AT Think

IMGCAP(1)] Being a business student in the Northeast, more specifically the small state of Rhode Island, I expected my first work-related experience to be at a local firm or business. However, this couldn’t be further than what recently happened to me. As it turned out, this experience and a trip to the West Coast were one in the same.

Accountants have a duty to safeguard their clients’ confidential data, but that’s not always easy with computer files, which can be easily whisked off a PC whilst someone is away from their desk or disappear with a lost laptop.

IMGCAP(1)] Dear Rebecca,

The death of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner on Tuesday has saved the family an estimated $600 million on its taxes, thanks to this year’s disappearance of the estate tax.

Many of you know, in the beginning of May, Nashville saw unprecedented rain. The sewer systems became completely full. Lakes, creeks and rivers were swollen beyond extremes. Nowhere for the water to go, the city and several residential neighborhoods began to flood.

Last week, a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts held that the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional in preventing same-sex couples from filing joint tax returns and receiving various government benefits such as Social Security, saying it infringes on a state’s right to define marriage.

IMGCAP(1)] When was the last time you got a referral from an existing client? Last week, last month, last quarter or last year? Most partners that I work with get a handful of these kinds of referrals a year. These kinds of referrals are usually among the best kind of referrals you can receive because there is pre-established trust, no competition, no proposal, and it’s a quick and painless sales process. So, if these are the best kind of referrals to get, what are you doing to get more of them?

LeBron James’s much-hyped decision to join the Miami Heat will undoubtedly yield him a fortune in tax savings, given the lack of a state individual income tax in Florida.

This weekend and into early next week, members of JHI, a global network of accountancy, business advisory and financial consulting firms, will be sailing away aboard the Star Victory Cruise ship during its Asia-Pacific Regional Conference and Annual General Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam.

First Lady Michelle Obama stopped by the offices of the Treasury Department this week to meet a 60-year IRS veteran and the widow of a slain IRS employee.