joyfulchristian

It's about time

Roberts has been confirmed as Chief Justice.

Despite lots of bluster from leftist Democrats, the vote wasn't even close.  A substantial portion of the Senate Democrats (nearly half) put party politics aside and confirmed the man because he was well qualified.  Good for them.

Katrina tax bill

Fox News has posted a useful plain-English explanation of the Katrina relief tax bill that President Bush just signed.

Bleg

We just had to replace our CD burner and ended up getting a DVD burner.  We have a program to burn DVDs, but don't have anything to convert video files to the correct format for DVD playback.  Does anyone have any suggestions.

Heads up

If you made estimated tax payments during the first 10 days of September and you mailed the check to the IRS in San Francisco, you could have a problem:

A number of checks, most believed to cover estimated taxes from the self-employed, were lost on Sept. 11, when a truck carrying them to an Internal Revenue Service lockbox was involved in an accident on the San Mateo Bridge. Wind blew away an estimated 30,000 pieces of mail, many ending up in the bay.

Taxpayers in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming are among those who could be affected. The IRS believes most of the missing mail includes estimated tax payments due on Sept. 15, and will waive penalties and interest for anyone whose payment was effected. In the meantime, taxpayers who sent checks to P.O. Box 510000 in San Francisco during the first 10 days of September should wait until October to see if their checks clear before contacting the IRS.

The problem is, of course, since these checks hadn't been processed, the IRS doesn't have any way of knowing whose checks were lost.  Keep your eyes peeled if you made one of these payments.

This is strange

I had a friend who worked in the automotive section at a Wal-Mart a few years ago.  He told me that they were fanatical about making, forcing really, people take two unpaid 15 minute breaks and one paid 30 minute break a day.  They went so far as threatening to fire people who didn't take all their break time. 

I'm having a hard time squaring that with this:

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Lawyers representing about 116,000 former and current Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) employees in California told a jury Monday that the world's largest retailer systematically and illegally denied workers lunch breaks.

The suit in Alameda County Superior Court is among about 40 cases nationwide alleging workplace violations against Wal-Mart, and the first to go to trial. Wal-Mart, which earned $10 billion last year, settled a lawsuit in Colorado for $50 million that contains similar allegations to California's class action. The company also is accused of paying men more than women in a federal lawsuit pending in San Francisco federal court.

I don't know.  Maybe they do things differently in California.

This could be bad

I understand the British army's desire to rescue their men, but this could turn into a disaster:

British tanks have smashed the walls of an Iraqi prison to free two undercover British soldiers seized by Iraqi forces.

An Interior Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says half-a-dozen tanks have crushed the walls of the jail in the southern city of Basra.

British troops then freed the soldiers.

[...]

The Interior Ministry official says dozens of Iraqi prisoners at the jail have also escaped.

[...]

The two British soldiers, who are said to be working undercover and in civilian clothes, were arrested by Iraqi forces following a shoot-out in Basra.

In the shoot-out, at least two Iraqis were killed.

I still don't know the details of the original incident, but clearly the Iraqi government thought the British soldiers were in the wrong.  For the British to then knock down the jailhouse walls to free them, without, apparently, even really attempting a diplomatic solution (I have no direct information in this regard, but there hasn't really been enough time to attempt a diplomatic solution.) could sour relations.

I hope I'm wrong.

Update: This story, from the Guardian, of all places, makes the whole thing sound much more justified.  According to quotes in this story, local judges had already ordered the men released and those orders were being ignored.

Unfortunately, none of that changes the fact that we could have a disaster in the making here.

Random stuff

Why is it that they can develop a medication for my dogs that can repel mosquitos, ticks, and fleas for a whole month with one application, but stuff for humans only lasts a few hours?

Why is it that my 10 pound dog is much harder to bathe than my 80 pound dog?

My cousin's oldest child just turned forteen! Yikes!  Where did the time go?

Katrina related tax bills in the works

Botht the House and the Senate have passed bills designed to provide tax relief for those affected by Hurricane Katrina and those trying to provide relief.  The bills are different though and we don't know what will come out of conference.  All the same, I thought I'd post this list of some of the possible items that are in the bills:

The cuts are designed to give people affected by the hurricane easier access to their retirement savings and to encourage charitable giving. Among other provisions, both versions of the plan waive penalties for victims who withdraw cash from their retirement savings accounts, solidify an earned income tax credit for the working poor, and provide a $2,000 tax break to anyone who houses victims for two months or longer.

Other provisions include:

• The extension of a tax credit for employers who keep workers in the disaster zone on their payroll;
• The elimination of a limitation on casualty losses, making it easier for victims to get a refund of taxes they paid in 2004; and,
• An allowance for survivors to exempt from taxes any debts that are canceled because of the hurricane. Canceled debt is usually considered taxable income.

It looks like we'll see a second bill later, so who knows what all we'll end up with.

Ouch!

Wow:

A VICTORIAN man conducted 30,000 volts of static electricity in his jacket today but walked away without a scratch.

Frank Clewer, from Dennington in the south-west of the state, left a trail of burned carpet and molten plastic through the nearby city of Warrnambool.

Authorities later tested his polar-fleece jacket using a device that measures static electricity, and said the dial initially went off the scale before settling on a figure greater than 30,000 volts.

Read the whole thing. You may be swearing off fleece jackets. (Yeah, I know this is a total freak thing, but still ...)

I don't get it

Human rights groups are freaking out over this:

Mr Musharraf reportedly said some Pakistanis believed rape was a ticket to escape the country.

"It was shocking to read that General Musharraf had publicly aired his low opinion of women...," opposition MP Sherry Rehman said about Mr Musharraf's comments in an interview with the Washington Post this week.

"This is very frivolous way of looking at rape cases in the country," human rights activist Kamila Hyat said.

Mr Musharraf made the comments after being asked about the high-profile case of Mukhtaran Mai, who was gang raped on the orders of a tribal council in 2002 as punishment for her brother's alleged love affair with a woman from another tribe.

Her treatment by the Pakistani Government, which tried to bar her from addressing US rights groups about her ordeal, earned the conservative Islamic country international wrath.

"You must understand the environment in Pakistan," Mr Musharraf said to the Washington Post.

"This has become a money-making concern. A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped," he said.

Mr Musharraf, a general who seized power in 1999, later said he had been quoting someone else, Pakistani media reported.

But "it is true that the issue is used to defame Pakistan," the Dawn daily quoted him as telling reporters in New York.

Mr Musharraf banned Ms Mai, 33, from addressing US rights groups reportedly because he thought it would give Pakistan bad publicity. He later lifted the ban under pressure from Washington.

I've read some about Mai's case before and I would have to agree that her treatment by the Pakistani government has been shameful.  All the same, I don't see how Mussharraf's is either frivolous of demeaning to women.  Given the conditions in some parts of Pakistan and the treatment of women in some of the tribal regions, his statement doesn't seem entirely implausible.  That's much more of a condmentation of the treatment of women in Pakistan than it is of the women in that country.

I really don't understand why people find this statement so horrific.  I also wonder why they're resorting to lashing out at Mussharraf rather than attempting to debunk his statement.

Irs grants relief workers extensions

I thought this was cool (Subscription link):

The IRS announced that Hurricane Katrina relief workers have until January 3, 2006, to file any returns and pay any taxes due. IR-2005-103 (9/14/05).

Yesterday, the IRS announced that Hurricane Katrina relief workers have until January 3, 2006 to file any returns and pay any taxes due. According to the IRS, this means that relief workers are entitled to the same extensions that apply to individuals and businesses located in the disaster area. Eligible relief workers should notify the IRS that they are affected by Hurricane Katrina when they file returns or respond to notices or contacts from the tax agency.

For this purpose, the IRS explained, eligible relief workers are those assisting in the disaster area. This includes people affiliated with recognized government or philanthropic organizations and others.

That's  not a bad idea at all.  In related news,  you might not want to try calling the IRS for a while:

Also, in IR-2005-102, the IRS announced that nearly five thousand IRS telephone operators are helping the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) answer telephone calls from Hurricane Katrina victims. The IRS telephone assisters are taking calls to help people with the FEMA registration process and referring individuals for other essential services like the American Red Cross.

This is certainly for a good cause, but I'm guessing it's going to hamper the IRS's ability to handle their own call load.

I never understood this

During the lead up to the war in Iraq, it seemed like a lot of conservatives and libertarians had jumped on the Andrew Sullivan bandwagon.  As Sullivan has become increasingly a)anti-war, b) anti-Bush, and c) anti-common sense that that has started to reverse itself.  Often because of incidents like the one mentioned at InstaPundit today.

I can't say the reversal bothers me, but some people (and I'm not naming names, nor implying that Glenn Reynolds is one of them) seem surprised by Sullivan's re-transformation.  I'm at a loss as to why this might be.  Sullivan has been flaky for as long as I can remember.  I never understood why the right was so keen to bring him into the fold in the first place.  Yes, lots of people seem to listen to Sullivan, but that doesn't do you any good unless you have some idea of what he's going to say next.

It's official

Tom Delay has been in Congress too long. Way too long.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an "ongoing victory," and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget.

Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans' choice to borrow money and add to this year's expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn't seem possible.

"My answer to those that want to offset the spending is sure, bring me the offsets, I'll be glad to do it. But nobody has been able to come up with any yet," the Texas Republican told reporters at his weekly briefing.

Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, "Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we've pared it down pretty good."

It's become increasingly obvious that the Republican leadership's dedication to small government has been waning for quite some time.  I think we can now declare that dedication officially dead. 

The House Majority Leader can't find anything left in the budget to cut?  This is absurd.  Even more absurd is his assertion that no one has been able to come up with anything to cut in the budget.  Apparently he's never heard of Citizen's Against Government Waste who's published a whole list of projects they think can be cut.

Reasonable people can disagree about what can and can't be cut from the budget, but to assert that there is nothing that can be cut and that no one has been able to list anything to cut is about as bold-faced a lie as you can come up with.

It's time for Delay to go!

Update: Even more things Delay could do to clean up the budget.

Update: Slate has several links regarding this issue. (Including, I was shocked to find, my own.)

More Katrina links

Yes, some of this is tax related as well.

Business Week has constructed a list of links for those needing hurricane relief.  Meanwhile, the SEC has set up a web site for those who have lost track of their investment advisors in all the madness.

The IRS has raised the standard mileage rates to account for the increased cost of gas: (Link requires registration)

Sep. 10--In response to the sharp jump in gas prices, the Internal Revenue Service yesterday said it raised the standard mileage reimbursement rate by 8 cents to 48.5 cents a mile, the single largest increase ever.

     The new rate will be retroactive, applying to business travel from Sept. 1 through the end of this year.

Workers who use their vehicles for business can deduct their actual expenses or the standard mileage rate on tax returns. The federal government and many private employers use the IRS rate when reimbursing workers who use their car on the job.

The medical and charitable rates have increased as well.

Accounting Web is highlighting a site  dedicated to helping  those displaced by the hurricane to find new jobs.

I'm loathe to say anything good about H & R Block

... but in this case I'll make an exception.

I've mentioned before that hurricane victims can file amended 2004 tax returns and claim their losses immediately.  Today I see that H & R Block is offering to do those returns for free.

And yeah, I know that I'm not blogging about much of anything except hurricane related tax stuff; I just don't have much to say at the moment and this seems important.

How do you even respond to stuff like this?

Jimmy Peanut in charge of rebuilding?

This morning on Fox's "Fox and Friends," former Indiana Democrat congressman and 9/11 commissioner Tim Roemer called on President Bush to name former President Jimmy Carter to the head of efforts to rebuild New Orleans.

Roemer told the stunned hosts: "The second thing we should do is put somebody like former President Jimmy Carter in charge of rebuilding New Orleans."

Yeah, there's a good idea.
 

To be expected I guess

As I've been looking through accounting and tax related sites for Katrina information the last few days I've come across many supposedly straight news pieces that were, in reality, thinly veiled attempts to convince people that Katrina makes other tax cuts impossible.  I know bias in the media, even in specialized fields, is to be expected. It's still disappointing though.

Some more good ideas

There aren't many Democrats in the Senate I have any respect for, but Max Baucus, ranking member of the Finance Committee is one of them.  Here are his proposals for tax relief for Katrina victims (Subscription Link):

• To assist homeowners who take in Katrina victims. Under this proposal, taxpayers would receive half a dependency deduction for each Katrina victim they house for at least 90 days during the tax year. Being claimed as dependent would not affect the victim’s ability, however, to claim their own personal exemptions or dependent exemptions for their children.

• Education tax relief: Room and board, tuition, books and fees provided to students displaced by Katrina will not be included in taxable income.

• Extending WOTC eligibility to Katrina victims. Under the work opportunity tax credit (WOTC), employers can claim a tax credit against wages paid to new workers that face barriers to employment such as ex-felons, welfare recipients, high-risk youth, and veterans. This proposal would add potential workers displaced due to the hurricane to the WOTC eligible list, easing the search for employment. The credit maximum is $2,400 (40 percent of first year wages up to $6,000, or 25 percent of wages if less than 400 hours worked.)

• A payroll maintenance tax credit: Under this proposal, businesses with fewer than 50 employees would be eligible for a 50 percent tax credit to continue paying employees even though the business cannot operate during the hurricane rebuilding period. The credit would max out at $12,000.

He's got some interesting ideas here. I hope some of them pay off.

A couple more good moves from the IRS

I never thought I'd be saying many good things about the IRS, but they have come through with some good ideas related to Hurricane relief:

The IRS has added to the relief previously granted to victims of Hurricane Katrina in IR-2005-84. Hurricane Katrina victims will now have until January 3, 2006, to file any returns, pay any taxes or make any deposits due. Deadlines will run through the end of calendar year 2005, which would be to January 3, 2006, after taking account of the New Year holiday, said Everson. The extension applies to any return, tax payment or tax deposit with an original or extended due date on or after August 29, 2005, and is available in all counties and parishes listed in IR-2005-91.

The IRS also announced that it will abate interest and any penalties for late filing, late payment or failure to make deposits that would otherwise apply. The relief covers the September 15 due date for estimated taxes and calendar-year corporate returns with extensions, the October 17 deadline for individuals who received a second extension of time to file an individual income tax return and the October 31 deadline for filing quarterly federal employment and excise tax returns.

That  boils down to a 3 1/2 month extension for a lot of things.   Here's another good idea:

To further help hurricane relief efforts, Everson and Snow announced that employees can donate vacation, sick or personal leave so employers can make cash payments to qualified tax-exempt organizations that help hurricane victims. The employees do not have to include donated leave in their income, and employers will be permitted to deduct the cash contribution. Employer cash donations must be made before January 1, 2007.

Employees participating in a leave-donation program may not claim a charitable contribution deduction with respect to the value of foregone leave excluded from wages. However, employers will be permitted to deduct cash payments made under such programs as a business expense under Code Sec. 162 if the payment is: (1) made to a charitable organization for the relief of Hurricane Katrina victims; and (2) paid before January 1, 2007.

I don't know if this leave donation thing will catch on, but it's a good idea.

Tax relief for Katrina victims

CCH has a short piece laying out tax options available to disaster victims.

I would only add that the tax code will allow people to deduct losses they incurred in the hurricane.  Unfortunately, there are limitations and only losses exceeding 10% of a persons gross income are deductible.  On the good side, you can choose whether to wait and claim the losses on your 2005 tax return or file an amended 2004 return and go ahead and take the loss now. (The deductible loss will probably be less, but you'll get the money much quicker.)

However, deducting a loss means first knowing what the value of the lost property was.  From what I'm hearing, the normal methods of establishing tax losses may be meaningless in New Orleans and some other areas.  I suspect a special rule will be needed to help these people estimate their losses, but so far no such rule is forthcoming.

They said what?

(Bumped to the top.)
I haven't had much to say lately, but Hurricane Katrina has inspired me.  Well, to be more accurate, the incredibly stupid things people are saying about the storm inspired me.  To post a list of stupid things that people are saying.  If you've got any, send em in or post em.

Haley Barbour caused the Hurricane to hit his state.  RFK, Jr.

As Hurricane Katrina dismantles Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, it’s worth recalling the central role that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour played in derailing the Kyoto Protocol and kiboshing President Bush’s iron-clad campaign promise to regulate CO2.

[...]

Now we are all learning what it’s like to reap the whirlwind of fossil fuel dependence which Barbour and his cronies have encouraged. Our destructive addiction has given us a catastrophic war in the Middle East and--now--Katrina is giving our nation a glimpse of the climate chaos we are bequeathing our children.

In 1998, Republican icon Pat Robertson warned that hurricanes were likely to hit communities that offended God. Perhaps it was Barbour’s memo that caused Katrina, at the last moment, to spare New Orleans and save its worst flailings for the Mississippi coast.

I'd like to believe that was done with tongue-in-cheek, but I really don't think it was.  If this wasn't satircal, it's a good nominee to win the Jerry Falwell Blame-the-Victim award.

Katrina is proof that the U.S. needs to act quickly to reduce greenhouse gasses.  Various newspapers across Germany.

That appears to be the gist of several of the articles mentioned in that link.

Bloggers who write about the hurricane are just trying to up their hit-count so they can get more advertising.  Shane Coffey

Most legitimate news organizations have a right to post a story about the incoming hurricane, because that's what they, they report the news. Blogs should not change their focus just to make a buck or two. But those bloggers out there writing just to increase their visitors just to get people to click on their google ads is pathetic to say the least.

These people are the scum of the earth and are by essence scraping the bottom of the barrel. To me anyone making money off the heart-ache and suffering of others are pathetic and need to be locked away for a vey long time.

Yes, he actually implies (heavily) that bloggers have no right to blog about the storm.  (He ignores the fact that it's just as easy for "legitimate" news organizations to use natural disasters to make money.)

Global warming caused the hurricane and, well, just about anything else you can think of.  Ross Gelbspan.(Via Best of the Web)

The hurricane that struck Louisiana yesterday was nicknamed Katrina by the     National Weather Service. Its real name is global warming.

When the year began with a two-foot snowfall in Los Angeles, the cause was     global warming.

When 124-mile-an-hour winds shut down nuclear plants in Scandinavia and cut     power to hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland and the United Kingdom,     the driver was global warming.

Katrina is our punishment from God for supporting the Israelis pullout from Gaza.  Bridget Magee.

A resident of Louisiana who chose to stay at home rather than evacuate in the face of advancing Hurricane Katrina believes her country is being dealt with by God because of the major role it played in the expulsion of Jews from their homes in Gaza and northern Samaria. Bridgett Magee told the Jerusalem Newswire Sunday evening that she saw the giant hurricane "as a direct 'coming back on us' [for] what we did to Israel: a home for a home."

[...]

Magee sees the coming catastrophe as something the God of Israel will allow in judgment upon the United States for its central role in the expulsion of 10,000 Jews from their homes in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria.

Umm ... If that's so, wouldn't it make more sense for some horrible disaster to be striking the Israelis who supported the pullout?

The resulting gasoline problems will basically destroy our way of life (and that's apparently a good thing). James Kunstler.

It seems possible to me that we will be seeing gas station lines all over America within the week.” In another area of his website, Kunstler writes: "We are entering a period of economic hardship and declining incomes...The suburbs as are going to tank spectacularly. We are going to see an unprecedented loss of equity value and, of course, basic usefulness. We are going to see an amazing distress sale of properties, with few buyers. We're going to see a fight over the table scraps of the 20th century.

I'll help the flood victims, even if they are dirty, rotten, war-supporting  Republicans!  Linda Milazzo.

Update: It's all Bush's fault! Kathy Flake.

Except, I'm not blaming Bush for staying away while New Orleans drowns. I'd like him to stay as far away as possible, in the same way I'd like a firestarter to stay away from the embers of my charred home.

If you would like to join in the blame game, please leave a comment. Anybody able to connect him with a missing white girl gets extra points.

Update again: Sean Penn gets in on the act:

The US government was accused of "criminal negligence" as hopes of finding survivors faded and the death toll from Hurricane Katrina continued to rise.

 

Holidaymakers returning to the UK spoke of the scale of the misery while one said leering police officers demanded young women flash their breasts in return for help.

 

Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Sean Penn, who has been assisting rescue efforts in New Orleans, said the US government did not "seem to be inclined to help".

 

"We were pulling drowning people out of the water, it's the ultimate distress and human suffering ... dead bodies," he told GMTV.

 

Penn said he had spent nine hours on Monday searching the water for people and during all that time he saw just three boats carrying US officials.

 

"There are people that are dying right now and I mean babies and old people and everybody in between - they're dying. There are people dying and (the US government are) not putting the boats in the water, I think that's criminal negligence. I don't think anybody ever anticipated the criminal negligence of the Bush administration in this situation."

Nobody tell Sean about this stuff.  Oh, and don't mention this either.  Note that he accuses the Bush administration of "criminal negligence" on the grounds that he only saw three boats.  Because, of course, if Sean doesn't see it, it ain't happening.  Maybe the personal photographer was blocking his view.

Another Update: Capitalism did it! World Socialist Web Site

The devastation in Louisiana and Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina will forever change the way broad masses of American working people look upon their government and society. The shock of the storm and the subsequent inundation of New Orleans have exposed the rottenness of the existing social order. It was not only the levees that failed, but the social and political institutions on which millions of people rely.

It is now being reported that as many as ten thousand human beings, fellow citizens, or even more, may have perished during the past week. They are dead because of the incompetence, negligence, and indifference of the government. They are dead because the United States is a country in which millions of people live in or on the brink of poverty. They are dead because this is a capitalistic society where the accumulation of vast personal wealth for a small percentage of the population is deemed more important than the welfare of the people as a whole.

Yeah, and socialism has such a great track record!  The accuse the US government of killing people with incompetence and indifference.  Even if I grant that it was true, incompetence and indifference on the part of government is hardly a capitalistic monopoly.  And even if it was, I'd rather my government kill me by ignoring me than killing me intentionally.  Socialist governments seem to have a problem with that.

Stop it already!

I've been getting barraged by comment and trackback spam today.  Whoever you are, you might as well cut it out.  It's all getting caught by moderation anyway.  You're just wasting my time and yours.

Here's a good guide on disaster giving

Accounting Web has a short, but good, article on giving during times like this.

New hurricane related charities will get expedited processing from the IRS

Here's good news for anyone looking to set up a new non-profit to help with disaster relief: (Subscription link)

he IRS announced that it will provide an expedited review and approval process for new organizations seeking tax-exempt status to provide relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina. IR-2005-93 (9/6/05)

The IRS announced that it will provide expedited review and approval for new organizations seeking tax-exempt status to provide relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina. A new organization should apply for tax-exempt status by filing IRS Form 1023, Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. If the organization writes “Disaster Relief, Hurricane Katrina” on the top of the form, the IRS will give it expedited attention. Publication 3888, Disaster Relief: Providing Assistance Through Charitable Organizations provides guidance on the application process.

I'd tend to agree that it's better to set up new programs in existing charities, but if you want to start a new one, more power to you.

Good link

Accounting Web has a good article detailing some of the assistance available for tax and accounting woes caused by the hurricanes from both the IRS and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. (AICPA)

Update: Here's some more useful info supplied by AccountantsWorld (registration required):

The IRS, for example, has extended various deadlines, such as that for estimated tax payments normally due Sept. 15, until Oct. 31 and has waived late-filing or late-payment penalties that would otherwise apply. An agency spokesman said the IRS has set up a task force to work out other assistance that might benefit taxpayers in the afflicted areas.

The U.S. Postal Service is focusing on getting Social Security checks to recipients and has set up mobile facilities in Louisiana and Mississippi "for people to be able to come and get their Social Security checks," USPS spokesman Gerry McKiernan said.

The USPS is setting up a "New Orleans" post office at the Astrodome in Houston, where many hurricane refugees have been taken, McKiernan added.

The Social Security Administration is also allowing beneficiaries, many of whom are far from their mailing addresses, to go to any local Social Security office, get their identity verified and receive a check on the spot.

Electronic direct deposit should have been uninterrupted, SSA spokesman Mark Lassiter said, but beneficiaries who are unable to get to their bank or are without their debit card can also get an immediate payment.

I'm glad people are thinking of these things.

FASB. Tone Deaf Again.

When publicly traded companies release financial statements they must conform to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.  ¹ (GAAP.  Pronounced GAP)  In the US, GAAP is currently set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. (FASB)

One of the requirements of GAAP is that companies must categorize their expenses as being from operations, or not.   Companies would generally prefer to list large and infrequent items as not being from normal operations.  Doing so allows them to list those expenses in a separate category, which analysts and investors often disregard when valuing the company.   One such category is "Extraordinary Items."  To qualify, an event must be both unusual and infrequent.  The rules for such classifications are necessarily stringent. (To keep companies from classifying anything that happened to them that they didn't like as "Extraordinary".)

However, the FASB has often made decisions in this realm that, while technically justifiable, seem ill-advised.  After the 9/11 attacks, the FASB released a tentative statement that the attacks were an extraordinary item. That decision was later reversed.  While there is certainly a technically justifiable argument to support this decision (which I won't go into here), I did not believe it to be the correct one.

Now, comes word that Hurricane Katrina will also not be considered an extraordinary event.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Despite the extraordinary devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, corporations will not be able to exclude costs related to the hurricane when reporting their financial results, according to a published report. 

In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, which makes the accounting rules for U.S. publicly traded companies, said "as tragic as hurricanes and other natural disasters are for everyone affected, unfortunately every year many businesses across the country are affected by these types of events and thus they do not represent an unusual and infrequent occurrence to businesses or to insurers."

This decision, apparently based on the fact that natural disasters, in general, are commonplace, seems another ill-advised decision.  For one, it seems to discount the fact that while hurricane damage in that area is not unusual, the sheer scale of this hurricane would seem to place it in a class of its own.

Fortunately for me, I'm not one of those accountants who has to tell businesses destroyed by last weeks disaster that what happened to them was not an extraordinary event.

 

¹ Many privately traded companies are also required, or choose voluntarily, to use GAAP.

Sometimes the IRS gets things right

I'm often critical of the IRS. No surprise really, as I'm a tax accountant.  On top of all the other problems with major bureaucracies, the IRS is often slow to react to the unexpected.  Sometimes, however, they do well.  The IRS has done several things (subscription required) to provide hurricane assistance.

First, victims of hurricane Katrina can call 1-866-562-5227 to get help with tax matters.  You can call this number to get free copies of tax return transcripts (often needed for all sorts of financial aid), to get the ball rolling on tax relief, or to receive disaster loss kits.   Please, if you're not a victim of the Hurricane, don't clog this line.  Don't call it even if you're calling for someone who is a victim.  The IRS is generally not allowed to discuss anyone else's tax situation with you unless you have a power of attorney.

Other things the IRS is doing:

• Waiving the penalty on highway use of died diesel fuel until September 15th. (To help deal with shortages.)
• Postponing tax payment deadlines until Otober 31st for those affected by the hurricane. (From what I'm seeing, this may not be enough for a lot of people. I hope they keep that in mind.)
• Staying enforcement of the penalty on diesel fuels that don't meet the EPAs new sulfur guidelines.
• Waiving penalties that would otherwise prevent owners of low-income housing projects from providing housing to refugees that don't qualify as low-income.

Good for them.

Taxes and Hurricanes

hurricaneI just thought that I should mention that for people who have suffered losses due to Hurricane Katrina, it may be possible to get immediate tax relief.  If you live in an area that is covered as part of a presidentially  declared disaster area, the law allows you to amend your 2004 tax return and claim your loss on that return.  Doing so will allow you to claim the loss immediately, instead of waiting until next year.  This will allow you to get much needed refund dollars within weeks instead of months.

Also, this article at WebCPA has links to tax related information.  The IRS Publication covering disaster losses is here.

Further, I'd be willing to offer my services and advice, for free, to anyone affected by the hurricane, in obtaining tax records or amending your 2004 returns.  I realize that a lot of people have bigger fish to fry, like finding fresh food and water.  However some people may be in a position to start the process and doubtless more people will be in the coming weeks.

If you know of someone who needs hurricane related tax assitance, or you are an attorney, enrolled agent, or CPA who would like to try to help people out, please contact me at [email protected].  Please put Hurricane Tax Assistance in the subject line.

Update:  Below are other tax related links regarding Hurricane Katrina.

Tax deadlines postponed.

IRS publishes list of officially recognized disaster area.