| A.
R. Kakhsaz Company
an accountancy corporation
Member
American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants
International associates:
Tavana & Co.
Chartered Accountants
Toronto, Canada
Tel.416-229-2221
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After 371 years, Harvard, the oldest university
in the U.S., named a female as its president. It came two years after
Lawrence H. Summers, then president of the university, set off a storm by
suggesting that a lack of intrinsic aptitude could help explain why fewer
woman than men reach the top ranks of
science and math in universities.
"Harvard waited a long
time-since 1636," said a woman emeritus professor, recalling that when she
was a postdoctoral fellow in 1972, she was
not allowed to enter the main door of the
faculty club or eat in the
main dining room. The new president is Drew Gilpin Faust, 59, a
historian of the civil war south.
Home prices: For the first time the National
Association of Realtors reported declining or unchanged prices in the
majority of U.S. cities since it began collecting the data in 1979.
In 2008, the U.S. will have
"one hell of a year for people who remain in mortgage-lending industry" as
demand rebounds.
The median income
of American households rose by an inflation
adjusted 1.1% in 2005, after falling five years in a row. But the gap
between the richest and the poorest Americans widened in 2005, continuing a
trend that dates to the early 1970s with a pause in early 1990s. The
top 20% of American households claimed 50.4% of all income in 2005, the
largest slice since the start of tracking the data in 1967. The number
of Americans without health insurance rose by 1.4 million to 46.6 million,
or 16% of the population. About 37 million Americans were living below
the poverty line in 2005. The income of the median household was
$46,326 in 2005, up from $45,817 the year before. Although the overall
U.S. economy has grown by 11.7% since the recessionary year of 2001, the
income of the median household is down 0.5% in the same period. Median
is the point at which half of the households have more and half have less
income.
For more of the Generalist, please visit our website
at ARKCPACOM.
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theGeneralist,
a one-page monthly publication of the accounting firm of A. R.
Kakhsaz Company, is in its 13th year of providing information,
presented fairly and accurately, from sources we can depend upon and
trust.
Ridiculous case-law?
May be !
A West Virginia welder tried to deduct the cost of boots, clothes
and gloves. The IRS said no. In Tax Court, the judge
explained that clothing is deductible only if it's required as part
of the taxpayer's employment, isn't suitable for general or personal
wear, and isn't worn for general or personal purposes. The
judge sided with the IRS, saying the case record was "devoid of
evidence" that the clothes, gloves and boots met those tests.
In fact, the judge observed, the man acknowledged during the trial
that he was wearing the boots.
Baseball fanatics
will be able to rest in peace inside a
coffin with their beloved team colors and emblem. The effort
begins next season with the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies, Cubs
and Dodgers. The NFL, NHL and NASCAR will probably follow the
trend.
Diabetes in the elderly
is linked to a rate of cardiovascular
deaths twice as high as among non-diabetics.
The first television
commercial ever,
was broadcast in New York City on July 1, 1941. The 20-second
commercial advertised a Bulova
watch that cost $9.
At an optometrist's
office there's a
sign saying: "If you don't see what you're looking for, you've come
to the right place.
The IRS audited
1,293,631 individual
income tax returns in 2006. That's up 6% from 2005. But
audits of people with income of
$100,000 or higher was up by 18% from 2005. The IRS will
continue such trend during 2007 and beyond, said the Commissioner.
We see more in numbers
- than just numbers...
Ali R. Kakhsaz, CPA, MAcc
www.arkpca.com
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