Facebook has been in the news quite a bit for its ad targeting over the past year, most notably with reports that the now-defunct Cambridge Analytica used improperly obtained data to develop “personality” profiles on U.S. voters and target ads toward them during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But many users are still unaware what information Facebook actually collects for ad targeting purposes. To rea ...

Introduction: The Fundamentals of Private Equity (Part I of III) Why is private equity becoming increasingly involved in the business of healthcare? How will their involvement affect the delivery of services? This first installment of a three-part series will describe the fundamentals of the private equity industry, in general, and set forth a common terminology that will be utilized throughout the series. ...

List from Scratch Last month, I wrote about the hazards of being a digital sharecropper and the benefits of reaching your leads, prospects, clients, and referral sources with your platform—like a newsletter or blog. But first you must have a list of people to send it to, and several of you asked how I got started. Let’s talk about that this month. [su_pullquote align="right"]Resources: Using Social Media to ...

The IRS issued proposed regulations that Sec. 956, which requires an income inclusion by U.S. shareholders of controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) that invest in U.S. property, should not apply to corporate shareholders. To read the full article in Journal of Accountancy, click: Proposed Rules Would Exempt Corporate U.S. Shareholders from Sec. 956. ...

Macroeconomic trends and matters of convenience will move advisors, assets, and markets this year in the ever-changing wealth management space. To read the full article in Financial Planning, click: 19 Trends to Watch in 2019. ...

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has provided certain advantages for clients, including a 20% deduction for qualified business income and a higher standard deduction. But a cap on deductions for state and local taxes and a different method for determining inflation adjustments could create challenges. "The TCJA has given wealthy taxpayers some interesting changes to their return," noted Scott Kadrlik, CPA, PFS. To ...

About the Business of Healthcare Araliya Valuation Consulting (AVC), based in Tampa, FL, surveyed over 1,000 physician business owners to find out their perspective on the current healthcare environment, in a business context. AVC team surveyed several medical specialists, including: dentists, ophthalmologists, psychiatrists and psychologists, family medicine practitioners, chiropractors, podiatrists, physi ...

Step-by-Step With increasing competition in the accounting field, you want to ensure that clients and prospects can easily find your content through search engines like Google. You can do so by optimizing the copy (i.e., marketing text) on certain pages of your website. This article describes the process of web text optimization. With increasing competition in the accounting field, you want to ensure that c ...

Despite the changes that came with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, clients can still claim the child and dependent care tax credit on their 2018 returns. Working parents who paid for day care, summer camp or a babysitter should take advantage of this tax break, which can help them save as much as $1,050 per child below age 13. Those who intend to claim are advised to pay their babysitter legally and remit the ne ...

Millennials are using TDFs more than others. Digital firms are paying attention. Some of the leading RIAs, asset managers and TAMPs updated their retirement packages with new tools to track target-date funds and savings statistics, ultimately giving clients more sophisticated information about their retirement options. To read the full article in Financial Planning, click: Why Digital Retirement Tools are T ...

If stock market volatility has drained value from your traditional IRA, this might be a good time to convert the account into a Roth IRA to take advantage of tax-free asset growth. The move may be especially appealing for retirees who have delayed their Social Security benefits and are younger than 70½. To read the full article in CNBC, click: This Failing Market Offers an Opportunity to Cut Your Taxes in R ...

Measuring the Relative Performance of Small Stock vs. Large Stock and the Cost of Equity Roger Ibbotson and James Harrington discuss two different ways of measuring the relative performance of small stocks versus large stocks in this article: (i) the “small stock premium” and (ii) the “beta-adjusted size premium”. Ibbotson and Harrington demonstrate why using a non-beta-adjusted size premium within the cont ...

February 2019—U.S. Tax Court on Valuation of Conservation Easements and Expert Testimony The U.S. Tax Court issued two valuation decisions in late December 2018 that may be of interest to QuickRead readers. The opinion is 116 pages long and delves into what is a qualified real property easement that qualifies for a charitable deduction, and the 36-page memorandum provides guidance regarding how the court we ...

Still, time is limited. Tell clients they’d better take advantage of the current exemption before it expires. To read the full article in Financial Planning, click: Thanks to New IRS Decree, Clients Can Relax When Making Large Gifts—For Now. ...

If your clients are super wealthy and want to avoid a big tax bill, they’re better off retiring in Michigan than in Maryland. The IRS collects around $18 billion in estate taxes annually, according to the agency. To read the full article in Financial Planning, click: Where Should Rich Clients Retire? ...

CPA financial planners name charitable giving, business structure and estate plans as the areas of clients' financial plans they have had to adjust most frequently after passage of the law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Planners can tap into their technical expertise to evaluate how different tax strategies would align with a client's overall financial picture, said Robert Westley, CPA/PFS. Ultimately, ...

for State Income Tax Purposes How will the SALT limits impact growth? Demographic trends? In this article, the author looks at current data, considers these issues and other tax matters that complicate residency choices and options. A few years ago Fox News Channel’s commentator and nationally syndicated radio talk show host (both based in New York), Sean Hannity, threatened that he was going to leave New Y ...

of Patent Litigation Damages In the last 18 months, we have seen numerous decisions which will likely have a dramatic impact on the landscape of patent litigation damages. Two of the most impactful decisions, Apple v. Samsung and WesternGeco v. Ion Geophysical, made their way to the United States Supreme Court. However, we will not see the true practical outcome of either of these hallmark decisions for man ...

After Dec. 31, spouses responsible for paying alimony won’t get a tax deduction, due to a change under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. To read the full article in Financial Planning, click: Hurry Up—Get Your Clients Divorced. ...

The ultra-wealthy say they want to achieve more, yet currently give only 1.2% of their assets to charity. How can advisors help? To read the full article in Financial Planning, click: How to Advise HNW Clients About High-Impact Philanthropy. ...