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Announcements
Board of Directors meeting Wednesday, Jan. 16, 5 PM at Easter Seals
Sunshine (Elizabeth Candas): Gene Corl as been a member since 1991; Sezkin Candas and Dick Pike had birthdays last week; Glen Zibolis had surgery and is recovering nicely; Julia Yang’s father passed away
Membership, Please take a look at the video below. Click the link.
Judy Fortier: her husband has recovered and is back at work; she had cataract surgery in both eyes and can see clearly now; her nephew is the proud father of a baby girl
Beth Leconte, apologies for leaving early
Jim Blackerby, happy that he saw his grandchildren in Austin and now has a new grandchild in Hong Kong (the first boy)
Bill Cloxton, relieved that his holidays were “uneventful”
Dick Pike, grateful that his ordeal of getting a “Real ID” at the DMV was successful
Yan Sun, happy to be back at Rotary
Jim Buchanan, grateful that his grandson will be discharged from the hospital
Bob Cruz, pleased to be the Captain of the SS Wakefield Rotary.
Thank you for your service above self!
Today's Program
Speakers were our CPAs Betsy Wisehart and Sandy Cutting discussing the new tax law, the Tax Cuts and Job Act (sometimes referred to as “The Accountants Full Employment Act”)
Betsy and Sandy made a potentially mind-numbing discussion of tax law changes into an entertaining presentation by giving the Rotarians a series of True-False questions to answer. Despite the fact that there were a few ringers in the audience, including attorneys and financial planners, the Rotarians made only about 70% correct responses. The law is so complicated that the minutes will include only a few highlights with the disclaimer: “See your accountant!”
Selected highlights:
Most people will pay less except for those who customarily offset their income with deductions for unreimbursed employee expenses or investment expenses.
Because the treatment of charitable deductions has changed, it may be beneficial to “bunch” charitable deductions in a single year instead of spreading them over multiple years.
Amount of gifts that can be given without documentation has increased to $15,000.
Federal estate tax now exempts $11.1 million (but RI state exemption is $1.5 million).
If you want to donate the Required Minimum Distribution from your tax-deferred accounts (IRA, etc.) to a charity, do it directly to avoid it becoming income to you (and therefore taxable).
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