November 20, 2019

S.A.L.T. Cap Repeal Case Dismissed

November 20, 2019/ Ruchelman P.L.L.C.

· Several high-tax states – whose taxpayers are negatively affected by the T.C.J.A.’s $10,000 cap on the Federal deduction for state and local taxes – have instituted a legal challenge that is working its way through the courts. On the last day of September, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled against the states under long standing authority that the Congress has broad power to eliminate tax benefits previously granted. However, this may not be the end of dispute. Nina Krauthamer and Lisa Singh, an extern at Ruchelman P.L.L.C. and a student at New York Law School, recap the ongoing saga and the latest results.

September 30, 2019

U.S. Tax Litigation Update — The President’s Tax Returns and the New S.A.L.T. Cap

September 30, 2019/ Ruchelman P.L.L.C.

· Politics on the national and local levels in the U.S. have become a form of blood sport with no holds barred and no code of conduct that is equivalent to the Marquess of Queensberry rules that controlled the sport of boxing in England from 1867 onward. This is evidenced by various political battles between President Trump and the Democrats in the House of Representatives and in state government. Those battles have moved to Federal court. Issues involve the disclosure by government of the president’s tax returns, the $10,000 cap imposed on deductions claimed for state and local income and real property taxes, and state proposed workarounds to ignore the cap. Nina Krauthamer looks at all the head-spinning activity currently taking place. Yes, bare-knuckle boxing as practiced by politicians in the U.S. is alive and well.

May 30, 2019

Reflections on My 66 Years in Public Accounting

May 30, 2019/ Ruchelman P.L.L.C.

Periodically in life, one comes across an individual who is best described as follows: He or she “gets it.” Difficult to describe analytically, in the tax world, the term means that (i) in solving technical problems, the person focuses the material, leaving the immaterial to others; (ii) in making decisions, the person can separate the important from the unimportant; and (iii) in advising others on the impact of a new accounting rule or provision of tax law, the person can digest the complex and explain it in a series of simple sentences. Often, the individual is self-effacing. Arthur J. Radin was all of the above. He passed away in April. In his memory, we are pleased to republish an article written for the CPA Journal describing the way professional accounting changed during his 60-year career and, more importantly, the way the world changed. Arthur will be missed.