April 30, 2011

 

 

Congress Repeals Obamacare 1099 Information Reporting Requirement!

 

            In a rare bout of sanity, Congress repealed the expanded 1099 information reporting requirements that were imposed by the Obama Healthcare Act (Patent Protection and Affordable Care Act).

 

            The measure required payments totaling at least $600 in a single calendar year to a single entity to be reported to the IRS. Reporting on Form 1099 was required only when the payor was considered to be engaged in a trade or business and has made the payment in connection with that trade or business.

 

            The reporting was a key component of how additional revenues were to be identified (and taxed) in order to pay for Obamacare. Now that additional government revenue (and revenue for us CPAs) will not be there and the ultimate red ink of Obamacare will be that much higher, what do you think the government will do? H.R. 4 Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011.

 

The Best Client I Did Not Get

 

            Last month, Geraldine Ferraro, a relatively obscure congresswoman from Queens when in 1984 she was tapped by Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale to join his ticket as the first female Vice Presidential candidate, died. While you no doubt heard many stories about her laying the ground-work for Hillary Clinton’s Presidential candidacy and of Sarah Palin’s role on the opposing ticket, here is my story.

 

            In late spring 1984, I was the head of the tax department of a mid sized accounting firm and a member of the Western Monmouth Chamber of Commerce. Hank Bailey was a member of the Chamber who had a thriving insurance agency and who was the creator of the “Turkey Trot”, a race run in Freehold on Thanksgiving weekend. He suggested to me that he had a client who had several properties in Little Italy and he was in dire need of good tax advice and was willing to change accountants.

 

            We talked in generalities and Hank thought the two of us would be a good fit.

 

            We started to make arrangements for the three of us to meet and for the prospective client to assemble the materials that I would want to review. In the summer, Hank called me to ask if I had seen the latest issue of Time magazine. I told him I had not and asked him, “why?” He told me that the wife of the client was on the cover and I should see it. It was then that I learned the name of the wife of the prospective client, Geraldine Ferraro. I immediately got back to Hank and told him I did not want to be considered for the engagement; that no good could come from me having such a high profile client.

 

            As luck would have it, the press vigorously pursued the questionable financial and real estate activities of Geraldine Ferraro’s husband and she and her husband were forced to change accountants. They chose the international accounting firm of Ernst & Young and at her press conference, Geraldine Ferraro complained of the excessive fees of the accounting firm that they needed to pay in order to properly disclose their financial affairs to America. At the time, I could only think that instead of Ernst & Young, she would have complained about my fees on national television.

 

Donald Trump. What a Guy!

 

            So many people raised the “Birther” issue and none could get Obama to produce his birth certificate until that certain multiple bankrupt publicity hound with a questionable hairstyle took up the cause. Amazing!

 

            That Obama is a citizen of the U.S. and was born here is not the point. That was missed by all the supposed journalists. It was clear to those of us that a timely announcement in the Honolulu daily paper was correlative proof of his Hawaiian birth. He was an American citizen all the time. What he was not, and has never been, is a qualified candidate for President of the United States and that will never change. Yes, I said it. Why, because I am an officer of the court and sworn to uphold the law.

 

            Lost in the euphoria over electing the first half white President was the respect for the rule of law. The sole purpose of the Democratic National Committee is to vet candidates for President and Vice President of the United States. As such, in 2008, they failed miserably in their job as they only received the paperwork to vet one candidate according to the Constitution of the United States; and that candidate was Hillary Clinton. No proof of birth for Obama was submitted to the Democratic National Committee. The DNC then unlawfully proceeded to allow the name of Obama to be placed into nomination for President of the United States. Only the Pennsylvania state delegation protested, and when the DNC unlawfully proceeded, the Pennsylvania delegation proceeded to sue in Federal District Court, and was on appeal from the US Court of Appeals waiting to be heard by the Supreme Court (since the case was not fast tracked!) after the election. After Obama won, the Supreme Court denied certiorari and so the case did not receive the “publicity” it should have had. So the argument that Obama is an illegitimate President is valid and will haunt his legacy.

            There are many consequences to this, but I will cite only two. There is now a greater disrespect for the law by the political class, since it has been shown for at least the third time you can “steal” the Presidency. The other is that we now will have to wait longer for the first female President.

 

            Again, and not to be misinterpreted, I write this as an officer of the court and no more.

 

            As always, if you have any questions about these or any other matters, do not hesitate to call us.

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