28 Jan 2019
0

(#482) How Experts Use Tax Returns to Find Hidden Assets

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Fraud Briefs

Business owners engaged in fraudulent activities often try to manipulate their companies’ financial statements. Fortunately for fraud experts, business owners’ tax returns aren’t as easy to misrepresent. Here’s how experts use them to locate hidden assets and income. Seeking buried treasure Certain items are more likely to provide information about hidden assets and income sources. These include: Form 1040, Line 1 — Income from wages, etc. If the individual receives wages from several businesses, it may be possible to discover previously undisclosed business interests. Form 1040, Line 2a — Tax-exempt interest income. This income may reveal other investment assets. Form 1040, Line 4a — Retirement plan distributions. These funds can be traced to determine whether they were rolled over into other tax-deferred plans or used for another purpose. Form 1040, Line...

28 Jan 2019
0

(#481) Transferring a Vehicle’s Ownership to a Trust Comes with Risk

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Estate Planning Briefs

A revocable trust — often referred to as a “living trust” — can help ensure smooth management of your assets during life and avoid probate at death. And you may know that the trust isn’t effective unless you “fund” it — that is, transfer ownership of your assets to the trust. But what about assets such as automobiles and other vehicles? Should you transfer them to your revocable trust? Navigate potential bumps in the road If you still owe money on an auto loan, the lender may not allow you to transfer the title to the trust. But even if you own the vehicle outright (whether you paid cash for it or your loan is paid off), there are risks to consider before you make such a transfer. As...

28 Jan 2019
0

(#480) The Perils of Irredeemable Paper Money

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Economic Concepts

As posted to the GoldMoney YouTube Channel on 6/18/11 (Run time 2 minutes, 58 seconds) In this excerpt (above ⇑) of the complete 30 minute discussion (below ⇓), Lawrence Parks, of FAME, and James Turk, Director of the GoldMoney Foundation, talk about the coming collapse of our monetary system and the lack of political will to resist the temptation to over issue paper money. They talk about fiat money inflation in France during the Revolution and mention "Fiat Money Inflation in France" by Andrew Dickson White, which Lawrence gave to Trichet, Paulson and others. They explain how that historic episode ended in disaster and what is ahead for the American economy. They explain how every fiat currency has ended being worth less than the paper it was...

21 Jan 2019
0

(#478) Fraudulent Transfer Laws Could Sabotage Your Estate Plan

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Fraud Briefs

Estate planning aims to help individuals achieve several important goals — primary among them, transferring wealth to loved ones at the lowest possible tax cost. However, if you have creditors, you need to be aware of how fraudulent transfer laws can affect your estate plan. Creditors could potentially challenge your gifts, trusts or other estate planning strategies as fraudulent transfers. Creditor challenges Most states have adopted the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (UFTA). The act allows creditors to challenge transfers involving two types of fraud. The first is actual fraud. This means making a transfer or incurring an obligation “with actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud any creditor,” including current creditors and probable future creditors. The second type is constructive fraud. This is a more significant risk for most...

21 Jan 2019
0

(#477) College-Aged Children Need a Basic Estate Plan

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Estate Planning Briefs

If your son or daughter currently is home from college on winter break, now is a good time to sit down and discuss a few estate planning documents he or she should have at this stage of life. Let’s take a closer look at four such documents: 1. Health care power of attorney. With a health care power of attorney (sometimes referred to as a “health care proxy” or “durable medical power of attorney”), your child appoints someone — probably you or his or her other parent — to make health care decisions on his or her behalf should he or she be unable to do so. A health care power of attorney should provide guidance on how to make health care decisions. Although it’s impossible...

20 Jan 2019
0

(#476) Bogus Vendors May Be Costing Your Company a Bundle

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Fraud Briefs

Are you harboring fictitious vendors in your accounting system? These are vendors invented by an employee — usually someone with the authority to approve invoices — to embezzle from the company. Thieves fabricate invoices and deposit payments to the fictitious vendor in their own bank accounts. This scam is easier to perpetrate in companies with a large number of vendors because fictitious accounts simply get lost in the sheer volume of paperwork. However, small companies are also vulnerable to the scheme because they often lack internal controls, such as segregation of duties. Spotting the fake Regardless of the size of your company, there are likely to be tracks for you to follow: Missing information. You expect to find phone numbers, taxpayer identification numbers, contact names and specific street addresses...

20 Jan 2019
0

(#475) The Pension Bomb

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Current Events

As posted to the John Stossel YouTube Channel on 10/21/18 Run time (6:41) State and local governments face a $5 trillion dollar unfunded pension liability. In other words, politicians promised workers $5 trillion in retirement benefits, but government doesn’t have the money. So far, neither politicians nor the unions are willing to accept this. John Stossel warns: one day, no matter what the promise, we simply won’t be able to keep it. John Stossel is an American consumer television personality, author, and pundit, reflecting a libertarian political philosophy and view on economics which are largely supportive of the free market....

14 Jan 2019
0

(#473) 2 Major Tax Law Changes for Individuals in 2019

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Taxes

While most provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) went into effect in 2018 and either apply through 2025 or are permanent, there are two major changes under the act for 2019. Here’s a closer look. 1. Medical expense deduction threshold With rising health care costs, claiming whatever tax breaks related to health care that you can is more important than ever. But there’s a threshold for deducting medical expenses that was already difficult for many taxpayers to meet, and it may be even harder to meet this year. The TCJA temporarily reduced the threshold from 10% of adjusted gross income (AGI) to 7.5% of AGI. Unfortunately, the reduction applies only to 2017 and 2018. So for 2019, the threshold returns to 10% — unless legislation...

ROGER ROSSMEISL, CPA

Kho & Patel CPAs
160 E. Arrow Highway
San Dimas, CA 91773

(714) 325-0442
roger@khopatel.com

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