November 2009

On Nov. 6, President Obama signed H.R. 3548, the ''Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009'' (the Act) into law . The signing came just one day after the House passed it and two days after the Senate did. This Special Study highlights the tax changes for individuals in the Act, namely changes extending and generally liberalizing the first time homebuyer tax credit (FTHTC).

Homebuyer Credit Extended and Liberalized

A refundable tax credit is available for qualifying first-time home purchases after Apr. 8, 2008, and before Dec. 1, 2009. For homes bought in 2009, the maximum first time homebuyer tax credit (FTHTC) is equal to the lesser of $8,000 ($4,000 for a married individual filing separately) or 10% of the principal residence's purchase price (for purchases before 2009, the dollar limits are $7,500 ($3,750 for marrieds filing separately). The FTHTC phases out for individual taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income (AGI) between $75,000 and $95,000 ($150,000 and $170,000 for joint filers) for the year of purchase.

An individual is treated as a first-time homebuyer if he (and his spouse, if married) had no ownership interest in a principal residence in the U.S. during the 3-year period before the purchase of the home. A taxpayer who buys a qualifying residence after Dec. 31, 2008, and before Dec. 1, 2009, may elect to be treated as having bought the home on Dec. 31, 2008, so that he may claim the credit on the 2008 income tax return. No District of Columbia first-time homebuyer credit may be claimed by any taxpayer for the purchase of a residence after Dec. 31, 2008, and before Dec. 1, 2009, if the national first-time homebuyer credit is allowable to the taxpayer (or his spouse) with respect to such purchase.

Recapture rules apply for homes bought on or before Dec. 31, 2008. In general, the FTHTC is recaptured ratably over fifteen years with no interest charge beginning in the second tax year after the tax year in which the home is purchased. For homes bought after Dec. 31, 2008, and before Dec. 1, 2009, the FTHTC is recaptured only if the taxpayer disposes of the home (or the home otherwise ceases to be the principal residence of the taxpayer) within 36 months from the date of purchase.

New law. The Act extends the FTHTC and liberalizes it by making it available to (1) higher-income taxpayers and (2) to existing homeowners who are qualifying “long-time residents” and who buy another principal residence. However, for the first time there will be a dollar cap on residences qualifying for the FTHTC.

FTHTC extended. Under the Act, the FTHTC is extended to apply to a principal residence purchased by the taxpayer before May 1, 2010. The FTHTC also applies to the purchase of a principal residence before July 1, 2010 by any taxpayer who enters into a written binding contract before May 1, 2010, to close on the purchase of a principal residence before July 1, 2010.

For purchases after Nov. 6, 2009 (the enactment date), the FTHTC phases out for individual taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income (AGI) between $125,000 and $145,000 ($225,000 and $245,000 for joint filers) for the year of purchase.

FTHTC available for existing homeowners who are “long-time residents.” For purchases after Nov. 6, 2009, any individual (and, if married, the individual's spouse) who has maintained the same principal residence for any 5-consecutive year period during the 8-year period ending on the date of the purchase of a subsequent principal residence is treated for FTHTC purposes as a first-time homebuyer of that subsequent principal residence. The maximum allowable credit for such taxpayers is the lesser of: (1) $6,500 ($3,250 for a married individual filing separately); or (2) 10% of the purchase price of the subsequent principal residence.

January 2009

W are pleased to announce that the firm has successfully completed another Peer Review and has received the highest report available ( a clean opinion with no modifications).

Thank you to thr ADJ Group for moving all real estate and management Company accounting to the firm. ADJ has been a client since day 1 of the firm.

Welcome back to Stephanie B , who rejoins the firm after a 10 year abscence.

September 2008

Welcome to the Auburndale Group an operator of 6 Dunkin Donuts franchises located in Maryland.

This month marks nine years Elizabeth A. has been with the firm. Thank you for the years of hard work.

August 2008

We are pleased to recognize Sarah Carr who has completed three years of service with the firm . Aurelia has completed one year of service with the firm.

May 2008

The firm is beginning its 18th year of providing services to the franchisee community.

March 2008

Congratulations to Mariana Ambrosio for marking her 13th year with the firm.

January 2008

Welcome to the HG Group of Dunkin Donut Companies as clients to the firm. The HG Group currently owns and operates 24 Dunkin Donuts Franchises in New England

September 2007

Welcome to Dana Management Group , Dania Donuts Inc and Hialeah Bakery, Inc . These groups operate a seventeen store Dunkin Donuts network located in the Miami area of Florida as well as two CPL's..

This month marks eight years Elizabeth A. has been with the firm. Thank you for the years of hard work.

Welcome to Kenia G. who has joined our firm and will be assisting the the preparation of weekly payrolls and processing accounts payable for our franchisee clients.

August 2007

We are pleased to recognize Sarah Carr who has completed two years of service with the firm

Welcome to Aurelia who has joined our firm to assist in many phases of data entry as well as general office duties.

June 2007

Welcome to our new client, the TLG Group of Massachusetts and Delaware. They are a multi unit Dunkin Donuts Franchisee.

May 2007

The firm is beginning its seventeenth year of providing services to the franchisee community.

April 2007

James P. Ventriglia addressed the DDIFO and gave the treasurers report at the meeting. Jim was stepping in for Robert Zweiner, the treasurer.

March 2007

March marks twelve years Mariana has been with the firm. We thank her for her years of hard work .

November 2006

Congratulations to DDIFO and their new web site at ddifo.org We are pleased that another client of the firm , Wickford Web Works, was able to assist DDIFO on their new site. Nice job Margaret !!!

Congratulations to Joe D ( client for 15+ years) and Fatima ( client for 1 year) on their wedding. Wishes for many years of happiness.

September 2006

Congratulations to Al Capraro on his retirement. As a professional in the Dunkin Donuts Community I can appreciate his years of service as President of DDIFO.  Mark Dubinsky , a former multi unit franchisee, has been appointed President effective September 1st.

This month marks seven years Elizabeth Am aral has been with the firm. Thank you for the years of hard work.

August 2006

We are pleased to announce we assisted a client in obtaining approximately $ 2.5 million in financing to acquire real estate as well as consolidate debt.

This month marks one year Sara Carr has been with the firm.

May 2006

The firm is pleased to begin its sixteenth year of client service. A special Thank you to all clients and friends that have supported us over the years.

Congratulations to Sumner Steinberg upon his retirement. Sumner had been a Dunkin Donuts franchisee for in excess of 40 years.

March 2006

March 25th marks 11 years Mariana Ambrosio has been with the firm. She has been a tremendous asset to the firm.

January 2006

Welcome to Mountain View Donuts Inc a new client of the firm that operates several Dunkin' Donut franchises in New Hampshire.

Welcome also to tax clients Silviera Masonry and Better Homes Mortgage

December 2005

Reminder to all clients to prepay their state liability for 2005 so we

can deduct the payment in 2005.

August 2005

We are pleased to add the Vermont CPL to our client list. The Group of franchise owners will be constructing a kitchen to service 35 Dunkin Donut retail outlets.

We are pleased to announce that Sarah Carr has joined the firm to assist in the Franchise work as well as administratively.

James P. Ventriglia has been appointed treasurer of the Cranston Chamber of Commerce effective October 1,2005.

The firm was pleased to host a seminar on repurchasing Rhode Island Tax credits from developers. All those in attendance enjoyed the meeting as well as learned how to save up to 15% of their Rhode Island tax liability through the use of these credits.

July 2005

Our client, the Ocean State CPL has officially opened and is serving an initial round of 44 Dunkin Donut locations. Over the next few months they will be adding locations until they service the entire 126 locations participating.

Welcome to F&C Donuts Inc, a new client of the firm.

May 2005

The firm has successfully completed its Peer Review and received the best report possible with NO suggestions for improvement. FYI a Peer Review is when another CPA selects several engagements and reviews the related financial statements for to insure they comply with current accounting and disclosure requirements. They also review selected work papers to make sure an appropriate amount of work was done on the engagement.We are proud of this achievement.

We are pleased to announce that an 11 unit Dunkin Donuts operator has become a client of the firm. We will strive to exceed their expectations.

April 2005

We are pleased to announce that on April 28th we will be having a representative of Radiant Systems here to give a demonstration of their new register product. Please email us at jimv@jpvcpa.com if you would like to attend this seminar.

The firm was pleased to be selected to oversee the enrollment of the new members to the Ocean State CPL In a two day period we had over 40 Dunkin Donuts join the CPL.

Welcome to the DDIFO ( Dunkin' Donuts Independent Franchise Owners Organization) who has become a client of the firm.

March 2005

We are beginning to plan for our next franchisee seminar in the late May or early June timeframe. In the event that you have any topics you would like to have addressed feel free to  send your e-mail to me ( jimv@jpvcpa.com) and we will do our best to arrange the appropriate speakers.

Due Date for Corporate Income tax returns is March 15th  Be aware that the State of Rhode Island has changed the way that they treat the taxation of out of state owners of LLC's , Partnerships and S-Corporations. Beginning with the 2004 Returns the entities are required to make the tax payments on behalf of their out of state partners/ shareholder/ member. This computation must be made on an entity by entity basis and there are currently no provisions allowing the netting of entities with a loss against those with a profit.

March 25th marks 10 years Mariana Ambrosia has been with the firm. She has been a tremendous asset to the firm.

Welcome to the firm to new clients Attorney Stephen Germani, Mardovar Networking and Dr. Launer. We will strive to exceed your expectations.

February 2005

We would like to thank the group from Infotrove ( a Massachusetts business technology company) for speaking at our first Franchisee Information Seminar .

We look forward to presenting additional topics that are of interest to the franchisees at large.

January 1, 2005

We would like to welcome the following NEW clients to the firm :

• Mystic Foods , a multi unit franchisee
• The Tetreault Group - a multi unit Dunkin Donuts Operator
• The Ocean State CPL - A central production facility of Dunkin Donuts designed to service 150 units located in the state of Rhode Island. The Center is expected to Open in May of 2005

December 2004

Special thanks to the group at ADJ Donuts Inc. for assembling a special "Dunkin' Donuts Care package" for Cpt. Stephen Fabiano when he took command of the Delta Company 701st Main Support Battalion in Iraq. All 225 soldiers enjoyed that great Dunkin coffee. Hopefully they all will be home soon to enjoy the Dunkin Donuts coffee on a regular basis...We at JPV CPA were happy to assist in this project...THANK YOU ADJ !!!!

November 2004

We are pleased to announce that growth has caused us to acquire the entire second floor of our building, in effect doubling our office space . We are in the process of adding new personnel to meet this growth.

October 2004

In October two pieces of tax legislation were passed by Congress and signed by the President. They were the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 and the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. Summaries of the major items of each bill follows. This is not intended to be a full explanation of the bills. We encourage you to call your tax advisor with any questions on how these bills effect you.

Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004

• Relief to Individual Alternative Minimum Tax
• Child Tax Credit of $ 1,000 retained
• Teaches expense deduction for out of pocket expenses retained

American Jobs Creation Act of 2004

• S Corporation rules eased- Increases numbers of shareholders to 100, certain family members treated as one shareholder
• Charitable deductions tightened up for contributions of a car, boat or airplane made after December 31,2004. After that date you may no longer use the "Blue Book" to determine the value of the gift. The charity must prepare and the taxpayer must attach to their return a statement identifying the vehicle and the amount for which it was sold.
• Sales tax deduction available instead of deducting state income taxes
• Expensing of SUV's with a gross vehicle weight of less than 6,000 pounds reduced to $ 25,000 for acquisitions made after October 22,2004.
• 15 year depreciation created for qualified leasehold improvements of a qualified restaurant property
• Certain Start Up expenses incurred after October 22,2004 can be immediately written off, up to $ 5,000 instead of expensing over a five year period.