Category Archives: Uncategorized

• Stranger Taxes

  Posted on 11/07/2017 in Uncategorized

  The streaming video service Netflix has earned a reputation for providing quality content like Narcos, Orange is the New Black, and The Queen. But Netflix has also upended how millions of people consume television. How have they done that? By dropping an entire season’s worth of a series all at once, letting you “Netflix and chill” with a single episode or binge for an entire weekend. (What kind of savage network would make viewers wait an entire week between episodes of their favorite show? HBO, that’s who.) Netflix’s latest hit, which dropped its second season last month, is Stranger Things, a love letter to the classic horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films of the 1980s. The show features a pack of bike-riding preteen friends from sleepy Hawkins, Indiana, who team up with the local sheriff and a mysterious paranormal girl named Eleven. Together, the motley crew fights to save the world from a parallel universe that connects through the super-secret “Hawkins National Laboratory.” Most Stranger Things viewers love the show’s music and movie references. Naturally, it makes us nostalgic for 1980s taxes. (Have we told you we need to get out more often?) So, for all you “Upside Down” fans, let’s…

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• For the Love of Art

  Posted on 10/24/2017 in Uncategorized

  In today’s new Gilded Age, Americans are constantly vying to one-up each other. You show up at your high-school reunion in a new Mercedes E-Class; then your classmate pulls up in a Maserati Quattroporte. (Some would call it a $50,000 car with a $50,000 hood ornament, but still, it’s a Maserati.) You show off a picture of your 42-foot sloop; your neighbor whips out his phone to show off his 62-foot schooner. You show up in Davos in your new GII; your business rival flies in on a GIV. When will it all end? The IRS isn’t generally interested in financing your conspicuous consumption. (Not unless you drive that Maserati to work, in which case, trust us, you’ll want to choose the “actual expense” method for calculating your deduction.) But there’s a new toy that some of capitalism’s winners are showing off, and this one comes with some beautiful tax breaks. We’re talking, of course, about a private art museum. Rich art collectors have always taken fat tax breaks for donating art. The Association of Art Museum Directors estimates that 90% of the collections held by major museums were gifted by individual donors. This is an especially good way to…

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• They Hate Him at the IRS, Too

  Posted on 10/03/2017 in Uncategorized

  We live in an unfortunate era of disunity. Cultural divides, racial divides, religious divides, and political divides are threatening to tear America apart. Every so often, though, someone comes along to unite us all in a great primal scream of rage. Remember “Pharma bro” Martin Shkreli, who bought the company that manufactures the prescription Daraprim, then jacked the price from $13.50 to $750 per pill? We really do need more people like him to unite us against a common enemy. Rick Smith probably never imagined his company would become one of those uniters. But up until last month, he was CEO of Equifax, the credit-reporting bureau that got hacked and waited six weeks to reveal it. By that time, intruders had made off with critically sensitive information on 143 million Americans. Was the hacker just some pimply Russian teenager living in his babushka’s basement? An international gang of cyber-thieves? We may never know. But that 143 million figure certainly includes thousands of our friends at the IRS, who may not look kindly on the millions of dollars Smith earned leading up to the leak. Smith’s abrupt resignation means he’ll walk away with only a pro-rated portion of his $1.45 million…

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• What’s My Company Worth?

  Posted on 07/13/2017 in Uncategorized

  In my previous post, I introduced the idea that a company has a report card called the financial statements.  There are three main financial statements – the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement.  In this post, I’ll explain what the balance sheet is.  The balance sheet gives us information about a company for a point in time.  This means that the balance sheet is only valid for the day that is on the balance sheet.  Here is an example of a balance sheet.  Balance Sheet   The balance sheet is divided into two sections: Assets Liabilities and Equity In order for the balance sheet to be correct it must balance.  this means that the Assets section must equal the Liabilities and Equity Section.  In our example, Total Assets = $26,000.  Total Liabilities and Equity = $26,000.  Total Assets = Total Liabilities and Equity.  The balance sheet balances. In the Assets section there are two – three sections. Current Assets Fixed Assets Other Assets The current assets are assets that can be easily turned into cash within the next twelve months.  Fixed assets are assets that have a will last more than twelve months.  A car for instance should…

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• People Pass

  Posted on 09/01/2010 in Uncategorized

  This week I attended two funerals. One of my clients had an employee who’s mother passed. The other funeral was for another client. Her husband passed early Tuesday morning. Attending the funerals was my way of saying I care. In my mind it’s a small gesture. But I realize it’s important to them.Losing a loved one is a terribly traumatic experience. The heart is broken and a hole is left in the heart. It’s an empty feeling. Sadness and pain. The only thing that seems to heal the heart is time.It really doesn’t matter how long someone lives. When death comes it’s always too early.The longer I live the faster life seems to go by.Just five short years ago my life changed forever as I welcomed my first daughter into the world. A year later my second daughter was born. There is not a moment that goes by when I’m with them that they do not hear me say, “I love you.” If nothing else, I want my daughters to know that I love them. I guess that is why I constantly tell them that I love them.So many things in life are fleeting. People I’ve learned are the most…

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