Welcome to the Entertainment Newsletter, containing content related to the people, news and business issues we see in our day-to-day service to the industry. In This Issue: Section 409A – An Important Tax Issue In response to the Enron crisis in the early 2000s, Congress enacted Section 409A to punish unethical behavior and to make clear rule [...]

GHJ held the annual Nonprofit workshop: Form 990 and 1099- MISC Reporting- Updates and Best Practices Topics covered in this workshop included: American Tax Payer Relief Act of 2012 Form 990 changes Voluntary Classification Settlement Program Form 1099-K Speakers: Richard Ruvelson, Principal, GHJ Jigna Mehta, Manager, GHJ Learn more here [...]

Charity Navigator’s new ‘joint cost allocation adjustment’ is drawing criticism from many charities and nonprofit professionals, including accountants and auditors. A long-established accounting practice (embodied in FASB ASC 958-720) establishes guidelines for accounting for costs of activities that include fundraising. Such activities include direct mail, telephone [...]

Federal law requires every employer hiring an individual for employment in the United States to verify his or her identity and employment authorization through completion of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. 2012 saw a record number of Form I-9 audits and enforcement actions. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted more than 3,000 audits [...]

Anita Wu writes an article about The Reporting of New Media in the March – April 2013 edition of Produced By Magazine. To the generations of multi-taskers and people constantly on the go, Netflix’s brand promise of delivering content to its users “anytime, anywhere” has an undeniable appeal. Hulu Plus entered the marketplace with an offer to provide its su [...]

GHJ partners Donald Snyder, Anant Patel, Warren Shulman and Farshad Yashar are featured authors in the Spring 2013 edition of Food & Drink International magazine. Their article, titled “Real-World Strategies,” discusses the increasing shift towards mergers and acquisitions in the food and beverage industry and six common pitfalls to avoid when making such dea [...]

By Richard Ruvelson The California New Jobs Credit, initially effective for taxable years beginning after January 1, 2009 remains in effect and is available to tax-exempt employers with 20 or fewer employees. The $3,000 per qualified new employee credit is determined by comparing the number of qualified full-time employees for the taxable year being reported with th [...]

By: Richard Ruvelson I wanted to expand upon a topic that I covered during our last Nonprofit Workshop, on February 19th. The IRS has expanded upon it’s Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (VCSP) for organizations wanting to reclassify workers as employees for future tax periods and has extended the deadline for the expanded eligibility for the program throug [...]

Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) released the results of its 2013 State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey last week, and the findings are not surprising: Need continues to rise, and it’s harder than ever to keep up – 52% of respondents were unable to meet demand over the last year Organizations are trying new ways to keep services flowing (partnerships, upgrading of techno [...]

Volunteers increase capacity, are cost effective and extend a nonprofit’s reach. They have value, even though the value of their services may not meet the criteria for recognition in financial statements. The Independent Sector has released the new value of volunteer time - $22.14 per hour for 2012. This represents an increase of 35 cents from 2011. The value of a vol [...]