Lee B

Our CEOs and Board of Directors are trained at the elite business schools to consider IT and IT security as a controllable expense since it doesn't produce any revenue. As a result many IT functions are subcontracted out too often to the lowest bidder.

I have read multiple articles saying that SWA has been using a mixture of Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. I have read airline industry articles over the last 3 or 4 years criticizing SWA for not updating their IT infrastructure. The most amazing thing to me is reading that some IT departments are having to deal with this faulty update one computer at a time. Read a very interesting article saying that most of our IT systems have multiple "single points of failure" , explaining that similar outages will happen again in the near future.

According to local news reports, Alaska Airlines was flying in and out of Portland with no delays.

If I went to my bank and asked my bank manager, she wouldn't even know

It's kinda difficult to avoid cloud software. Your use of your browser is cloud based. You're on the cloud when you post to this website. Do you paper file all of your tax returns? E-filing is cloud based. Do you really think ATX or Drake has no exposure to the cloud?

Well my online accounting program is working again. I have had problems logging in to this program several times in past years due to problems with their use of a third party log in service Three or four years ago this program was down for 3 days due to problems with Amazon Web Services who hosted the program. We as end users have no idea how many third party services are being used.

The word wide computer outage caused by a faulty update from Crowd Strike, a third party security service used by Windows has taken down the online payroll service that my largest client uses and the online accounting program that I and my monthly write up clients use. Hope they get it fixed by Monday morning.?

Copied from IR 2024 - 190: "Specifically, Treasury and IRS reviewed comments suggesting that a beneficiary of an individual who has started required annual distributions should not be required to continue those annual distributions if the remaining account balance is fully distributed within 10 years of the individual’s death as required by the SECURE Act. However, Treasury and IRS determined that the final regulations should retain the provision in the proposed regulations requiring such a beneficiary to continue receiving annual payments." Well this issue is finally cleared up

Copied from IRS CI: "Craig Anthony Reynolds, co-founder of a supposed Christian health-sharing ministry in St. Joseph, Missouri, was sentenced to 17 years and six months in federal prison for his role in an $8 million wire fraud scheme and making false statements on his tax return. He was also ordered to pay over $8 million in restitution to his victims and the IRS. Reynolds and his co-conspirator, James McGinnis, marketed their organization as a healthcare sharing ministry but paid only 3.1% of the $8 million they collected in member contributions. From 2014 to December 2022, Reynolds and McGinnis mislead their members through false promises and fraudulent marketing and used the contributions for their personal profit. Both men pleaded guilty to wire fraud and making false tax statements. Reynold’s fraudulent activities also included filing false tax returns and improperly claiming COVID tax credits. This case was investigated by the IRS CI St. Louis Field Office." All fraud is bad, but this kind is especially disgusting!

I wonder, can you gift a portion of an installment contract?

On July 8th, FINCEN updated their 49 pages of FAQs, especially related to situations where BOI Reporting could apply to Trusts. For example, I have a client where a Trust has 50 % ownership of an LLC who files as a partnership, in which case the Trust would be a reporting entity and the individuals with a beneficial ownership in the Trust would be required to report. That's my take after skimming the revised FAQs.

Copied from Current Federal Tax Developements: https://www.currentfederaltaxdevelopments.com/blog/2024/7/12/new-jersey-committee-on-unauthorized-practice-of-law-issues-guidance-applicable-to-cpas-and-eas-who-prepare-and-file-fincen-beneficial-ownership-information-reports This ruling has some similarities to the Maryland AG ruling with some differences. For example this ruling only discusses the question of whether CPAs and EAs can assist their clients with BOI reporting. It will obviously take some more time for these questions to be resolved.

Intuit announced layoffs for 1800 employees reinvesting the savings in generative AI.

I think the rules for a QCD under $250 are the same as for a charitable contribution deducted on Schedule A

It's your clients responsibility to inform you. Most acknowledgments that I have seen don't indicate it's a QCD The fiduciaries send clients a letter with the QCD details. Some months ago when we discussed Tax Organizers, most posters didn't use them and didn't like them. This is another reason that I use them and make my clients fill them out. In fact I won't accept their annual tax documents without a completed organizer and a signed authorization letter.

Copied from Forbes" "The State of South Carolina has issued a request for proposals for an independent accounting firm to perform a forensic accounting review of cash and investments held in the state treasury as well as a review of cash and investments found in the state’s historical annual comprehensive financial reports. The main target? Finding out where an extra $1.8 billion in mystery money came from." Unbelievable! My mind boggles

I personally do 5 QCDs every year and I have always received a donee acknowledgement from each of them (all over $250). I also have a client who makes 3 sizable QCDs every year who also receives donee acknowledgements. The account fiduciary is following your instructions. They are not verifying the validity of your donation. If you ask, the fiduciary will provide you with a copy of the cancelled check. "Get a receipt QCDs are not deductible as charitable contributions on Schedule A. But, as with deductible contributions, the donor must get a written acknowledgement of their contribution from the charitable organization before filing their return. In general, the acknowledgement must state the date and amount of the contribution and indicate whether the donor received anything of value in return. For details, see the Acknowledgement section in Publication 526, Charitable Contributions. For more information about IRA distributions and QCDs, see Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRA).

It's ironic because if he was an employee, this kind of injury might be covered and surgery paid for by Workers Comp Insurance. For example, when I worked as a Controller for a Food and Beverage Wholesaler, two of my office employee's had Carpal Tunnel and the surgery and time loss was covered by our Worker's Compensation Insurance. Obviously they used their hands for many personal activities

Consumer Reports rates Avast and ESET tied for 4th in their ratings. I don't think the ratings in Consumer Reports are bought and paid for.

Abby, P C magazine rates Avast as # 6 in their rating of the top ten antivirus programs.

I haven't used a third party antivirus in years. The antivirus app included with Win 10 and Win 11 is good enough. Most malware incidents happen due to people clicking on the wrong links or other questionable decisions. According to several tech articles that I have read, even the very best antivirus programs can only stop about 80% of malware attacks.

What virus protection program are you using?

I used 0patch with my Win 7 system for years. It worked well and I had zero problems.

Copied from today's AICPA Town Hall: "Earlier this month, Maryland Attorney General (AG) issued an opinion on whether assistance by a CPA with BOIR would constitute the unauthorized practice of law (UPL). Determined that it’s fact specific and provides guidelines • What is NOT UPL: • Raising awareness • Guiding clients through FinCEN’s FAQs/Compliance Guide • Filling out the BOIR based on client information • Answering client questions where the question and answer “do not call for legal knowledge or skills” • CPA “generally should not answer a BOIR-related question for a client where there is uncertainty as to the answer and resolving that uncertainty would require legal knowledge, skill, and judgement”