All posts by : Anna Heckert

Rebecca joined RBG in January 2009, initially joining as an intern. During this internship phase, her roles primarily revolved around handling tax-related matters and client accounting. Her dedication and competence eventually led to a full-time position within the company, marking her transition to the role of a tax staff member, which she assumed in October 2011.

In her capacity at the firm, Rebecca specializes in providing a wide spectrum of services, including tax compliance and consulting. Her niche, however, revolves around serving high-net-worth individuals and families, demonstrating her expertise in this specific area. Rebecca has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting earned from Christian Brothers University for her undergraduate degree, while she pursued a Master of Science in Accounting with a concentration in Tax at the University of Memphis.

Rebecca has cherished almost 12 years of marriage to her husband, Seth. The two are parents of a 9-year-old daughter named Vivian and a 3-year-old son named William. She also maintains close family ties to one brother, one sister, and four nieces, all residing within the Memphis area.

Fun Questions

1. If you didn’t have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?

Probably cook. I love to make food, but don’t feel like I have time to do real cooking anymore.   

2. What fictional place would you most like to visit?

Hogwarts!

3. What is a new skill that you would like to master?

I’d like to learn how to play the guitar.

4. What do you wish you knew more about?

Other cultures – I love learning about how different people live and how it’s similar/different from me.

5. What’s the farthest you’ve ever been from home? 

My senior year of high school I traveled to England during Spring Break.

6. What question would you most like to know the answer to?

Where is the Ark of the Covenant?

7. What was the best compliment you’ve ever received? 

Probably something relating to my kids being well-behaved. It was likely a lie, but it’s nice to hear as a parent.

8. What accomplishment are you most proud of? 

Being a mom to two pretty awesome kids.

9. What is your favorite smell? 

Dinner that someone else is cooking.

10. If you had a clock that would countdown to any one event of your choosing, what event would you want it to countdown to? 

My daughter getting her driver’s license so I can stop being an unpaid chauffeur.

11. When was the last time you climbed a tree?

My freshman year of college. I did a high ropes course and we had to climb a tree (using ropes, belay, etc.) to get started.

12. What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten? 

Crocodile (yes, it tastes like chicken)

13. What was your first job? 

A hostess at a small Italian restaurant

14. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? 

Invisibility – I love people watching.

Since tax time isn’t until next April, organizing your documents right about now might not be top of your mind, or even something you want to do. However, if you don’t want to have to scramble come springtime, you might want to organize your paperwork all year long. Here’s why: It expedites the process when you really do have to begin your tax prep and it’s actually pretty easy. Start with simple categories (listed below), grab some folders and put them in a filing cabinet – or any safe place. This way, when tax time comes around, you’ll be ready.

Income

This is pretty obvious, but it’s not just limited to your paycheck, W-2 forms or 1099s. You’ll also want to keep jury duty records, income and expenses from a hobby (or side hustle), prizes and awards (monetary), health care reimbursements, as well as alimony you received. If you earned money doing something, keep the receipts and put them in this folder.

Vehicles/Cars

First, make a copy of the state taxes for your vehicles. Even if you don’t own your own business, make sure you keep track of miles driven, parking and tolls. (Of course, if you have a company, you’re already doing this.) Next, keep all your receipts for gas, car washes, maintenance, etc., so you can claim these.

Kids

Be sure to keep receipts for childcare. Why? You can get a credit that will cover up to 35 percent of childcare expenses, or up to $3,000 for a child under 13, or $6,000 for two or more qualifying children. Furthermore, your employer may offer a plan that excludes up to $5,000 from your taxable wages for qualified childcare expenses. In addition to these costs, make sure you keep a record of child and caregiver tax ID numbers and/or Social Security numbers. You’ll need them.

Doctor/Dentist

Keep these receipts for all out-of-pocket procedures. You know there will be some. In fact, if your total annual medical expenses are greater than 7.5 percent of your AGI (adjusted gross income), you can claim the deduction. Hang on to those precious receipts.

Investments

This is an important category. First, make sure you have all the necessary documents for your 401k, IRAs, etc. But that’s not all. Do you have a college fund? Any other investments? If you have any doubt about something, don’t throw it away. Keep it.

Real Estate

Whether you own one home or many, make sure you keep your 1098, which is your mortgage interest statement. Your closing statement, property taxes and home improvement receipts are also important papers to safeguard.

Charities

Did you give to a friend’s kid’s band fund? Give any clothes away to Goodwill? Donate to your alma mater? Wherever you’ve made contributions, document it. It’ll come in handy.

Other

This is the category for the things that don’t fit neatly into any of the above categories. If you have questions about any of your receipts, check out this guide.

Admittedly, keeping track of important tax documents and receipts isn’t the easiest thing to do – or the most fun. But if you designate categories, slow down, and take time to stash important papers away, you’ll be way ahead next spring.

Sources

https://apersonalorganizer.com/tax-documents-checklist/

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/family/sweet-child-of-mine-tax-credits-for-parents/L1DqxZ9mh

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/health-insurance/is-health-insurance-tax-deductible/#:~:text=You%20can%20usually%20deduct%20the,you%20can%20claim%20the%20deduction.

Data breaches have been on the rise as cybercriminals keep coming up with new ways to steal user-sensitive information. Just in the second quarter of 2023, 110.8 million user accounts were breached. Of these accounts, 49.8 million were from the United States, accounting for 45 percent of the global figure. However, amid the rising threats, a revolutionary concept known as decentralized identity systems has created a solution to reduce data breach cases.

Data Breaches and the Current State of Identity Management

A data breach happens when unauthorized individuals or entities gain access to sensitive information, often for malicious purposes. These breaches can happen to anyone, from individuals to large corporations, and they come with severe consequences that could include financial losses, reputation damage, and identity theft.

The current identity systems are centralized and have inherent vulnerabilities and limitations. These centralized identity systems involve a central authority, such as a government agency or a corporation, storing and managing individuals’ personal information. This means that if a hacker breaches the central authority’s security, he or she gains access to a vast amount of sensitive data.

Furthermore, since the centralized systems often collect extensive personal information, the practice raises concerns about data privacy. The entities storing user data predominantly control and monetize it, which has led to discomfort and distrust among users.

The centralized systems also create a fragmented user experience. This is because different platforms, such as social media, online retailers, news websites, etc., require users to create accounts. Users then must juggle multiple usernames, passwords and data formats, complicating the digital experience. Businesses also incur high costs associated with ensuring secure systems, the latest infrastructure, and compliance.

How Decentralized Identity Systems Can Help Prevent Data Breaches

Decentralized identity systems are an alternative to centralized identity management. These systems put individuals in control of their own digital identities. The decentralized identity systems are enabled by technologies such as Web3, a concept based on a trust framework for identity management. Web3 evolution has led to decentralized identifiers, and this allows for secure management of user data and authentication through blockchain wallets.

Using blockchain technology ensures the security and immutability of identity data. Once information is added to the blockchain, it cannot be altered or deleted without the user’s consent.

However, they allow users to have control over their identity information. Users choose what data to share and with whom, enhancing privacy and security. There is no need for third parties to verify user identity.

Since users store data on their devices or a location they choose, it eliminates single points of failure. Instead of a centralized authority, identity data is distributed across a decentralized network of nodes. Additionally, these systems use advanced cryptographic keys, allowing only the user to access their data.

Decentralized identity systems are already making an impact in various industries, such as healthcare, financial services, and government services. The security benefits of decentralized identity include:

• Enhanced Security

Decentralized identity systems offer robust security measures. With data stored on a blockchain, it becomes exceedingly difficult for hackers to breach the system. Even if one node is compromised, the decentralized nature of the network ensures that other nodes maintain the integrity of the data.

• Privacy Control

Users regain control over their personal information. They decide what data to share and retain the ability to revoke access at any time. This puts an end to excessive data collection by corporations and governments.

• Reduced Identity Theft and Fraud

Decentralized identity systems make it incredibly challenging for fraudsters to impersonate individuals or access their data. This significantly reduces the risk of identity theft and related fraudulent activities.

• New Economic Models
  Decentralized identity models can create new economic models where consumers are awarded when they choose to share their data with service providers.

While decentralized identity systems offer promising solutions, they are not without challenges. The widespread adoption of decentralized identity systems presents scalability challenges. Another challenge is usability, as complexity can deter individuals and businesses from embracing this technology. The need for a regulatory framework is another challenge, as it is necessary to address factors related to legal and compliance.

Conclusion

Decentralized identity systems offer hope in an age where data breaches are a constant threat. These systems can revolutionize how users secure their digital identities by putting control back into individuals’ hands. While challenges exist, the benefits of enhanced security, privacy control, and reduced fraud make decentralized identity systems a promising solution in the ongoing battle against data breaches.

Recently, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel spoke of changes within the IRS, announcing several initiatives focusing on high-income earners and partnerships, as well as integrating the use of AI within the agency’s work. According to the commissioner, the initiatives were made possible by additional IRS funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act. Without the funding from this bill, the agency would not have the budget to implement these ramp-ups in enforcement.

Millionaires with Tax Debt

The new initiative on millionaires is not just because they are high-earning taxpayers; it will focus on those with open tax debt. Currently, the IRS has identified approximately 1,600 millionaires who are in debt to the IRS for $250,000 or more. The agency plans to designate agents to focus on these high-impact collection cases. A prior campaign resulted in a collection of more than $38 million in tax debt.

High-Income Earners with Foreign Bank Accounts

Another new initiative focusing on high-earning taxpayers includes ramped-up inspection for those who have foreign bank accounts and use them to evade taxes.

By law, every U.S. resident who has a financial interest in or control over a foreign financial account must disclose this information if he or she had $10,000 or more at any point in the year by filing an FBAR.

The IRS conducted an analysis and identified potentially hundreds of taxpayers who should be filing an FBAR and are not, with average balances of more than $1 million. The most egregious cases are planned to be audited in fiscal year 2024.

Partnerships and Corporations

Starting in 2021, the IRS began the initial stages of a new compliance program focusing on complex partnership tax returns. Now, the IRS is set to expand this initiative over more partnerships.

In total, the IRS has plans to open examinations on the 75 biggest U.S. partnerships. “Biggest” means these businesses have on average more than $10 billion in assets; so it’s safe to say small and medium-sized businesses won’t be affected.

Additionally, the IRS will be looking into smaller (but still large) partnerships with more than $10 million in total assets that have balance sheet mismatches. The focus is on partnerships with balance sheet discrepancies where the prior year’s ending balance sheet is not equal to the next year’s opening balance sheet without any explanation. The IRS uses this as a red flag because they have found through full inspections that balance sheet issues are often the proverbial canary in the coal mine for other areas of non-compliance.

Once again, the focus will be on larger partnerships with balance sheet mismatches. The agency plans to send notices to approximately 500 partnerships. Depending on the initial follow-up, an audit may result.

Digital Assets, Including Crypto

The IRS plans to continue its virtual currency compliance campaign, educating taxpayers on the rules, regulations, and reporting obligations surrounding cryptocurrencies. The rules around the taxation of digital assets have evolved in recent years, and more and more taxpayers are invested in these types of assets.

The IRS subpoenaed transaction information from centralized exchanges and found that potentially an estimated 75 percent of taxpayers involved in crypto are non-compliant; some as a form of tax evasion and others simply from ignorance. In any case, the IRS plans to ramp-up digital asset enforcement this coming year.

Artificial Intelligence

Lastly, the IRS is looking to utilize artificial intelligence to help agents do their job more effectively. The IRS is particularly interested in how AI can help flag tax returns for audit in important areas.

The agency plans to invest in the latest analytic solutions that can detect patterns, trends, and activities that are typically linked to tax evasion, thereby freeing up employees to focus on other matters.

Conclusion

Overall, the IRS’s focus is on high-income, tax debt burdened individuals, the largest partnerships, and sizable crypto players. This means that these enforcement campaigns shouldn’t have much of an impact on the average taxpayer. However, the growing use of AI will impact everyone from top to bottom.

With accounting fraud and financial reporting mistakes creating a lack of confidence, understanding how financial reporting mistakes occur and are detected is an important topic. According to the Association for Federal Enterprise Risk Management and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the first nine months of 2018 saw 8.8 percent more accounting fraud enforcement action cases versus 2017.

Controls are procedures implemented to lower the chance of financial reporting issues. While these mechanisms are meant to prevent an overload of problems, they are not always foolproof. Corporations also are required to show that sufficient financial oversight is in place for financial records and assets by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. There are two types of controls: preventive and detective.

As the name implies, preventive controls are devised to avert mistakes before they happen. Methods include on-going training, worker evaluations, and mandating different layers of authorization for transactions.

Detective methods look at the granular accounting steps. Having internal and external audits performed, and comparing real world activity against what’s been budgeted or forecast are two ways to implement this approach. However, performing account reconciliation where the business’ financial data is compared against third-party documentation can provide near real-time insight into what is actually occurring. This includes analyzing checks and cash the business has collected and documented on their books but that may not be reflected on bank statements. Another factor in the reconciliation process are checks the company has sent out that have not been processed by the business’ vendors, etc.

Since detective controls alert companies to errors after the fact, it is important that they are conducted in a timely manner – daily, monthly, quarterly or annually. If there’s a discrepancy between the company’s ending cash balance and the bank’s monthly statement, there might be differing balances. This can be due to the financial institution’s service fees and checks taken into account by the business that aren’t yet reflected on the financial institution’s statement.  However, other cases of discrepancies could point to signs of fraud. 

According to the University of California Los Angeles, there are many ways to split tasks. Doing this is integral to successful mitigation of errors and unauthorized behavior because it deters the likelihood of multiple workers collaborating. Specifically, when it comes to authorizations, reconciliations and responsibility for the assets, it is a high priority for businesses to break tasks up among multiple workers.

Examples include dividing the duties between opening the mail/preparing a list of checks to review and the individual who deposits the checks. The individual who oversees accounts receivables should be separate from the person who creates a list of checks received. It’s not advisable for a sole employee to initiate, approve, and record a transaction. Similarly, reconciling balances, handling assets, and reviewing reports should not be done by a single employee. A minimum of two individuals should be available to handle any transaction.

While the most diligent accounting professional has made a mistake from time to time, learning how to identify financial reporting mistakes can reduce the likelihood of even rare mistakes being unknowingly shared with others.

Russ joined RBG in 2023 and serves as director of the Financial Institutions team. In this role, he provides assurance and consulting services to financial institutions of all sizes, including community banks, credit unions, and farm credit associations. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Economics along with a Masters in Accounting from Rhodes College in Memphis.

Russ’s wife, Chelsea works in Marketing at FedEx and they have been married for 3 years.  The two have a baby boy, Sully, who turns one in May.  Russ has four younger siblings who all live in Memphis except for his comedian brother, who lives in Chicago.

Fun Questions

If you didn’t have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?

Honestly, I would probably still sleep because I love it but maybe a little less and spend some extra time running and playing basketball.

What fictional place would you most like to visit?

The Grizzlies championship parade down Beale Street. 

What is a new skill that you would like to master?

I have taken up golf as an adult and have accepted I will never master it, but I would like to at least get to average.

What do you wish you knew more about?

In another life I may have tried to do something in music.  I have Spotify on all day and love all types of music, but I know very little from a technical standpoint.

What’s the farthest you’ve ever been from home?

I did a Maymester in Antwerp for a month and traveled to Brussels, Reims, Paris, and Amsterdam.  I loved every minute but that is the only time I have ever been out of the country.

What question would you most like to know the answer to?

Probably just everything that did not get answered at the end of Game of Thrones.

What is the most impressive thing you know how to do?

  I used to wakeboard a lot and was never great but could hold my own.

What was the best compliment you’ve ever received?

I play a lot of basketball and anytime someone on the other team tells their teammate that they have to actually guard me I blush a little bit.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?

I am going to have to go with the honest/cheesy answer of being a dad.

What is your favorite smell?

Would definitely have to go with coffee.

If you had a clock that would countdown to any one event of your choosing, what event would you want it to countdown to? 

Probably the start of BBQ Fest. I am a member of team Grill N Grind and look forward to it every year.

When was the last time you climbed a tree?

Probably when I was 25 to jump off the waterfall in Pickwick Lake.  That may be my last time ever as well. 

What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten?

I hate to admit I do not have a good answer for this.. Probably just sushi. 

What was your first job? 

I have a lot of younger siblings and cousins so I would have to say babysitter/chauffeur.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

I think teleporting would be pretty cool.