NCCPAP Back on The Hill, Meets with Members of Congress, Senate and the IRS

PRLog (Press Release) - May 15, 2012 -
MINEOLA, NEW YORK  – The National Conference of CPA Practitioners (NCCPAP) – which advocates on issues that affect Certified Public Accountants and their clients – continues its presence on the Hill, as its National Tax Policy Committee members met with representatives of the House of Representatives, the Senate and the IRS to discuss several important tax-related issues May 10, 2012.  

This follows NCCPAP’s testimony on tax reform before the U. S. Senate Committee on Finance on April 25, 2012.

“We are honored to return to the Hill to meet with policy makers and discuss tax issues that affect individuals, business owners and CPA practitioners,” said Sanford Zinman, NCCPAP’s National Tax Chair. “In each topic of our Congressional and IRS agendas, we stated the problem, and proposed solutions. We hope that by appearing before the nation’s makers of tax policy, we have planted seeds to positively influence our tax policy’s future.”

NCCPAP’s Congressional Agenda topics at the May 10 meetings included: Deductibility of Long-Term Health Care Premiums; Change in Due Dates for Returns; Health Insurance Premium Deductibility; Office in Home-S Corporation Shareholders; S Corporation Income Subject to Social Security Tax; Alternative Minimum Tax (Individuals); and Tax Preparation and Representation Fees.

In addition, NCCPAP’s IRS agenda topics included: Form 8879 – Banking Information; Form 8879 Burden, Line for Federal ID number on Form 1040, Schedule E, page 1; Modification of Form 1098; Health Insurance Premiums for S Corporation Shareholders; Collection Financial Standards; Receipt by IRS of Officers in Compromise; S Corporation Income Subject to Social Security Tax; and Independent Contractor Issues.

ABOUT NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF CPA PRACTITIONERS (NCCPAP)
The National Conference of CPA Practitioners (NCCPAP) is a professional organization that advocates on issues that affect the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) in Public Practice, small businesses and individual taxpayers located throughout the United States. NCCPAP estimates that its members serve more than 500,000 businesses and individual clients.  NCCPAP monitors and influences tax administration and tax policy by meeting with state taxing authorities as well as Internal Revenue Service representatives along with state and national elected officials.  In addition, the association provides a platform for its members to exchange ideas and information on managing and running a successful practice in today’s competitive environment.   http://www.nccpap.org

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Extramarital 'dating' site hits 10 million members

Stand up and cheer — or spit? Extramarital "dating" service AshleyMadison.com said Tuesday it has crossed the 10 million-member mark worldwide.

“We, along with the people who have researched and covered this topic, recognize that infidelity is a world-wide behavior that crosses both genders, every socioeconomic and ethnic group and that uniquely positions AshleyMadison.com to become a platform for 100 million potential members," boasted Noel Biderman, founder and president of the site, part of Avid Life Media, Inc., in a press release.

Biderman — who is married with two young children — launched the site in 2002 after he "discovered that countless numbers of married men and women were using traditional ‘singles’ dating sites," according to a press release from the company. "In the past year, the site experienced a huge international growth and is now available in 15 countries."

As Bloomberg Businessweek noted in a story about AshleyMadison.com earlier this year, "not surprisingly, the majority of its users are men — an estimate on the site says there are seven of them for every three women. Based on internal projections, Avid Life is expected to generate $60 million in revenue this year and $20 million in profit. Almost all of that comes from Ashley Madison."

And here's some trivia from AshleyMadison about its members on this "auspicious occasion": 32 percent of them say they have "five or more affair partners.

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Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

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Navy SEALs Members Died in Copter Crash in Afghanistan

The US Navy SEALs suffered heavy loss when its Team 6 unit aboard a NATO helicopter crashed in Eastern Afghanistan early Saturday during a “quick reaction” mission to assist military personnel pinned down by insurgents in a fierce firefight.

31 U.S. troops, including 21 Navy SEALs and seven Afghan soldiers based in Hampton Roads died after their helicopter went down while they were reinforcing other troops.

Although majority of the Navy SEALs who died belonged to the same unit that conducted the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May, U.S. officials confirmed that none of them were part of the team that killed the Al Qaeda leader.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, U.S. President Barack Obama and others offered condolences.

Obama said earlier today that the untimely deaths of the U.S. troops were “a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our military and their families, including all who have served in Afghanistan.”

Image courtesy of AP

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Nielsen: Hulu users watch more TV than Netflix members

Nielsen

Nielsen study shows what people are watching on Netflix and Hulu

As people begin to seek alternatives to Netflix after the brouhaha caused by its 60 percent price hike and separation of DVD and streaming plans, Hulu is one option where users are already watching more TV than their Netflix counterparts.

Nielsen recently conducted a survey of "more than 12,000 online interviews in March 2011, focusing on usage and attitudes for over-the-top video, particularly Netflix and Hulu."

Hulu

Hulu users watch a lot more TV than their Netflix counterparts. Here, a screenshot from one of their choices, "The Colbert Report."

At this exclusively streaming site that never had DVDs, Hulu watchers are definitely fans of the small screen, as they outnumber Netflix members 73 percent to 11 percent of respondents who said they use the services to watch TV shows. Movies are big in the Netflix world, with 53 percent of members using it to watch flicks, while only 9 percent of Hulu users do the same.  

Twice as many Netflixers watch TV and movies equally (36 percent), in comparison to 18 percent over at Hulu.

Regardless of what they're watching, Netflix subscribers do so on a TV screen (58 percent) rather than on their computers, while Hulu users consume most of their viewing on a computer (89 percent).

You can read more about how viewers connect to Netflix and Hulu — especially through video game consoles — through this related story.

Hulu is free, but those who want to shell out $7.99 a month can upgrade to Hulu Plus, which yields even more movies and TV shows, through current seasons. Netflix also offers up to a month on a trial basis, while Hulu Plus only allows that option for students (two weeks for everyone else).

More stories:

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

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