Author: Tony Novak
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Cumulative effects of coastal flooding
How I concluded that my township would go bankrupt and what I’m doing about it This blog post is written on the eve of hurricane Harvey’s expected strike on the lowlands of the Texas gulf coast. It is written in response to a peer CPA’s inquiry yesterday on how I concluded that the combined effect…
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Taxation of health insurance
This article was originally published in 2003 and has been revised multiple times; most recently to reflect changes triggered by the American Cures Act of 2016. At the time of this latest revision, it appears possible that we may see still more last-minute tweaks in health insurance tax law for 2018. Until recently, the tax-favored…
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Health insurance remains deductible
Human Resource Executive Online published an article celebrating the success of the business lobby in overcoming a legislative proposal passed by the US House of Representatives that wold have limited the tax deductibility of employer provided health insurance. Business groups were so loud in their opposition that Senate legislative proposals did not even attempt to…
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States tackle health insurance stabilization
After the federal government failed to provide leadership on stabilizing health insurance markets, some states are taking bold moves to tackle the problems. In short, these efforts look promising. It seems at least possible that states could male progress without federal government leadership. The common thread is that states need to deviate from established rules…
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Estate tax repeal is a dead issue for now
We should no longer expect a repeal of the estate tax in the foreseeable future. The estate tax affects only multi-millionaires and, in short, there is no political will to change this part of tax law to appease that small group of privileged Americans. Estate tax repeal was brought up in the news yesterday as…
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Six shocking economic trends and how they affect us
Six headline-grabbing trends jumped out at me from the news recently and so I clipped graphics from The Wall Street Journal to illustrate the points. All seem to have potentially large economic impact for ordinary Americans and small businesses. My specific purpose is to consider the effects these trends might have on my own life…
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Reflections on the standard of professional skepticism
One of the very few things I personally dislike about being a CPA is a requirement known as “professional skepticism”. As much as my innate personality leads me to act in the role of an optimist, a cheerleader, supporter and an eternal promoter of general positive thoughts, the professional responsibility requires me to objectively weigh…
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Tough times ahead for US farmers
The fundamental economics of the US agricultural industry are about to change. Few outside the industry seem to have noticed. Farmers, trade groups and business publications like Forbes and others are following the developing story with an increasing level of anxiety. The United States appears ready to move away from a trade agreement known as…
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Summary: where do we stand with 2018 health plans?
UPDATE 8/17/2017: Yesterday the Trump administration announced that it would not follow through with the president’s political threat to cancel insurance company subsidy payments. That appears to add stability to the markets and allows small businesses and self-employed individuals to be more confident in health care planning for 2018. With all the recent political posturing, it…