California CPA articles from March 2001

California CPA archives from March 2001

INDEPEDENT CONTRACTOR REPORTING UPDATE.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... EDD recently notified CalCPA it has reconsidered its position on what businesses should do when independent contractors refuse to provide their Social Security Numbers. According to EDD, businesses should make every effort to obtain the...

WATCH OUT FOR UNAUTHORIZED ADS.(for accountants in California)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In California, only licensed CPAs are allowed to advertise themselves as accountants. So, when you look under "accountants-certified" in the yellow pages of your local phone book, you should expect the listing to include only your CPA peers....

IRS, FTB, EDD AND BUE ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS.(United States. Internal Revenue Services)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Do you have a gnawing question you'd like the IRS or FTB to answer? Ask away! The state Committee on Taxation is accepting questions for its fall 2001 tax liaison meetings. In addition to IRS and FTB tax-related questions, you also may...

18 TERRIFIC TAX TIPS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... CalCPA members have put together 18 tips California taxpayers can use either to save money on their 2000 federal and state income taxes or, at least, to make the job of filing easier and faster. The tips are available in PDF format on...

WOMEN MANAGERS IN THE WORKPLACE.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... WOMEN MANAGERS IN THE WORKPLACE 1,400 CFOs were asked, "Has the number of women accountants who hold management-level positions in your company ...

INTERIM GUIDANCE FOR SPLIT-DOLLAR LIFE INSURANCE.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... IRS Notice 2001-10, Jan. 9, provides interim guidance for split-dollar life insurance arrangements between employers and employees. The IRS generally will accept the parties' characterization of the employer's payments under a split-dollar...

POWER OF ATTORNEY GUIDANCE FROM IRS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... At the annual IRS meeting with CalCPA's Committee on Taxation, IRS representatives offered suggested verbiage for Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, to cover all matters relating to the taxpayer. According to...

E-FILE PUBLICATIONS AND SELF-SELECT PINS.(information from United States. Internal Revenue Service)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Where is IRS Publication 1345A? It's late. In early February, tax pre-parers were clamoring for IRS Pubs 1345 and 1345A. Both publications were revised for the 2001 filing season and as a result were late. Pub. 1345, the IRS e-file...

SPEAK OUT!(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2001... DEAR EDITOR: This is a belated reply to the item on pg. 5 of the November issue saying that a survey showed that accountants ranked at the bottom as respects professional prestige. You said that the value of this to California is...

FAVORABLE DECISION FOR SHAREHOLDERS OF INSOLVENT S CORPS.(United States Supreme Court)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Resolving a split among the 3rd, 6th, 7th, 10th and 11th Circuit Courts of Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Jan. 9 that an insolvent S corporation's debt discharge income increased the basis of the shareholders stock in the...

COMMENTS DUE FOR GASB 34 AMENDMENTS.(Government Accounting Standards Board)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... GASB has released an exposure draft of a proposed standard that would amend certain provisions of GASB Statement No. 34, "Basic Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for State and Local Governments." The exposure draft...

MEMBER MARY BARTH NAMED TO NEW IASB.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... CalCPA member Mary Barth, a professor of accounting at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, has been appointed to the International Accounting Standards Committee's new International Accounting Standards Board. The new 14-member IASB...

EYE ON CPAs IN INDUSTRY.
March 1, 2001... Are you tired of scanning each issue of California CPA for articles relevant to your work in industry? Despair no more. Each month, articles of particular interest to our members in industry will be indicated with a new "Eye on Industry" icon...

MOST AMERICANS WANT ESTATE TAX ELIMINATED.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... A recent Zogby American Values poll of 1,005 likely voters discovered that most Republicans (84 percent) and Independents (74 percent), as well as a majority of Democrats (57 percent), feel the estate tax is unfair to heirs and should be...

ERROR IN EDD DE 88 COUPON BOOKLETS.(Employment Development Department)(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2001... The Employment Development Department has reported a correction to the semi-annual interest rate published in the 2001 Payroll Tax Deposit (DE 88) coupon booklets sent to employers. The semi-annual interest rate (on Page 1 of DE 88) for the...

CBA APPOINTEE NAMES MISSPELLED.(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2001... In our last issue, the names of several current and former CBA members were misspelled. The corrections are as follows: Newly elected officers include Donna McCluskey, president; Michael Schneider, secretary-treasurer; and Navid...

Positive ID.(Conflicts of interest)
March 1, 2001... Identifying and Resolving Conflicts of Interest Pop quiz. 1) What is a conflict of interest? 2) How do you avoid one? 3) Are you sure? How did you do? Did you pass with flying colors, or did you find yourself scrambling...

LIGHTS OUT OPPORTUNITIES EMERGE FROM THE DARKNESS.
March 1, 2001... "We've sort of been asleep at the switch in California," says Tom Lieser, a senior economist with UCLA's California Forecast, in the unflappable tone of someone who's seen the Golden State clip and rise up again many times in his long career....

Ready to Disclose How You Protect Your Clients' Privacy?
March 1, 2001... CalCPA recently learned that the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act applies to CPAs who prepare federal or state tax returns for individuals. GLB requires that all non-business clients be informed of the privacy policies of a broad group of...

XBRL: Make Its Power Your Own.
March 1, 2001... XBRL. It's more than just another professional acronym. XBRL (extensible business reporting language) represents new specifications for electronic business reporting that will revolutionize the way financial information is reported. XBRL will...

"Dot-Pro" Widens the World of Web Names for CPAs.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Despite a certain amount of controversy, this past fall the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) selected seven new registries for top-level domains (TLDs), including one aimed at professionals like CPAs--the "dot-pro"...

'Tis the Season.(Installment Sale Correction Act )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... New Legislative and Administrative Developments Installment Method Restored for Accrual Method Taxpayers On Dec. 28, 2000, President Clinton signed the 2000 Installment Sale Correction Act into law, completely reversing 1999 legislation...