Author: rormsby

Last night on the reference desk my co-worker and I had trouble helping a student locate a textbook for a tax class that was listed on the syllabus as West Federal Taxation 2011 Comprehensive

We discovered that it is not West but South-Western Federal Taxation 2011 Comprehensive volume 2011.  There are three copies on reserve.  This title is used by a number of tax classes so it will most likely be requested a lot.

It can also be found by keywords: federal taxation 2011 comprehensive

Hope this helps.

The Queens Public Library has decided not to order new books, due to budget concerns and a priority to keep the libraries open, according to this article I found on NPR’s site.  If there were other news stories, I missed them.  On the Queens Public Library site, there’s an appeal to contribute to book buying efforts, which includes a matching project with JPMorgan Chase.

Tam is installing two new computers at the reference desk (on the right side as one faces west).  He asked me to let him know if there was any thing missing from the computers that we wanted.  I told him I would blog about it as I am not aware of everything that everyone has installed.  So, if you want to check it out, please do so.  He said the plan is to replace the other two computers soon.

I had a rankings question today from College Advancement. I noticed that the most recent Crain’s NY Book of Lists was at access services rather than at the reference desk so I am asking Mike and Janey to recatalog it.  I found it quite a handy resource.

An article in Crain’s New York Business, Can New York Afford Its Higher Education, quotes President Wallerstein and has several references to Baruch and CUNY.

Graduate tax students in Tax 9862 (Prof. Egan) and 9863 (Prof. Korman) have group assignments that they are working on.  I have posted in the Subject Guides guides for the two classes.  (There is a link to the handout I had prepared for Prof. Korman’s class and one for Prof. Egan’s class from last semester that has some screen shots.)

Prof. Egan’s students will either be representing the IRS or a taxpayer who is being audited.  The taxpayer, a university professor who teaches the history of theatre, begins writing plays and is audited after three years as her expenses are greater than her income as a playwright.  The issues include whether the professor is engaged in a business or a hobby.  Searching CCH Intelliconnect, limited to federal taxation, and RIA Checkpoint should enable the students to find the cases that they need.  Calarco v.  Commissioner is factually probably the closest case to the facts that the students are dealing with.  The judge makes references to the 5,000 years of theatre productions dealing with tax problems, and references to Shakespeare in the opinion, which is interesting to read.

Prof. Korman’s students are considering whether strike benefits (money payments, food, etc.) are gifts or taxable income under different factual situations (one being a union member, another a non-union member whose has suffered due to a strike).   Searching RIA Checkpoint or CCH Intelliconnect for cases, and IRS rulings and publications should help the students find the answers.   There are some articles on ABI Inform Global too that address these questions.  I have done presentations to both classes so I hope that most students will be able to find the materials.  (strike benefits and gift or taxable are possible keywords to use.)

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has posted a news release about upcoming Initial Public Offering for  the new GM (General Motors Company.)

I thought this would be important for us to know for two reasons: when we are helping students research General Motors, it will be important to remember that this new General Motors Company is a separate and distinct company from the former General Motors Corporation, which  filed for bankruptcy.

Sometimes people invest in  Chapter 11 bankrupt companies thinking that they will receive stock when, and if, the “company” comes out of bankruptcy.  But if the new company is distinct from the old company, investors may or may not receive stock in the new company.  (Whether they will or not is part of the reorganization plan.)  In GM’s case, investors will not.

The FINRA news release explains the GM situation:

Investors holding “old GM” shares—shares issued before the company filed Chapter 11 in June 2009—are not entitled to receive the newly issued shares.

FINRA halted trading in old GM on July 10, 2009, and issued a new ticker symbol for the old GM stock—MTLQQ—to avoid confusion. The bankrupt company, now known as Motors Liquidation Company, and the new General Motors are separate and distinct.

Investors should understand that buying common stock of companies in Chapter 11 bankruptcy is extremely risky and can lead to financial loss. (FINRA used the boldface.)

FINRA suggests:

If you own shares in a company that has filed, or may be filing, for bankruptcy, or are considering purchasing shares of a bankrupt company, check the company’s website for information about the bankruptcy. Also check the company’s SEC filings, available through the SEC’s EDGAR database or on the company’s website, and other publicly available information for company statements about its reorganization plan as well as a copy of the reorganization plan itself.

I also checked the GM website and their FAQs covers the  situation.

At the professor’s request, I’m doing two workshops this weekend for Tax 9863. They will be in Room 135 on Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m.  They will last about 90 minutes.