Tag: summer garden

It’s countdown time here again with extended 2023 trust returns due Monday the 30th, but we made it to this deadline too. Yes, it seems it’s always tax season here as we start the next countdown for extended 2023 individual and C Corporation tax returns, due October 15th.  It’s also green fig season in my garden, we have harvested over 200 super sweet ripe ones and have run out of…  Read more

Let’s call it Lucky Friday the 13th as we accounting professionals get an extra day to meet our major deadline this Monday and it’s a beautiful day out as well!  Monday September 16th is one of our hardest deadlines to meet as extended S-Corporations and Partnerships are due along with business and individual estimated tax payments for 2024 tax returns.  I am so grateful to be able to walk on the…  Read more

Our Labor Day weekend has stretched through this upcoming weekend, end of summer…not yet please.  Even with the unofficial last day of summer, the first few days of the school year, and the last few days until our major deadline, I am not ready to give up yet.  Just this morning, I skipped my walk to sleep in a bit so I could continue to enjoy our guests over a…  Read more

This was a cool week for me, starting with Saturday evening catching up with some high school friends and my cousin at our Far Rockaway HS reunion, followed by an afternoon of harvesting a bumper crop of purple figs, beefsteak and San Marzano tomatoes at my friend’s house on Sunday (after picking greens in my garden that morning).  During the week I hosted/attended 2 really great accounting webinars, then checked…  Read more

Is it really mid-August already with summer in full swing?  For me, several planned vacations have come and gone with more on the horizon, gardens are blooming, parents are busy planning for summer camp to end soon and families are focusing on preparing for “back to school” season as well.  I am glad that my family has more planned vacations and get togethers, the next few will be here in…  Read more

With summer in full swing and no immediate deadlines it’s sometimes hard to “buckle down ” .  We’ve created some “fake deadlines” but have not kept to them.  It seems we are not alone though. We really have tried, we’ve reached out to our clients whose returns are on extension; we might be missing one or two pieces of information and are reluctant to finalize the return without it, but…  Read more

Like the song: “It’s summertime and the living is easy…” I’m not singing, but I am finally feeling like its summer!  Without the pressure of tax deadlines, I actually enjoy coming to work.  The longer daylight hours make it easy for me to “putter” in my garden a bit before going to the office. During our weekly huddle we continue to share stories of recent social events and plans for…  Read more

Happy Birthday USA!  I was so glad to celebrate July 4th in my traditional manner once again; with friends who are family, enjoying the evening in Queens.  Depending on where you were last night you were caught in a rain shower ⛈️ or caught a shower of fireworks 🎇 in the night sky. We had a lovely evening with friends who have a vacation home in a building right on…  Read more

Welcome to summer 2024!  You know it’s officially summer when you mix up your second gallon of “bug juice” in my case organic spray mix for combating those invasive Spotted Lanternflies. Yes, they are back again this year, but I am ready for them,  prepared to do battle and winning. They seem to love my fig tree; I check every morning after my beach walk and find them lined up on…  Read more

I heard and felt the “POP”, it was my left knee and really the last (ski) run of the day and vacation!  The ski patrol and medical clinic at Snowbird Ski Resort were wonderful.  I was wheeled out wrapped in a huge knee brace and instructed to rehab via spin bike and other leg strengthening exercises and wear that brace non-stop for the 6-8 weeks my MCL injury would take to heal.  The…  Read more

Mother’s day weekend did not disappoint.  Early Saturday morning my friend Edith and I took our annual trip to the Brooklyn Terminal Market for flower and vegetable plant 🌼🪴shopping; then stopped in the huge Caribbean supermarket on site where we shopped their amazing spices, rice, flour and grains sold by the pound from large barrels.  At home we prepped the soil and then relaxed for the rest of the weekend……  Read more

It’s labor day weekend and I can imagine that many families are planning a long weekend as the kids will be heading back to school next week.   We often talk about planning, tax planning, vacation planning, retirement planning, etc.  I never reccomend doing something “just for tax purposes” but with proper planning you just might take a partial business deduction for a portion of your trip expenses.  Summer travel  plans can…  Read more

Another crazy week which started out nice with a vist from Elizabeth last Friday as we worked together before she headed upstate Saturday morning for a wedding then returned Sunday evening to spend time in the office with Monica on a special project as well (notice how her trip may qualify partly as a business expense- see my August 4th blog post).   Too bad Myriam, Ramona and Raquel were not…  Read more

We have been busy in our office working on extended tax returns and working on tax minimization plans so although we had a week of rainy weather we did not feel too bad being “stuck” inside. This morning I was glad to see the sun come out and we are expecting a weekend of good weather. Sunrise Today Over Our New Rock Jetty Between Beach 130/131 The berm construction is…  Read more

Yes, once again I am admitting:  I am a tax nerd; attending the 15th annual Certified Tax Coach (CTC) conference in Seattle is/was the highlight of my week so far.  I can say this, as this morning starts day 2 of the conference and then tonight I head to San Diego to visit my daughter Jessie, her boyfriend Eric and my granddog Sampson.  It was a day of connecting with…  Read more

It been another crazy busy summer week starting with a Town Hall panel web presentation on IRS/NYS tax collections mitigation.  Even through we had the framework set from prior presentations a lot of time and energy went into preparing for this one and I love participating. I had a great time yet again presenting with Karen Tenenbaum, esq, CPA, Moshe Zupnick, esq, and Marisa Friedrich, esq, of Tenenbaum Law, P.C.. Town…  Read more

We see many news reports, blog posts and webinars discussing AI, Bots, and ChatGPT.  Most highlight the benefits of having AI assist in the repetitive data entry and review, while others point out the concerns staff members have about being replaced by evolving technology.  This week I attended a webinar hosted by my professional group and we were once again reminded that this type of technology is a tool that…  Read more

Some of us may have great bosses who have closed their offices on Monday allowing their staff to enjoy a four day weekend.  No matter what our work plans are I look forward to the weekend and maybe a bar-b-que or 2 and expect/hope many are of you are planning, picnics and outings with family and friends. I hear the weather will be a bit iffy here in NYC with some scattered…  Read more

It’s been the week of 100+ figs, some days I pick 5 or 6 and others 20 to 30, then a friend will stop by and find yet another ripe one and pop it in their mouth.  My favorite way to eat them is split in quarters, sprinkled with feta cheese and then grilled; very easy, very delicious, very healthy, they can pass for dessert.  It’s also been a week…  Read more

My daughter Jessie and her dog Sampson have been the perfect house guests but they head back to Atlanta tomorrow night. It was great that Jessie could vacation here and then work remotely. Sampson has been spending time in the office with Raquel and me as we worked towards our September 15th deadline.  So this morning I know he will be happy to resume our daily beach walks, I think…  Read more