Message From the President

By Thomas Boyd, Queens Chapter President

At this point in the calendar, we’re usually busy closing out the last year and planning for the new one. This is also a good time to reflect on what we have done, and think about what worked and what did not.

Over the last year, the Queens Chapter did a lot of things, almost all of which worked out pretty well. We held several technical meetings for our members that should have brought you up to speed on a variety of accounting and tax issues while also earning CPE credits. Many attended these sessions, and only one, planned for November, had to be cancelled because of modest registration. We were late in getting out the publicity for this session, but learned from our mistakes and now realize how important that part of running an event is.

The chapter formed four committees during the past year, and two of these have become active. The Young CPA Committee has met several times on the Queens College campus, while the Tax Committee has been holding its meetings at Ed Torres’ office in Forest Hills. On Dec. 14 this committee held a technical session that included a discussion by Harriet Salupsky on eldercare. She said that poor financial advice is provided to many elderly people, which ultimately causes them to sustain substantial losses.

Financial assistance for the elderly is an area in which CPAs could play a helpful role. Among other things, we could assist people in preparing personal financial statements and in establishing financial plans. We also could partner with other professional advisors assisting the elderly in areas such as estate planning, insurance requirements, asset protection plans by the use of trusts, gifting of assets, use of reverse mortgages, and investing strategies.

After Salupsky’s presentation, Torres, former chapter president, handed out material on tax changes resulting from the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. Topics discussed included deduction rules for donating vehicles to charity; standard mileage rates; depreciation of SUVs; start-up costs for a business; IRS documentation using Check 21; business gifts; educator’s deduction; child tax credit; clean fuel vehicle deduction; combat pay, and sales tax deduction.

Attendees also received Internal Revenue Service material regarding e-filing, and a book titled 2004 Key Messages, a current brochure for tax professionals. Attendees learned that the IRS will increase the number of audits of taxpayers, and heard some discussion about the selection process for these audits. Follow-up questions by the attendees to the committee concerned K-1 matching, the alternative minimum tax, and not-for-profit filing requirements. If you would like to get involved with this committee, e-mail Torres at etorres5@nyc.rr.com.

The Queens Chapter ended the year by cosponsoring a networking session with the Queens Chamber of Commerce at Riccardo’s in Astoria. Robert Sypolt, the chapter’s president-elect, and I spoke to the Queens business community about tax reduction. Our presentation of tips and techniques gave us the opportunity to promote the services CPAs have to offer in financial and tax planning, as well as giving our members the opportunity to network with the local businesspeople. We look forward to conducting similar activities in the new year. Our board will meet this month to plan these events for after the tax season. We have seen some interest in the CPA’s responsibilities regarding review and compilation reporting.

For those of you involved in taxes, I wish you a good tax season.

Thomas Boyd can be reached at 718-428-0956 or tmboyd38@hotmail.com.