In a case exploring the extent of allowable cost segregation in depreciable rental real estate, the Tax Court held that all but a small handful of items identified by the building’s owner had to be depreciated over the life of the building. AmeriSouth, a limited partnership, bought an apartment complex
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Charlie Mierswa, CPA
Although I have been a fan of the Nets since probably seventh grade, I didn’t get here because of my focus on sports. I was brought here because of my focus on entertainment. When you look at what’s happening on the court, essentially they’re just creating entertainment for a crowd.
High school students earn scholarships with creativity
The Mighty Morphin’ Flower Arrangers, a team of students from Hoover High School in Hoover, Ala., won the Project Innovation: The Start Here, Go Places Competition of Creative Excellence. For the project, high school student teams from around the country submitted ideas for a new feature on the Start Here,
A PivotTable column worth repeating
Q: How do I add a percentage-of-total column in a PivotTable in Excel 2010? A: The October 2011 JofA Technology Q&A column (page 76) included an item titled “Make a Difference With PivotTables,” which explains how to add a calculated column to a PivotTable. That solution could work, but in
Simplify your future with rolling charts
You have prepared a presentation using 12 months of sales data for your client, Dynamo Co. After everyone is gathered, the client’s CEO says she has more recent sales figures available and asks whether they can be included in the chart while eliminating some of the old data. How do
Tax planning for 2013
CPAs have an unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate their value in the following ways before the end of 2012, when the Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire, estate and gift tax exemptions are scheduled to shrink back to $1 million, and current proposals could diminish the planning advantages of grantor
Unmarried co-owners must allocate mortgage interest limits
The Tax Court held that, in calculating qualified residence interest, unmarried taxpayers must apply the debt limits for home acquisition and home equity loans to their total joint indebtedness on qualified residences rather than to each of their shares of the indebtedness. Sec. 163(h)(3)(A) permits taxpayers to deduct interest paid
New portability rules: A cure for incomplete estate planning
Many CPAs are involved in representing estates of decedents who died in 2011 and 2012. In dealing with such estates, it is important to focus on the new Code provisions allowing portability of the decedent’s unused lifetime gift and estate exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. A failure to do
Waitress’s lottery win shared with family ruled taxable gift
In Dickerson, the IRS prevailed when the Tax Court ruled that a waitress’s transfer of her winning lottery ticket to an S corporation with herself and family members as shareholders was a taxable gift. In 1999, a regular customer at a Waffle House restaurant in Alabama where Tonda Lynn Dickerson
Prop. regs. allow local lodging deduction
The IRS issued proposed regulations that permit employees to treat certain expenses paid or incurred for local lodging as deductible business expenses (REG-137589-07). Living expenses paid or incurred when not traveling away from home generally are considered nondeductible personal expenses under Sec. 262. The proposed regulations state that under certain circumstances,
Highlights of audit research
Editor’s note: This article is part of a series that samples accounting research and distills key findings for busy practitioners and preparers. The summaries explain the implications of a wide range of research and give CPAs an opportunity to apply results to their day-to-day activities. Readers interested in more detail
Bridging the ethical divide: Survey finds firms lagging
More organizations are voicing a commitment to ethical performance, but their proclamations do not appear to be matched by action—a disconnect that is emerging as financial professionals are facing more pressure to act unethically. That ethical divide was among the key findings of Managing Responsible Business: A Global Survey on
Updated COSO framework will help audit committees comply with SOX
The compliance revolution after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was accomplished in large part with the help of the internal control framework of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). COSO’s framework became part of a worldwide movement to enhance periodic accounting and
Supreme Court affirms Home Concrete on overstated basis
The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5–4 decision affirmed the Fourth Circuit’s holding in Home Concrete & Supply, LLC, that a taxpayer’s overstatement of basis in property sold was not an omission from gross income for purposes of the extended six-year statute of limitation under Sec. 6501(e)(1)(A). The Supreme Court’s
The CPA’s role in restoring fiscal sanity
CPAs are uniquely positioned to enhance public understanding of government spending—and advocate for transparency, accountability, and improvements to government financial reporting.
Founding years for state-level accounting organizations
We’ve traced the creation of state-level accounting organizations from before 1900, when the first groups were founded, through a flurry of development in the early 20th century, when accounting societies, associations, or institutes began dotting the landscape.
Picturing a profession
AICPA members sent us their machines—and other bits of memorabilia used by CPAs in their day-to-day work and education—to help us illustrate the history of the profession. See images of the objects and read the stories behind them.
Melancon: Making sense of a changing and complex profession
In a wide-ranging interview, AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon addresses the trials, triumphs, and transformation of the accounting profession during the past two decades and outlines the ways he foresees technology, globalization, and other factors radically reshaping the CPA’s world over the next several years.
125 people of impact in accounting
A profession known for integrity and character has had more than its share of special people. With the help of an expert panel, the JofA identified 125 individuals who have had a significant impact on accounting during the AICPA’s 125-year history.
Carousel of progress
Take a trip through time to see how the world and the accounting profession have evolved over the past 125 years. This feature makes stops in four years—1887, 1938, 1983, and 2012—giving you a glimpse of what it was like to be an accountant at various points during the AICPA’s existence.
Features
FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE
Flip out with the latest Tech Q&A
The September Technology Q&A column shows how to create dynamic to-do lists with Excel's checkboxes and also how to set up multifactor authentication texts that don't rely on phones. Flip through both items and view a video walkthrough in our digital format.
From The Tax Adviser
August 30, 2025
2025 tax software survey
July 31, 2025
