoyable activity, such as photography or horse breeding, that has been a consistent money-loser for many years and has no reasonable hope of ever turning a profit. Use those losses to offset most, or even all, of your other income. While you’re at it, don’t bother creating or writing a formal business plan.
Lower Manhattan revival shines spotlight on lucrative tax breaks
Crain’s New York Business
The cost of state and city subsidies designed to help lower Manhattan recover from 9/11 is inching up, even as officials continue to portray the area as one of the city’s most vibrant. In the wake of the terror attacks, city and state officials came up with a number of incentives to restart investment south of Chambers Street—in addition to pre-existing subsidies at the World Trade Center site that have been on the books since the 1970s.
Morning Agenda: A.I.G.’s Ex-Chief on Trial, Apple Taxes, Driverless Updates
New York Times
Maurice R. Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group, goes to trial this week — a mere 11 years after charges were filed. Mr. Greenberg, who is known as Hank, and A.I.G.’s former chief financial officer, Howard I. Smith, are accused of engineering bogus reinsurance transactions to bolster reserves, and orchestrating other transactions to allow the company to convert insurance losses into investment losses.
Why Swiss Private Banks Still Face Taxing Times
Wall Street Journal
In polite circles they call it “regularization.” More bluntly it is coming clean. Wealthy people in Europe have been admitting for years to having money they should have declared to tax authorities. For Swiss banks, that has been money out the door as clients moved it home or withdrew funds to pay taxes. In polite circles they call it “regularization.” More bluntly it is coming clean. Wealthy people in Europe have been admitting for years to having money they should have declared to tax authorities.
Pence’s 2015 Tax Return Shows $8,956 Tax on $113,026 in Income
Bloomberg Politics
Indiana Governor Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, earned adjusted gross income of $113,026 in 2015 and paid $8,956 in federal income taxes, according to a copy of the Republican vice presidential nominee’s return that was released Friday -- a move toward transparency that his running mate, Donald Trump, has yet to make. The Pences paid an effective tax rate of 7.9 percent and donated about that same portion of their adjusted gross income to charity, the return shows. In all, the couple released 10 years’ worth of their tax records, going back to the 2006 tax year.
All Eyes on Last Fed Speech Before a Week of Silence
Wall Street Journal
Talk about a reality check. Conflicting signals from the Federal Reserve on the timing of the next rate increase jolted financial markets on Friday. Soon, though, investors may be pining for more of the Fedspeak they have been cursing. While odds are still good that the Fed will hold rates steady at next week’s policy meeting, as has been expected all summer, recent comments from some Fed officials have sown doubts. Tuesday marks the onset of a one-week quiet period ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s Sept. 20-21 meeting.
After 11 Years, Case of A.I.G.’s Ex-Chief Is Going to Trial
New York Times
It will not be the trial of the century. It may just feel as if it has taken that long to get underway. More than 11 years after civil charges were filed, New York’s case against Maurice R. Greenberg, the former chief executive of the insurance giant American International Group, goes to trial this week. The charges date to an era when Eliot Spitzer, then the New York State attorney general, brought a barrage of cases accusing Wall Street research analysts of biased research, mutual fund operators of trading practices that shortchanged average investors, and insurance brokers of bid-rigging and kickbacks.
NYSSCPA Members in the News
Tom Walpole (Rochester)
Taxing Social Security
WROC Rochester First
CPA Tom Walpole discussed Social Security recipients and marriage Monday on News 8 at Sunrise. The topic was inspired by a viewer question which asked how much is taxed when it comes to Social Security recipients and marriage. "The answer is, it depends," said Walpole. "It's never easy with the government. You start out with a number called MAGI, which is an acronym for Modified Adjusted Gross Income. You take your adjusted gross income, and from that, you add any tax-exempt interest that you might have.
Other Accounting and Financial News Stories
Why Boomer Women Are Worse Off Financially Than Their Predecessors
Wall Street Journal
Baby Boomer women–now in their 50s and 60s–are doing worse financially than older women in the 1990s. My new research with Annamaria Lusardi of the George Washington University explains why, using national representative survey data from the Health and Retirement Study and the National Financial Capability Study. We track changes in older women’s work plans and debt burdens, along with the links to financial literacy and debt stressors.
Meet the U.S.'s First Ever Cyber Chief
Fortune
A retired Air Force general. Retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Gregory Touhill just got a promotion. The White House has named Touhill as the first ever federal chief information security officer, a role that is focused on bolstering the U.S. government’s digital defenses. The Obama administration first announced the creation of the position in February as part of a $19 billion “cybersecurity national action plan” that included IT investments and new hires.
Encouraging Accounting Groups to Work Together
Accounting Today
The International Federation of Accountants wants accountant organizations to partner together more widely and share their success stories and best practices. Last week, IFAC released guidance on how professional accountancy organizations can partner with one another to strengthen the accounting profession around the world. The paper, Counting on Each Other: Establishing & Maintaining Effective PAO Partnerships, aims to improve collaboration among organizations that all too often are rivals.
Is It a Business or an Expensive Hobby?
Wall Street Journal
If you’re convinced nobody in Washington really cares about you, here’s some advice on how to get an unforgettable reaction from at least one influential government bureaucracy: Try deducting hefty net losses from an expensive and enjoyable activity, such as photography or horse breeding, that has been a consistent money-loser for many years and has no reasonable hope of ever turning a profit. Use those losses to offset most, or even all, of your other income. While you’re at it, don’t bother creating or writing a formal business plan.
Lower Manhattan revival shines spotlight on lucrative tax breaks
Crain’s New York Business
The cost of state and city subsidies designed to help lower Manhattan recover from 9/11 is inching up, even as officials continue to portray the area as one of the city’s most vibrant. In the wake of the terror attacks, city and state officials came up with a number of incentives to restart investment south of Chambers Street—in addition to pre-existing subsidies at the World Trade Center site that have been on the books since the 1970s.
Morning Agenda: A.I.G.’s Ex-Chief on Trial, Apple Taxes, Driverless Updates
New York Times
Maurice R. Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group, goes to trial this week — a mere 11 years after charges were filed. Mr. Greenberg, who is known as Hank, and A.I.G.’s former chief financial officer, Howard I. Smith, are accused of engineering bogus reinsurance transactions to bolster reserves, and orchestrating other transactions to allow the company to convert insurance losses into investment losses.
Why Swiss Private Banks Still Face Taxing Times
Wall Street Journal
In polite circles they call it “regularization.” More bluntly it is coming clean. Wealthy people in Europe have been admitting for years to having money they should have declared to tax authorities. For Swiss banks, that has been money out the door as clients moved it home or withdrew funds to pay taxes. In polite circles they call it “regularization.” More bluntly it is coming clean. Wealthy people in Europe have been admitting for years to having money they should have declared to tax authorities.
Pence’s 2015 Tax Return Shows $8,956 Tax on $113,026 in Income
Bloomberg Politics
Indiana Governor Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, earned adjusted gross income of $113,026 in 2015 and paid $8,956 in federal income taxes, according to a copy of the Republican vice presidential nominee’s return that was released Friday -- a move toward transparency that his running mate, Donald Trump, has yet to make. The Pences paid an effective tax rate of 7.9 percent and donated about that same portion of their adjusted gross income to charity, the return shows. In all, the couple released 10 years’ worth of their tax records, going back to the 2006 tax year.
All Eyes on Last Fed Speech Before a Week of Silence
Wall Street Journal
Talk about a reality check. Conflicting signals from the Federal Reserve on the timing of the next rate increase jolted financial markets on Friday. Soon, though, investors may be pining for more of the Fedspeak they have been cursing. While odds are still good that the Fed will hold rates steady at next week’s policy meeting, as has been expected all summer, recent comments from some Fed officials have sown doubts. Tuesday marks the onset of a one-week quiet period ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s Sept. 20-21 meeting.
After 11 Years, Case of A.I.G.’s Ex-Chief Is Going to Trial
New York Times
It will not be the trial of the century. It may just feel as if it has taken that long to get underway. More than 11 years after civil charges were filed, New York’s case against Maurice R. Greenberg, the former chief executive of the insurance giant American International Group, goes to trial this week. The charges date to an era when Eliot Spitzer, then the New York State attorney general, brought a barrage of cases accusing Wall Street research analysts of biased research, mutual fund operators of trading practices that shortchanged average investors, and insurance brokers of bid-rigging and kickbacks.