|
|
|
|
The
Rodman Report
May 2008 |
|
|
|
Hello
Clients and Friends,
Another
tax season is behind the Team here at Rodman &
Rodman and with that comes Spring and the promise of
better weather and a return to somewhat less hectic
days. It also marks the return of The Rodman
Report. In this month's issue we cover a lot of
ground and have great news to share. First, the
firm is very pleased to announce that
Kathy
Parker
has been named a Partner at
Rodman & Rodman. See the
announcement below for the exciting details. Next,
Larry Rice,
our Director of Strategic Consulting, is
looking
for new members
to join our Business Getting Results monthly meeting
group - a great opportunity
for those looking for help in growing their
business. From there we discuss the
tax deductibility of job search
expenses. If you are
currently looking for new employment, or expect to be in
the near future, this is a must read. Gift
cards have exploded on the
scene in the last decade. Though they represent a
business opportunity for those who sell them, an
understanding of the
accounting and tax challenges
they also bring is necessary. See below for a discussion
of these challenges. Our last article provides some
warning signs for symptoms of
stroke. Though we do not
usually cover this type of information in the Rodman
Report, we thought this useful advice spread to our wide
audience of readers may just help someone. We hope you
never need this advice, but we provide it as a public
service nonetheless.
Please
enjoy your May edition of The Rodman
Report! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kathy
Parker
named Partner at Rodman & Rodman,
P.C. |
|
 Rodman
& Rodman, P.C. is proud to announce that
Kathy Parker,
CPA has been named a Partner at the firm. Kathy has
been an important member of the Rodman Team since
1999 assisting our clients with their accounting and tax
needs. Kathy has been integral in pioneering our IT
accounting practice and has played an important role in
helping our clients grow and prosper by providing
professional, thoughtful advice throughout her career.
Kathy
is originally from Texas and is a graduate of the
University of
Texas at
Austin. She belongs to
the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public
Accountants and the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants. She is currently in the process of
obtaining her Masters of Science in Taxation from
Bentley College.
Please
join us in extending our congratulations and best wishes
to Kathy on her advancement to Partner at
Rodman & Rodman,
P.C. |
|
BGR
Group seeks new members for monthly meeting
By
Larry Rice,
Director of Strategic
Consulting |
|
Our
monthly business owners' meeting group is
looking for new members. The
Business Getting Results (BGR) program has been meeting
on one Friday morning per
month since
October, 2001. A few of
the members have been attending since it's
inception.
What
is BGR all about? On a monthly basis a small group of
business owners meets for two hours in the Rodman
& Rodman conference room to discuss and come up
with solutions for their business challenges. I
moderate this meeting as I have since it began.
The meeting is kept
informal so that we have the
flexibility to address specific issues that a member may
be dealing with. Some months we may address a
given business problem that affects all the
members such as hiring and firing, customer/client
service, growth strategies, business investment
decisions, etc. Our purpose is to come up with ideas and
solutions through group discussion where the extensive
experience of our members, along with my input as a
small business consultant, is brought to
bear.
Over
the years, this group has evolved into a tightknit
support network that has exceeded my expectations in
every way. We are only looking to add a few
members - our intent is to keep the membership small so
that each owner feels their business challenges are
being discussed and ideas are generated to help address
them. The right person for our group is a small business
owner that is looking for help and is ready to give it.
You will have the opportunity to be both student and
teacher as a member of
BGR.
The
cost of the meeting is $99 per
month. The cost to
come to a meeting and see if it is a good fit for you?
Free.
Discounts are available if you bring a friend who joins
as well. We provide a continental breakfast. The meeting
begins at 7:30 a.m. and ends promptly at 9:30 leaving
most of the day for you to get back to running your
business and using the knowledge you receive from your
membership.
Our
next meeting is June 13th.
If you would
like to attend, completely free of charge and
without obligation, please contact me at 617.965.5959 or
by email at
larry@rodmancpa.com
|
|
Job
search expenses - What is
deductible? |
|
If
you or someone in your family is looking for a new job,
you should be aware of the income tax deduction that may
be available with respect to job-search costs.
Qualifying expenses are deductible even if they don't
result in a new position being offered or accepted.
What
are job hunting
expenses?
Expenses of seeking new employment can encompass a broad
range of items. Some of the more common expenses for
which deductions have been allowed are:
- the cost
of resumes, including postage for sending them to
prospective employers;
- job
counseling and referral fees;
- employment
agency fees;
- telephone
charges related to seeking new employment;
- local as
well as out-of-town travel for interviews, to the
extent not reimbursed by the prospective
employer.
Nondeductible
items include a loss incurred on forfeiture of a deposit
for a home in an area where a new job was anticipated,
and a real estate broker's commission on the sale of a
home in connection with a move to a new job location.
For
job-search expenses to be deductible, you must be
looking for employment in the same trade or business in
which you are engaged. For
this purpose, a corporation's secretary-treasurer
seeking a position as assistant to the vice president of
finance at another corporation was seeking employment in
the same trade or business. But an artist seeking work
in the business end of the art field was held to be
looking for a job in a new trade or business. And IRS
says any job in the private sector is a new trade or
business for a retired military officer.
Accepting
temporary employment in another line of work won't
affect your deduction for expenses in searching for
permanent employment in your regular line of work. But
job hunting costs aren't deductible if you are looking
for a job in a new trade or business, even if you find
employment as a result of the search.
First
time job seekers.
IRS says that job hunting expenses incurred in seeking
employment for the first time are not deductible. This
rule can be tough on students and others entering the
job market for the first time. But it may be possible to
avoid the impact of this rule through an internship or
other employment during the student's senior year. In
addition to looking good on a resume, this type of work
experience can be a trade or business in which the
student is engaged (thus avoiding the first time job
seeking rule).
Reentry
into job market.
If an individual is temporarily unemployed, expenses of
seeking employment in the field in which he or she was
previously employed are deductible. But IRS takes the
position that if there is a substantial time break
between earlier employment and the current search, you
cannot deduct the expenses of looking for a job. Thus,
if there has been a gap of
several years since the last employment, for example, to
take care of small children or to return to school to
pursue post-graduate studies, the cost of seeking
employment is not deductible.
Other
limitations on
deductibility.
Deductible expenses in seeking employment are claimed as
miscellaneous itemized deductions. As a result,
individuals who take the standard deduction cannot claim
such expenses. In addition, miscellaneous itemized
deductions are deductible only to the extent that, in
the aggregate, they exceed 2% of your adjusted gross
income. Thus, unless your job hunting costs are large or
you have other significant miscellaneous deductions, you
may not be able to derive any tax benefit from these
expenses.
We hope
that this overview of the tax treatment of job search
expenses is helpful. If you have any specific questions,
or need additional information regarding this or other
tax related matters, please feel free to call any
of the professionals at Rodman & Rodman for
assistance. |
Gift
Cards - A good idea but you should know the
rules |
 In
the past ten years, the emergence of gift cards as a
serious revenue source has grown exponentially. Sales of
gift cards were expect to reach $35 billion in 2007. The
benefits to those who sell them are obvious:
Improved cash flow because you are now getting the money
before you've actually had to give the customer
anything; On average 10% of all gift card amounts go
unused; typically gift card bearers will spend more
than the card's face value; and the ability to track
your customers spending preferences and market
directly to them is greatly enhanced. Gift cards
or the like aren't going anywhere but up. In recent
years the emergence of gift card "kiosks" by major
retailers can be found in malls, grocery stores and
other non-traditional
locations.
Gift
cards do have some rather daunting challenges that go
with them. From an accounting
perspective,
revenue
recognition
is probably the most
significant issue. The general rule provides that the
sale of the gift card itself is not revenue, but an
obligation of the seller to provide a future
product/service. Therefore the initial sale of
the gift card is classified as a liability on
the balance sheet. Revenue is recognized as the
recipient of the card makes purchases of actual products
and services with it. It is therefore necessary for the
seller to be able to measure at specific points in time
where it stands with respect to the obligation for
future sales and the revenue it is now recognizing
against that obligation.
The
Federal Trade Commission also requires that a
printed guide with the terms and conditions
associated with the card be provided at the time of
issuance.
At
the state level there are tax issues revolving around
nexus
(which state gets credit for a sale and the sales tax
and potential income tax associated with it when a gift
card is involved - a subject far too complex for this
newsletter) but more relevant is the fact that each
state may have in place stricter "gift card laws" which
must be adhered to. Massachusetts
is one of the states which has enacted specific laws
governing gift cards. Prominent among those laws:
The minimum life of a gift card is 7 years; If the
expiration date of the card is not clearly stated, there
is no expiration date; You cannot charge fees for
holding the card over a specific period of time; and if
90% of the value of the card has been redeemed, the
merchant must provide the customer the option of
receiving the balance in cash or continuing with the
card until fully depleted. One positive is that unused
gift cards do not fall under the abandoned property laws
in Massachusetts. Once
the gift card has expired, the money is the sellers to
keep. A brief summary of the Massachusetts gift card
laws can be found by clicking here.
If
you are thinking about selling gift cards, there is a
lot to think about. Please give us a call and we'll be
happy to discuss the benefits and challenges with
you. |
|
STRoke
- Know the signs and save
lives!
by
Larry Rice
with special thanks to Richard Lowenstam of Braintree
Jewelers |
|
Recently I
received an email from Richard Lowenstam, owner
of Braintree Jewelers,
that contained some easy to remember yet vital advice
about recognizing the warning signs of stroke. He was
participating in an email campaign to bring awareness to
a larger percentage of people in the hope that the
information will save lives. Though we typically stick
to business and tax subjects in The Rodman Report, we
felt that this advice warranted a broadcast of this
message to all of our readers. Our hope is that you will
pass this information on to those you know. The most
important factor in minimizing the danger, and in many
cases reversing the impact of a stroke, is the speed
with which the stroke is diagnosed and treated. With
that in mind, here is the simple to remember
advice:
RECOGNIZING
A STRoke
Remember the "3" steps, S T
R...
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult
to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells
disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain
damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms
of a stroke.
Anyone can recognize a stroke by
asking three simple questions:
S *Ask the
individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to
TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE coherently (i.e.
It is sunny out today)
R *Ask him or her to
RAISE BOTH ARMS.
(NOTE: Another 'sign' of
a stroke is this:
Ask the person to stick out their
tongue If the tongue is 'crooked' - if it goes to one
side or the other - that is also an indication of a
stroke]
If he
or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 911
immediately and describe the symptoms to the
dispatcher.
|
|
|
|
We
appreciate you reading The Rodman Report. We will
back again next month as we kick off summer with some
more news and information you can
use.
The
Team at Rodman &
Rodman
|
|
 |
Rodman
& Rodman, PC | 3
Newton Executive
Park |
Suite 101 |
Newton | MA |
02462-1433 |