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Accounting News
Disposition of digital assets: reasons for digital estate planning
Death in the digital age is a lot more complicated than it used to be. Traditionally, fiduciaries and family members start administering an estate by reading the individual’s mail and sorting through records at the person’s home. However, with online accounts and paperless billing, these traditional approaches may not be available to fiduciaries today. The information needed to locate and access tangible and digital assets is often in the digital world itself. Email accounts are typically the primary access point to all other online assets. Online statements, notifications, messages, paperless bills etc., will all come through to the decedent’s emails. Moreover, the decedent’s address book and calendar are often tied to or stored within the email account.
How to Get the Most Out of Social Security Planning for Couples
Couples can get more out of their Social Security benefits by timing which spouse files first and ensuring that the higher earner delays benefits until age 70, said certified financial planner Michael Kitces on Thursday at the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) conference in Chicago.
The Role of the Board in Family Business Succession
A relatively unexplored area of family business research is the role that an active, independent board of directors can play in perpetuating the family business from one generation to the next. A recently published book, Building A Successful Family Business Board, seeks to close that research gap. In fact, according to the book’s authors, an active, independent board can serve as an objective steward, overseeing the creation and execution of a leadership succession plan that works for both the business and the family.
Golden years? Financial elder-abuse now epidemic
The 2009 trial of Anthony Marshall, the son of Brooke Astor, heiress to much of the Astor family fortune, was daily fodder for New York newspapers. So were the attempts by the daughter of Liliane Bettencourt, heiress of the huge L’Oreal fortune, to petition a court for guardianship of her mother. Ms. Bettencourt, later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, was intent on making her photographer sole heir of her $1.4 billion estate.
The highly publicized fights are the most obvious examples of a growing epidemic of elder abuse in the United States, said Cameron DeGuerre, an attorney with Peck Bloom LLC. Ms. DeGuerre, who focuses on trust and probate litigation, gave advisers at the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors conference in Chicago an overview of the problem.
5 Lessons Your Mother Taught You About Business
It’s the annual rite of spring: the celebration of Mother’s Day. It’s that one day of the year that no matter how busy a small business owner is, they take time out to celebrate the contribution of their mother. Most owners have been influenced by their mothers more than they will ever know. In fact, some of the tried-and-true advice our mothers gave us also contains some valuable business lessons. Here’s five pieces of motherly wisdom that no doubt served you well in the business world.
TIGTA and Congress focus on identity theft and tax fraud
On the same day the House Ways and Means Oversight and Social Security Subcommittees held a hearing on tax fraud involving identity theft, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a report saying the IRS does not handle identity theft issues well (TIGTA Rep’t No. 2012-40-050).
Tuesday’s congressional hearing planned to examine how identity theft contributes to tax fraud and whether the IRS and the Social Security Administration are doing enough to protect Social Security numbers and to prevent and detect false tax returns filed by identity thieves.
Does my health care plan provide minimum value?
Recent IRS guidance proposes three ways for employers to determine whether their plans provide “minimum value,” as required under the Affordable Care Act. In essence, employers will only be considered to have provided minimum value health care coverage if they offer plans that cover 60% of the actuarial value of four “core” benefits: physician care, hospital and emergency room care, pharmacy benefits and lab/imaging services.
Terms in OIC agreement take meaning from Code, court holds
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held on Wednesday that the terms “refund” and “overpayment” in an offer-in-compromise (OIC) agreement are specialized tax terms that take their meaning from the Internal Revenue Code and are not given their “plain English” meanings, despite the colloquial tone of the agreement.
HP Report: More Attacks, Despite Fewer New Vulnerabilities Overall
For years, security vendors have been in an arms race with hackers. As the rate of discovery of new vulnerabilities continued to grow, attackers have enjoyed an ever-expanding menu of security flaws to exploit. But last year, something happened: The number of new vulnerability reports actually declined.
IRS proposes expanding tax return information it will disclose to HHS under health care acts
On Friday, the IRS issued proposed regulations relating to how it will release certain tax return information to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as required by 2010’s health care legislation (REG-119632-11). The proposed regulations describe certain items the IRS will disclose in addition to those required by Sec. 6103(l)(21).
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148, required the HHS to establish a program under which affordable insurance exchanges can determine whether individuals are eligible to enroll in qualified health plans under the exchange and eligible for other benefits under the health care acts. Sec. 6103(l)(21) permits the IRS to disclose to the HHS certain tax return information to help the exchanges determine taxpayer eligibility where income verification is required.
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