Question & Answer

Should large securities firms be allowed to be independent and insulated from bank regulation, or should they be required to register as bank holding companies, and subject to bank regulations? Write a short essay that supports your opinion.

MACRS depreciation requires the use of a recovery period, method, and convention to depreciate tangible personal property assets. Briefly explain why each is important to the calculation.

What function is served by tempering?

A batch of annealed steel has just been received from the vendor. It is supposed to have a tensile strength in the range 60,000 - 70,000 lb/in2 . A Brinell hardness test in the receiving department yields a value of HB = 118. (a) Does the steel meet the specification on tensile strength? (b) Estimate the yield strength of the material.

Latrell recently used his Delta Skymiles to purchase a free round-trip ticket to Milan, Italy (value $1,200).  The frequent flyer miles used to purchase the ticket were generated from Latrell’s business travel as a CPA.  Latrell’s employer paid for his business trips, and he was not taxed on the travel reimbursement.     a.  Use an available tax research service to determine how much income, if any, Latrell will have to recognize as a result of purchasing an airline ticket with Skymiles earned from business travel.   b.  Write a memo communicating the results of your research.

Trevor is a single individual who is a cash-method, calendar-year taxpayer. For each of the next two years (2024 and 2025), Trevor expects to report salary of $80,000, contribute $8,000 to charity, and pay $2,800 in state income taxes. a. Estimate Trevor’s taxable income for 2024 and 2025 using the 2024 amounts for the standard deduction for both years. b. Now assume that Trevor combines his anticipated charitable contributions for the next two years and makes the combined contribution in December of 2024. Estimate Trevor’s taxable income for each of the next two years using the 2024 amounts for the standard deduction. Reconcile the total taxable income to your solution to part (a). c. Trevor plans to purchase a residence next year, and he estimates that additional property taxes and residential interest will cost $2,000 and $12,000, respectively, each year. Estimate Trevor’s taxable income for each of the next two years (2024 and 2025) using the 2024 amounts for the standard deduction and also assuming Trevor makes the charitable contribution of $8,000 and state tax payments of $2,800 in each year. d. Assume the facts in part (c) but that Trevor makes the charitable contribution for 2025 in December of 2024. Estimate Trevor’s taxable income for 2024 and 2025 using the 2024 amounts for the standard deduction. Reconcile the total taxable income to your solution to part (c). e. Explain the conditions in which the bunching strategy in part (d) will generate tax savings for Trevor.

1.       : Psychologists have identified three pathways to happiness: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. Do you think it is the manager’s responsibility to help people find these elements in their work? Discuss.

Will Smith will receive $80,000 on December 31, 2019 (5 years from now), from a trust fund established by his father. Assuming the appropriate interest rate for discounting is 12% (compounded semiannually), what is the present value of this amount today?

Many London councils now have residents’ street parking permits, with charges that vary according to the carbon emissions of the registered vehicle. Explain the thinking behind this policy.

Jim purchased 100 shares of stock this year and elected to participate in a dividend reinvestment program. This program automatically uses dividends to purchase additional shares of stock. This year Jim’s shares paid $350 of dividends, and these funds were used to purchase additional shares of stock. These additional shares are worth $375 at year-end. What amount of dividends, if any, should Jim declare as income this year? Explain.

Approximately what percentage of tax returns does the IRS audit?  What are the implications of this number for the IRS’s strategy in selecting returns for audit?

Jasper and Crewella Dahvill were married in year 0. They filed joint tax returns in years 1 and 2. In year 3, their relationship was strained and Jasper insisted on filing a separate tax return. In year 4, the couple divorced. Both Jasper and Crewella filed single tax returns in year 4. In year 5, the IRS audited the couple’s joint year 2 tax return and each spouse’s separate year 3 tax returns. The IRS determined that the year 2 joint return and Crewella’s separate year 3 tax return understated Crewella’s self-employment income, causing the joint return year 2 tax liability to be understated by $4,000 and Crewella’s year 3 separate return tax liability to be understated by $6,000. The IRS also assessed penalties and interest on both of these tax returns. Try as it might, the IRS has not been able to locate Crewella, but they have been able to find Jasper.

If increased investment (using current technology) does not lead to increased long-run economic growth, does it bring any benefits?

Katie recently won a ceramic dalmatian valued at $800 on a television game show.  She questions whether this prize is taxable because it was a “gift” she won on the show.     a.  Use an available tax research service to answer Katie’s question.   b.  Write a letter to Katie communicating the results of your research.

Differentiate between investing activities, financing activities, and operating activities.

Since fixed-rate mortgages and bonds have similar payment flows, how is a financial institution with a large portfolio of fixed-rate mortgages affected by rising interest rates? Explain. LO(8-1)

Danny’s Lawn Equipment sells high-quality lawn mowers and offers a 3-year warranty on all new lawn mowers sold. In 2014, Danny sold $300,000 of new specialty mowers for golf greens for which Danny’s service department does not have the equipment to do the service. Danny has entered into an agreement with Mower Mavens to provide all warranty service on the special mowers sold in 2014. Danny wishes to measure the fair value of the agreement to determine the warranty liability for sales made in 2014. The controller for Danny’s Lawn Equipment estimates the following expected warranty cash outflows associated with the mowers sold in 2014. Cash Flow Probability Year Estimate Assessment 2015 $2,500 20% 4,000 60% 5,000 20% 2016 $3,000 30% 5,000 50% 6,000 20% 2017 $4,000 30% 6,000 40% 7,000 30% Instructions Using expected cash flow and present value techniques, determine the value of the warranty liability for the 2014 sales. Use an annual discount rate of 5%. Assume all cash flows occur at the end of the year.

This year Jorge received a refund of property taxes that he deducted on his tax return last year.  Jorge is not sure whether he should include the refund in his gross income.  What would you tell him?

What explanations can you give for the increase in both unemployment and inflation in the 1970s?

Presented below are comments made in the financial press. Instructions Prepare responses to the requirements in each item. (a) Rep. John Dingell, at one time the ranking Democrat on the House Commerce Committee, threw his support behind the FASB’s controversial derivatives accounting standard and encouraged the FASB to adopt the rule promptly. Indicate why a member of Congress might feel obligated to comment on this proposed FASB standard. (b) In a strongly worded letter to Senator Lauch Faircloth (R-NC) and House Banking Committee Chairman Jim Leach (R-IA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) cautioned against government intervention in the accounting standard-setting process, warning that it had the potential of jeopardizing U.S. capital markets. Explain how government intervention could possibly affect capital markets adversely.

If you were the owner of a clothes shop, how would you set about deciding what prices to charge for each garment at the end-of-season sale?

Sasha is a self-employed taxpayer. They recently spent $1,000 for airfare to travel to Italy. What amount of the airfare is deductible in each of the following alternative scenarios?

1. If a bank buys a £500 000 Treasury bill at the start of its 91-day life for £480 000, at roughly what price could it sell it to another financial institution after 45 days Why is it not possible to predict that precise price when the bill is first purchased? 2. Suppose there were a sudden surge in demand for cash from the general public. Would the existence of inter-bank market loans help to meet the demand in any way?

Compare and contrast the recovery periods used by MACRS and those used under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Explain how some government defined-benefit plans have become underfunded as a result of overestimating their rate of return on investment. (LO4)