This article from Money magazine reveals that back in 1914, the first year of the From 1040, taxpayers were informed that 1913’s tax returns were due “in the hands of the Collector of Internal Revenue on or before March 1." Why? One common explanation is that March 1, 1914, was a year and some change after the institution of the 16th Amendment, which cemented Congress’s power to collect income tax upon its ratification in February 1913. But the 16th Amendment didn’t institute income tax itself — that was the job of the Revenue Act of 1913, which was signed into law in October of that year.

Tax Day was moved to March 15 in 1918. It remained that way until the 1950s, when the deadline was shifted again, this time to April 15. By 1954, many more people were filing taxes than they were 50 years prior.

Pretty interesting, right? Well if you think that tax tidbit was a bit fascinating, wait till you read this one. This article, also courtesy of Money magazine, titled, How a 27-Year-Old Math Whiz (and His Uber Driver) Found a Big Flaw in an IRS Tax Formula, states that Sam Ferguson spent one January Uber ride diving into tax math—and unearthed a big problem for many Obamacare customers.

Here is a short explanation from the in-depth Money article. "Ferguson, 27, a math Ph.D. student at New York University, was on a trip to Iowa when he got to talking with his Uber driver about their jobs. The driver told Ferguson that he had trouble calculating the premium assistance he was eligible for under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. People without job-based coverage making up to $48,560 are eligible for government help paying their monthly health insurance bill.

Ferguson promised the Uber driver that he would research the issue. What he stumbled onto was a known, but only obliquely acknowledged, problem with the IRS subsidy-calculation methodology. It affects an estimated 100,000 households, or up to 500,000 Americans, according to Ferguson’s estimates, forcing them to pay more than they should for health insurance.

When Ferguson contacted the IRS, they admitted they were aware of the problem, although nothing had been done about it. Ferguson is now approaching academic journals to publish his findings. With the help of a former roommate who now works as an engineer at Google, he has also created a preliminary calculator that people can use to ballpark their premium subsidy, to help determine whether they’re in one of the problematic income bands—and he’s working on a free app that will go even further, telling people of any income what premium subsidy they’re eligible for."

Just goes to show that having a conversation with your Uber or other taxi drivers can often be illuminating, even life-changing, for either or both.

The Rules of Thumb blog from MoneyThumb stated in the title of this post that we had some free stuff we found that we wanted to share with our readers who are accountants. So without further ado, here they are:

FREE CPE CREDITS--AccountingCred.Org offers free, tech-focused continuing education (and up to 5 free CPE credits).

FREE WEBINAR ON AUDITING--5 Tips to Avoid Audit Documentation Deficiencies. Tuesday, May 8, 2018.  Join industry thought leaders Vincent Gaudiuso, Partner at Buchbinder Tunick & Co, and Brett Stone, Customer Experience Manager at Wolters Kluwer, for a frank discussion on proven tips designed to help you raise the level of quality your audits deliver. Documenting efficiently and effectively is critical, especially since “work not documented is work not done”. During this session you will learn:

• Top identified audit documentation deficiencies during peer review
• Tips your firm can easily implement for improved quality
• How technology like CCH ProSystem fx Knowledge Coach helps

Peer Review, audit standards and unforeseen litigation all demand good documentation. All CPA firms interested in improving the quality of their audits should attend this session.

The post Interesting Tidbits On Income Tax and Free Stuff for Accountants appeared first on MoneyThumb.

Whoever said accountants, CPAs, bookkeepers and other financial folks can't be funny has not read this hilarious PDF from Proformative.com. Building on the theme of a sort of zombie apocalypse, this 13 page article talks about the 7 Deadly Sins of Year End for finance professionals. Have a laugh today but you will probably also relate very closely with the words therein.

Below is an introduction from the author and the first deadly sin of financial pros when it comes to year end:

"Every year, like clockwork, we finance professionals begin what is the most dreaded enterprise process known to our kind. The spreadsheets, the all-nighters at the office, the unreliable information and again, the never-ending spreadsheets, are all contributors
to the hell that is known to us as year-end. Hundreds of thousands of us complete the year-end process by way of Excel-centric procedures, but do all of us make it out?

I cannot answer that for you for I am not an all-knowing Finance savior (just a former Accountant). However, I can tell you what I do know. Your process of manual data manipulation, error prone “actuals” and endless email chains can and will keep you
chained. In efforts to ease you through this resurgence, I’ve compiled a list of the most common emotional experiences finance pros endure during this time of year. My guess is that you will relate to more than a few of them. My hope? That you use this as an opportunity for change.

Herein lies what I believe to be the 7 Deadly Sins of Year End.

Before I go down this dark path, I want to let you know that there is hope if you choose to take it within this piece of mine. Each section here includes links to additional readings that will help you through this trying time. This isn’t a love story by any means but I will say that even the most daunting of horrors can have a happy ending. Read on and may the odds be ever in your favor..".

1st Deadly Sin

Complacency

"Complacency is experienced by those who falsely believe that their current year-end process is in no need of improvement. In a complacent state, finance professionals cling to the status quo of outdated processes to complete their year-end procedures. They are not fazed by data exportation, manual manipulation, excessive emailing or even the probability of inaccuracy. These are the people that are simply satisfied with settling. In the realm of year-end sins, complacency seems benign to the other six. However, without being addressed, this sin can lead to a much worse scenario for your organization."

But all joking aside, the PDF in the link above produced brilliantly by Proformative.com is WELL worth a read with the end of the year drawing nigh. Take a few minutes to read the article and be sure to share this post with all your peers on social media.

The post Fun Friday: Hilarious But Spot on PDF--The End is Near, Year End That Is! appeared first on MoneyThumb.

Believe it or not, the stereotype of all accountants being straight-laced brainiacs is not completely true. Although there is NOTHING wrong with being a straight-laced brainiac, look at Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. However, there are just as many very cool, laid back accountants.

To prove this, let's have some fun today. It's Friday after all, and even accountants like to have fun on Friday. Before you read the following list, think over all the movies that come to mind where an accountant plays a major role. Then check out the 7 movies below and see how many you named. Let us know in the comments how well you did!

9 Movies with an ACCOUNTANT in a Leading Role

One of the best movies of all time, The Shawshank Redemption has Morgan Freeman as an accountant for fellow prisoners in Shawshank prison.

Dead Man stars Johnny Depp as an accountant that goes out west to pursue a new job opportunity during the Gold Rush.

In Hitch, Will Smith turns mild-mannered accountant Kevin James into a lady killer.

This movie is a classic.  It hits so many topics – the mob, prohibition, FBI, accounting, Sean Connery and…baseball (if you’ve seen the movie, you know what I mean).

If you don’t know the story of Al Capone, I’m not going to give you any spoilers.  Just watch the movie – you’ll be proud to call yourself a CPA!

The Smartest Guys in the Room’ is arguably the most important accounting movie you’ll ever watch.  It’s interesting, educational, suspenseful and brilliantly crafted.

Plus, this movie is almost like a 2 hour crash course as to why and how the public accounting landscape has changed since the infamous fraud.  This is a great movie to give you something to say around the accounting water cooler!

Eddie Moscone (Joe Pantoliano) hires tight-lipped bounty hunter Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) to locate a mob accountant named "The Duke" (Charles Grodin) and bring him to L.A.

Down and out producer Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel), who was once the toast of Broadway, trades sexual favors with old ladies for cash contributions. Max's new accountant Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), offhandedly muses that if Max found investors for a new production that turned into a flop, he could legally keep all the extra money. The duo begins to put together the worst play possible, titled "Springtime for Hitler", with a terrible director and a hippie-freak star.

Ok, how did you do? We would love to hear your comments below letting us know whether you guessed all 7 accounting related movies and talk about the movies themselves. Please share this fun post on your social media so your fellow accountants can join in the fun!

The post Fun on Friday--Can You Name 7 Movies with an Accountant in a Leading Role? appeared first on MoneyThumb.