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You Are Here: Home » News & Events
2008 News and EventsFreed Maxick & Battaglia, CPAs strives to keep you informed of the latest firm news, issues and other information that affects your business. See the links below for the latest updates. 7/21/08 Nominate your CFO
Eligibility Nominees must be Chief Financial Officers or hold equivalent positions in the counties of Erie, Niagara, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Wyoming, Orleans, Allegany or Genesee. The nominees home office must be in this region. Deadline for nominations is August 8th, 2008
Award Honors Selection Process Event Contact: Contact Eric Majchrzak, Marketing Manager with any questions. eric.majchrzak@freedmaxick.com 6/05/08
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Discussion Topics:
Registration: Visit the Business First Website to register. Fee: | Panelists: Stephen Cavanaugh: Try-It Distributing Moderators: John Kropski, CPA - Director: Freed Maxick & Battaglia, CPAs Who Should Attend? CFOs, CEOs, Controllers, |
For more information, contact:
Eric Majchrzak
Marketing Manager
Freed Maxick & Battaglia
716.332.2773 or eric.majchrzak@freedmaxick.com
4/15/08
Mike Boeheim Instructor at CFA's Fraud Awareness Worksh
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Mike Boeheim, CIA, CFE, a Director of Freed Maxick ABL Services, will be instructor for the Commercial Finance Association's Fraud Awareness Workshop, being held Wednesday, May 21 - Friday, May 23, 2008 at the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City in California. The Fraud Awareness Workshop is a three-day program presenting the best practices in the prevention and detection of borrower fraud, while also recommending fraud prevention procedures for a variety of Asset-Based Lending (ABL) disciplines. The goal of the program is for participants to understand their roles in mitigating the risk of fraud within their organizations. During the three-day program participants will learn fraud prevention procedures for the ABL and factoring discplines of: 
- Account Management
- Field Examination
- Underwriting
- Operations
- Credit
- Senior Management
- Business Development
- Mitigating the risk of fraud
- Specific approaches and techniques in fraud prevention/detection
This workshop is recommended for: Professionals seeking to minimize their institution's fraud risk. See Mike Boeheim's Bio. For more information about this event, or to register, visit the CFA website
4/1/08
Freed Maxick Sponsors World Trade Celebration 2008
Freed Maxick announced today that the firm is sponsoring "World Trade Celebration 2008-Unleashing the Power of Trade", presented by the World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara. The event will take place Thursday, May 8, 2008, from 4:30-10:00pm at the Buffalo Convention Center.
World Trade Celebration is the annual networking event for hundreds of American and Canadian executives involved in international trade in the binational region of Upstate New York and Southern Ontario. Since 1996, World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara has presented World Trade Celebration to bring the trade community together to recognize the benefits of trade and commerce for our binational region. This year's event features Keynote Speaker Joe Loughrey, President & COO of Cummins, Inc. For more information about the event, visit WTCBN.com
3/25/08
Freed Maxick Voted a 2008 "Best Places to Work"
Freed Maxick & Battaglia, CPAs was recently named a “Best Places to Work” in Western New York for 2008, according to Buffalo Business First an
The responses to the questions asked were analyzed by Quantum, and each company’s results indicated how “engaged” their employees are at the company. Freed Maxick participated in the “Extra-large Company” category (with 200 employees) and had a high percentage of “enthusiastic” employees complete the survey. Because of the impressive results, the firm will be honored a “Best Places to Work” at a reception to be held at the Buffalo Convention Center April 8th.
Freed Maxick & Battaglia, CPAs has become the largest public accounting firm in Western New York not only because of our clients, but because the best places to work have the best people. Also, thanks to all of our clients, who help create the fulfilling work environment for our employees.
2/26/08
Employer-Owned Life Insurance Reporting Requirements
Proceeds received from a life insurance policy are generally excluded from income. At the same time, no deduction is allowed for premiums paid on any life insurance, annuity, or endowment contract, if you are directly or indirectly a beneficiary under the contract. However, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 provides that the amount excluded from gross income with respect to an employer-owned life insurance contract cannot exceed the premiums and other amounts paid by the policyholder for the policy. Thus, the excess death benefit is included in the employer’s income.
Fortunately, there is an exclusion for death benefit proceeds from contracts issued for any individual who was an employee at any time during the twelve months before their death, or who, at the time the contract was issued, was a director, highly compensated employee or highly compensated individual.
An employer-owned insurance contract is one in which you, as the employer, own a policy and are a beneficiary under a contract that covers the life of an employee in your trade or business. If you intend to claim a full exclusion of the death benefit from gross income with regard to such contracts issued after August 17, 2006, notice and consent requirements must be met. The notice and consent requirements are met if, before the issuance of the contract, the employee:
- is notified in writing that you intend to insure the life of the employee and the maximum face amount of the policy for which the employee can be insured;
- provides written consent to being insured under the contract and that such coverage may continue after the insured terminates employment; and
- is informed in writing that you will be a beneficiary of any proceeds payable upon the death of the employee.
- the number off employees at he end of the year;
- the number of employees insured under an employer-owned life insurance contract at the end of the year;
- the total amount of insurance in force at the end of the year under such contracts;
- your name, address, and taxpayer identification number and the type of business your are engaged in; and
- a statement that you have a valid consent from each insured employee.
2/13/2008
Economic Stimulus Package Act of 2008 Enacted
The Economic Stimulus Package Act of 2008 is designed to boost the U.S. economy by providing tax rebates to individuals and tax incentives for businesses.
Recovery rebates
To encourage spending that stimulates economic recovery, eligible individuals will begin receiving rebate checks sometime soon after the April 15 tax filing deadline. You can’t use the rebate to offset a balance due with your tax return, and extending your 2007 tax return will delay the refund.
The amount of the rebate will generally be either $600 ($1,200 if filing jointly) or the taxpayer’s 2007 income tax liability after credits, whichever is less. But even if that liability is less than $300 ($600 if filing jointly), the rebate will be $300 ($600 if filing jointly) — as long as the taxpayer has either:
- A tax liability of at least $1 and gross income greater than the standard deduction plus one personal exemption (two if filing jointly), or
- At least $3,000 of qualifying gross income (earned income, Social Security and certain veterans’ benefits).
In addition, the rebate for taxpayers with dependent children will be increased by $300 per qualifying child. A qualifying child must not have reached the age of 17 before the end of 2007 and must have a Social Security number.
However, the rebate begins to phase out for taxpayers with a 2007 adjusted gross income (AGI) of at least $75,000 ($150,000 for a joint return). Under the phaseout, the rebate is reduced by 5% of the amount by which a taxpayer’s AGI exceeds the applicable limit. So filers without qualifying children will receive no rebate if their AGI is $87,000 or more ($174,000 for joint filers). Remember, AGI is your income after certain adjustments, such as retirement plan contributions, but before personal exemptions and itemized deductions, such as mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and charitable contributions.
Other factors may also impact taxpayer eligibility. Here are some examples of how the rebates will work:
Example 1
Joe and Tanya file jointly and have a 2007 AGI of $125,000 and a 2007 net income tax liability of $10,000. They have two dependent children under age 17. They can expect a recovery rebate of $1,800.
Example 2
Suppose, instead, that Joe and Tanya’s 2007 AGI is $200,000. The $1,800 calculated amount is reduced (but not below zero) by 5% of the amount by which their AGI exceeds $150,000. Thus, once their AGI exceeds $186,000, they are completely phased out (5% of $36,000 is $1,800) and won’t get any recovery rebate.
Example 3
Tanya’s widowed mother is retired and has no income other than her Social Security of $12,000. She pays no income tax, but because her Social Security income is $3,000 or more and is therefore considered qualifying income, she is eligible for a recovery rebate of $300 even though her income tax liability is not at least $1.
Note that the recovery rebates, while based on your 2007 tax return, are technically an advance on your income tax liability for 2008. Thus, when filing their 2008 tax return in 2009, those who didn’t receive the maximum possible rebate because their income was too low or too high get a second chance based on the figures on their 2008 return. For example, if a single person had no tax liability in 2007 and therefore received only a $300 rebate, but he or she has a $1,000 tax liability on the 2008 tax return, that person would receive an additional $300 credit on the 2008 return. No one will be required to give back any rebate received.
Incentives for business investment
To spur additional investment, the act increases the Section 179 limit for initial year expensing to $250,000 (from $128,000). The Sec. 179 expensing election allows a current deduction for newly acquired assets that otherwise would have to be depreciated over a number of years. Because this tax break is designed to benefit primarily smaller businesses, the expensing election begins to phase out dollar for dollar when total asset acquisitions for the tax year exceed $800,000 (up from $510,000 before the act). The new higher limit applies for calendar year 2008 or a business’s fiscal year that begins in 2008. As in the past, a business can claim the expensing election currently only to offset its net income, not to reduce net income below zero.
Another depreciation-related provision offers a special allowance for certain property, generally if acquired this year. This is in addition to any such property that qualifies for Sec. 179 expensing. For eligible property, the special depreciation amount is equal to 50% of its adjusted basis. The following types of property are qualified for this special depreciation:
- Tangible property with a recovery period of 20 years or less,
- Computer software purchased by the business,
- Water utility property, and
- Qualified leasehold improvement property.
Because both the Sec. 179 limit increases and the 50% depreciation allowance can provide large 2008 deductions, you may want to consider making major asset purchases this year.
Temporary loan limit increases for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA
In response to the mortgage crisis, the act increases from $417,000 to $729,750 the dollar limit on loans that may be issued by the FHA and that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can purchase. This is designed to reduce predatory lending practices on borrowers seeking loans in excess of the current limits, often referred to as “jumbo mortgages.” The increases are in effect for loans made or approved for origination through the end of 2008, after which the previous loan limits will apply once again.
Please contact us to find out exactly how the Economic Stimulus Package Act of 2008 will affect your personal and business taxes in 2008.Related Links
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