Black Friday, for me is a day to sleep in, post my weekly blog/newsletter and spend the day with family. We arrived in Michigan late Wednesday evening and have been enjoying this family time. Take a look at my weekly take away and you will see this week what is most important to me, as I keep this very short and sweet… Detroit Delta Lounge Meet-Up for Next Flight ✈️… Read more
Once again I am happy to be writing this blog as I attend the 21st annual tax practitioner’s symposium ATS 2023 formerly LITPS. We were live again this year at the Crest Hollow Country Club where I connected with my professional friends, served as a host and participated on a tax panel “The Tax Man Cometh”with Scott Ahroni, esq and several of his partners and associates. I am keeping this week’s post short and sweet as… Read more
Sending best wishes and our thanks to our veterans and their families this Veteran’s day 2023. We salute you and appreciate your courage and service to our country. Thank You Veterans I am loving the beautiful photos that I have been receiving and am happy to share. This is an actual photo from my friend Renee’s back porch (she is a show off)… Fall Sunrise Weaverville, North Carolina Added benefit when… Read more
I live and work down the block from the beach so it’s easy for me to become a “tax season hermit” although I get to see some beautiful sunrises I usually wake up in mid-October to the realization that it’s fall and foilage season has begun 🍂 🍁. Here is the link to the I💗NY Map to foilage in NYS; thanks to freiends in other places I am able to share… Read more
Tax season 2023 officially ended on Monday the 16th, so we will be able to relax a little before working through some of those returns that did not make the deadline cut off. I did take a break over last weekend to take a walk on the beach… Amazing Sunrise on Rockaway Beach this Weekend Reports are in, the stiped bass are running. This fish is not camera shy, even… Read more
After so many days of rain it was wonderful to join with friends in their sukkah last Friday evening for shabbat dinner which coincided with the first night of Sukkot 2023. It is also pretty cool to be able join in daily ritual of shaking the lulav and etrog. The first 2 and last 2 days of the holiday are the most strict, so I waited until yesterday for photos. It was really nice to understand the meaning… Read more
Our office is still going crazy as our “final” tax deadline of October 15th approaches. We have given up on sending out repeated emails for “that last missing piece of information” which can help our clients minimize their tax liability and are just working with the information we have “in house”. I have checked with other tax professionals who are experiencing the same behavior from some of their clients. I… Read more
This morning I was feeling a bit frustrated as I worked on my weekly take away so I “popped” it into ChatGPT. I wasn’t asking for advice and didn’t give it any parameters, but it totally picked up on my mood. “It sounds like you and your team are facing a challenging situation as you approach the tax filing deadline, and I can understand how stressful it must be to… 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
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
This week I attended the amazing CASCPA annual symposium in person. What a great surprise to see good friends presenting and to meet colleagues of others. I left home at around 7 AM and was worried about the traffic and parking, and snuck in a bug battle that morning so I forgot one of my prior take-aways “bring business cards to all in person events…”; no problem, I was able to connect via social… Read more
Today, Cinco de Mayo actually marks the anniversary of the 1862 victory by Mexican troops over invading French forces at the Battle of Puebla. The triumph over the better equipped and more numerous French troops was an enormous emotional boost for the Mexican soldiers led by Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza. Today Mexican American’s get together with friends and family to celebrate. Enjoy! Home sweet home! No matter how great a time we have, … Read more
A huge thanks to my brilliant, loyal. hard working, amazing staff, thanks to your efforts and support we successfully navigated yet another tough tax season. Now it’s time for a vacation, a few days off, and some relaxing “me and family time”. I am heading out to Salt Lake City Utah for a short ski week. Snow in April? Yes this year they recorded over 900 inches this season (approximately… Read more
Taking cues from my prior blog posts I have kept up my daily walks on the beach at sunrise followed (most day’s) by a high intensity indoor workout. This week I increased my walk by 1 jetty which added to my miles and photo ops. Just a few more days to go as I look forward to our “after tax season ski trip” to Snowbird Utah and then a visit to my… Read more
It’s been another crazy, busy week between the holidays and the countdown to the April 18th tax filing deadlines. I am so glad to have good friends who are the family we choose; who we joined for a seder on the first night of Passover enjoying a night of tradition, laughter and great food, what could be better… From our Passover Seder Dark chocolate fondue with fruit, shmura matzo and afikomen… Read more
A week of sunrises and a shout out about my pod cast interview with Marielle Segarra and her team who produce Life Kit for NPR. I love how they were able to take some very complicated issues and create a segment that was so concise and understandable. Here’s the link to the segment… and now for a week of sunrises, with a sunset and a sunrise omelet substitute tucked in… Red Sky,… Read more
Today I got up early to run, yes run on the beach for a short stretch, then head home to another fun day in the office at tax deadline crunch time… Just like yesterday, it is great to be able to do the things I used to do. So I am picking out what I think are my best shots of the week and sharing them with a huge smile.… Read more
We had some crazy weather this week here by the beach we received a dusting of snow which melted right away. I was hoping to see a bit more as someone who doesn’t have to shovel or brave icey roads to get to work. For me a nice tax season 15 minute break would be a cup of hot chocolate as I watch the snow fall. So thanks for sending… Read more
Sometimes my only incentive for getting up at 6AM is to walk on the beach at sunrise. Even when I know the clouds will block the sun like this week on President’s Day, when many people celebrated with an extra day off and some extra sleep. Even with no sun I was able to take some cool photos and my phone showed them as black and white… No sun… Read more