NYSSCPA Members in the News

Michael Goodman (Nassau)
How to widen your tax-cut window
MSN Money
The first few years of retirement are a perfect time to explore your passions, travel the world, and bond with your family. Something else they can be great for: cutting your lifetime tax bill—and leaving you more money to spend on yourself. The reason? Once you stop collecting a paycheck and start living off other funds—say, investments, part-time work, and maybe a pension—chances are good that, as for most retirees, your income will drop, putting you in a lower bracket.

Other Accounting and Finance News Stories

IRS Eases a Costly Tax Pitfall for Retirement Savers
TIME Money
Savers can now explain why they missed a 60-day window on IRA rollovers, instead of facing a tax bill. The Internal Revenue Service has relaxed a rule that long tripped up some unwitting retirement savers and jeopardized their nest eggs. Previously, savers moving money from a 401(k)to an IRA, or from one IRA to another, were allowed only 60 days to have those funds in their possession before depositing them into the next retirement account.

To Settle SEC Case, Government Pays Itself $100,000
Wall Street Journal
Former Fannie Mae chief executive  Daniel Mudd reached a “settlement” with the Securities and Exchange Commission in a crisis-era case it filed against him. The deal, filed on Monday, requires essentially nothing of Mr. Mudd. The settlement includes a $100,000 payment—to be paid by Fannie Mae, which already pays its profits to the U.S. Treasury because it landed in government conservatorship in 2008.

CBO Budget Update Shows Higher Taxes Are Just Around the Corner
Forbes
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released their annual summer update to their budget projections, and as usual it has some interesting nuggets. Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute has a useful take on how ridiculously easy it would be to balance the budget with very modest spending restraint. There’s a few items on taxes that should be of note to well, taxpayers.

PCAOB Signs Pact with New German Audit Overseer
Accounting Today
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has inked a cooperative agreement with the German Auditor Oversight Body, a new regulator for audit firms in Germany. The PCAOB previously had a similar agreement with the German Auditor Oversight Commission, the predecessor to the Auditor Oversight Body. The agreement with the AOB allows a framework for joint inspections and the exchange of confidential information in accordance with German and U.S. laws.

Special Report: Radical Changes Coming To Credit Loss Accounting
Bloomberg BNA
Prepare for the new credit losses standard with our special report—Radical Changes Coming to Credit Loss Accounting. FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326) on June 15. The ASU significantly changes how entities measure credit losses for most financial assets. Entities are required to measure expected credit losses at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts.

Fed, Eager to Show It’s Listening, Welcomes Protesters
New York Times
When a dozen protesters in green T-shirts showed up two years ago at the Federal Reserve’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., they were regarded by many participants as an amusing addition. Two years later, they have won a place on the schedule. The protesters, who want the Fed to extend its economic stimulus campaign, are scheduled to meet on Thursday with eight members of the central bank’s policy-making committee.

Treasury Department Criticizes EU on Corporate Tax Probes
Wall Street Journal
The U.S. Treasury Department released a sharp critique of the European Commission’s investigation of corporate tax breaks as EU officials near the end of their inquiry into Apple Inc.’s arrangements with Ireland. In a 25-page paper released Wednesday, the Treasury elaborated on arguments it has been making all year.

 PwC Offers Quick Take on Lease Accounting Standard
Accounting Today
PricewaterhouseCoopers has released a quick overview of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s lease accounting standard. PwC’s “10 Minutes on the new US lease standard” offers a short take on FASB’s lease accounting standard, including how the new rules will have an impact on the way companies record leases and what areas of business could be affected the most, including the treasury, IT, operations, tax and regulatory compliance divisions.

IRS Offers New Procedure for Those Who Miss IRA Rollover Deadline
Accounting Today
The Internal Revenue Service unveiled a new procedure Wednesday to help people who accidentally miss the 60-day time limit for rolling over their retirement plan distributions into another qualified retirement plan or individual retirement account. In Revenue Procedure 2016-47, the IRS details how eligible taxpayers can qualify for a waiver of the 60-day time limit and avoid possible taxes and penalties on early distributions if they meet certain circumstances.

Firm Mobility and Taxes on Professional Services Lead the CPA Profession’s State Priorities in 2017
AICPA
The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) State Regulation and Legislation Team tracked over 500 bills affecting the CPA profession at the state-level in 2016. Several states adopted full CPA firm mobility, the comprehensive definition of attest, and new peer review requirements. States also saw an emerging tax on professional services threat that will carry into 2017.

Dividends Are What Matter Now
Wall Street Journal
Dividends are playing an unusually large role in the stock market’s run to record highs, adding to investors’ concerns about stretched valuations and soft corporate earnings. The five-year rolling correlation between S&P 500 companies’ dividend yield and the index’s performance has been at 0.80 or above for the five quarters through June, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Print Is Dead? Not in Mutual-Fund Reports
Wall Street Journal
American mutual funds estimate they spend more than $300 million every year chewing up 2 million trees to print and send investors 440 million densely written reports—which many recipients promptly toss out unread. “If they were to come on days the trash cans were out, I wouldn’t even bring them inside the house,” said Ben Perlman, 35, an employee at Emory University in Atlanta, who invests in four mutual funds with his wife and receives eight such reports in the mail each year

Wall St. Closes Lower
New York Times
United States markets closed lower on Wednesday, led by declines in mining and materials companies, giving back a modest increase from the day before. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day 0.35 percent lower and the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 0.5 percent.

Key House Republican to Unveil Sales Tax Plan for Purchases Across State Lines
Wall Street Journal
A top House Republican will release a new proposal in coming days that attempts to resolve the long-running dispute among retailers, state governments and online retailers over how to tax purchases made across state lines. The discussion draft from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) would introduce a new legal framework for cross-border sales, largely replacing the current system that relies on whether a seller has a physical presence in a state.