Question & Answer

How could long-term monetary growth come about if the government persistently ran a public-sector surplus?

In each of the following independent situations, determine the taxpayer’s filing status and the number of dependents the taxpayer is allowed to claim.

Rex and Felix are the sole shareholders of the Dogs and Cats Corporation (DCC). After several years of operations using the accrual method, they decided to liquidate the corporation and operate the business as a partnership. Rex has a tax basis in his shares of $60,000 and Felix has a tax basis in his shares of $20,000. Rex and Felix hired a lawyer to draw up the legal papers to dissolve the corporation, but they need some tax advice from you, their trusted accountant. DCC’s tax accounting balance sheet at the date of liquidation is as follows:  AssetsTax BasisFMV Cash$30,000$30,000 Accounts receivable 10,000 10,000 Inventory 10,000 20,000 Equipment 30,000 20,000 Building 15,000 30,000 Land   5,000   40,000     Total assets $100,000 $150,000   Liabilities Accounts payable $5,000 Mortgage payable - Building 10,000 Mortgage payable - Land 10,000 Total liabilities $25,000   Stockholders’ Equity Common stock - Rex (80%)$100,000 Common stock - Felix (20%) 25,000   Total shareholders’ equity$125,000   Required: a) Compute the gain or loss recognized by Rex, Felix, and DCC on a complete liquidation of the corporation assuming each shareholder receives a pro rata distribution of the corporation’s assets and assumes a pro rata amount of the liabilities.

Do any groups of people gain from inflation?

Explain the strategy of high-frequency trading firms. Describe the typical time horizon of an investment that is relevant to highfrequency traders and explain how it varies from the time horizons of other institutional investors. (LO3)

How will the size of normal ‘profit’ vary with the general state of the economy?

In 2013, Austin Powers Corporation developed a new product that will be marketed in 2014. In connection with the development of this product, the following costs were incurred in 2013: research and development costs $400,000; materials and supplies consumed $60,000; and compensation paid to research consultants $125,000. It is anticipated that these costs will be recovered in 2016. What is the amount of research and development costs that Austin Powers should record in 2013 as a charge to expense?

On January 1, 2014, Harrington Company has the following defined benefit pension plan balances. Projected benefi t obligation $4,500,000 Fair value of plan assets 4,200,000 The interest (settlement) rate applicable to the plan is 10%. On January 1, 2015, the company amends its pension agreement so that prior service costs of $500,000 are created. Other data related to the pension plan are as follows. 2014 2015 Service cost $150,000 $180,000 Prior service cost amortization –0– 90,000 Contributions (funding) to the plan 240,000 285,000 Benefi ts paid 200,000 280,000 Actual return on plan assets 252,000 260,000 Expected rate of return on assets 6% 8% Instructions (a) Prepare a pension worksheet for the pension plan for 2014 and 2015. (b) For 2015, prepare the journal entry to record pension-related amounts.

Over what period of time should compensation cost be allocated?

Which are likely to have the highest cross elasticity of demand: two brands of coffee, or coffee and tea?

Explain how the Fed’s “quantitative easing” strategies differed from its traditional strategy of buying short-term Treasury securities. (LO3)

1.       : Why do you think empowerment increases motivation? Do you see any ways in which a manager’s empowerment efforts might contribute to demotivation among employees? Discuss.

Suppose you asked your favorite AI query tool “Is multijurisdictional tax-motivated income shifting an example of the conversion strategy?” and the AI tool responded as follows: Is the AI response correct? Explain.

1.15     Uncertainties, degree of uncertainty Community Children’s Hospital can invest in one of two different projects. The first project is to purchase and operate a hotel that is located two blocks from the hospital. The CEO of the hospital has no experience operating a hotel, but the hospital does provide rooms for in-patients, and so she is familiar with cleaning requirements and managing housekeeping staff. However, the hospital does little advertising and does not have a large public relations staff. In addition, the hospital and hotel are located in a part of town that is deteriorating. The other investment opportunity is to replace the heart monitors in the neonatal intensive care unit (critical care for newborns and infants). The new monitors would provide a range of functions, including monitoring the body temperature and blood pressure of infants, as well as monitoring heart functions. Each monitor can be used for up to four infants with information about each infant forwarded to one computer that is monitored by a special technician. The current monitors are bedside monitors that need to be read every 10 minutes by nursing staff.   Required (a)          Prepare a list of uncertainties that the CEO faces if she buys the hotel. (b)          Prepare a list of uncertainties the CEO faces if she replaces the heart monitors. (c)           Which scenario appears to have a greater degree of uncertainty? Why?

A country’s central bank (e.g. the Bank of England or the US Federal Reserve) has a key role in ensuring the stability of the banking system. In many countries the central bank is prepared to bail banks out which find themselves in financial difficulties. Although this has the benefit of reducing the chance of banks going bankrupt and depositors losing their money, it can create a moral hazard. Explain why.

Sylvester files as a single taxpayer during 2024.  He itemizes deductions for regular tax purposes.  He paid charitable contributions of $7,000, real estate taxes of $1,000, state income taxes of $4,000, and mortgage interest of $2,000 on $30,000 of acquisition indebtedness on his home. Sylvester’s regular taxable income is $100,000. What is Sylvester’s AMTI?

The stockholders’ equity section of Martino Inc. at the beginning of the current year appears below. Common stock, $10 par value, authorized 1,000,000 shares, 300,000 shares issued and outstanding $3,000,000 Paid-in capital in excess of par—common stock 600,000 Retained earnings 570,000 During the current year, the following transactions occurred. 1. The company issued to the stockholders 100,000 rights. Ten rights are needed to buy one share of stock at $32. The rights were void after 30 days. The market price of the stock at this time was $34 per share. 2. The company sold to the public a $200,000, 10% bond issue at 104. The company also issued with each $100 bond one detachable stock purchase warrant, which provided for the purchase of common stock at $30 per share. Shortly after issuance, similar bonds without warrants were selling at 96 and the warrants at $8. 3. All but 5,000 of the rights issued in (1) were exercised in 30 days. 4. At the end of the year, 80% of the warrants in (2) had been exercised, and the remaining were outstanding and in good standing. 5. During the current year, the company granted stock options for 10,000 shares of common stock to company executives. The company, using a fair value option-pricing model, determines that each option is worth $10. The option price is $30. The options were to expire at year-end and were considered compensation for the current year. 6. All but 1,000 shares related to the stock-option plan were exercised by year-end. The expiration resulted because one of the executives failed to fulfill an obligation related to the employment contract. Instructions (a) Prepare general journal entries for the current year to record the transactions listed above. (b) Prepare the stockholders’ equity section of the balance sheet at the end of the current year. Assume that retained earnings at the end of the current year is $750,000.

Suppose you asked your favorite AI query tool the following question: “What is the Kiddie Tax?”  The AI tool provided the following response:

Under this system how would you expect countries to respond to a balance of payments surplus? Would a revaluation benefit such countries?

Amina is a 30 percent partner in the AOM Partnership when she sells her entire interest to Hope for $72,000 cash. At the time of the sale, Amina’s basis in AOM is $44,000 (which includes her $6,000 share of AOM liabilities). AOM does not have any hot assets. What is Amina’s gain or loss on the sale of her interest?

Maddox Specialty Company, a division of Lost World Inc., manufactures three models of gear shift components for bicycles that are sold to bicycle manufacturers, retailers, and catalog outlets. Since beginning operations in 1990, Maddox has used normal absorption costing and has assumed a first-in, first-out cost flow in its perpetual inventory system. The balances of the inventory accounts at the end of Maddox’s fiscal year, November 30, 2014, are shown below. The inventories are stated at cost before any year-end adjustments. Finished goods $647,000 Work in process 112,500 Raw materials 264,000 Factory supplies 69,000 The following information relates to Maddox’s inventory and operations. 1. The finished goods inventory consists of the items analyzed below. 2. One-half of the head tube shifter finished goods inventory is held by catalog outlets on consignment. 3. Three-quarters of the bar end shifter finished goods inventory has been pledged as collateral for a bank loan. 4. One-half of the raw materials balance represents derailleurs acquired at a contracted price 20% above the current market price. The market value of the rest of the raw materials is $127,400. 5. The total market value of the work in process inventory is $108,700. 6. Included in the cost of factory supplies are obsolete items with an historical cost of $4,200. The market value of the remaining factory supplies is $65,900. 7. Maddox applies the lower-of-cost-or-market method to each of the three types of shifters in finished goods inventory. For each of the other three inventory accounts, Maddox applies the lower-of-costor- market method to the total of each inventory account. 8. Consider all amounts presented above to be material in relation to Maddox’s financial statements taken as a whole. Instructions (a) Prepare the inventory section of Maddox’s balance sheet as of November 30, 2014, including any required note(s). (b) Without prejudice to your answer to (a), assume that the market value of Maddox’s inventories is less than cost. Explain how this decline would be presented in Maddox’s income statement for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2014. Cost Market Down tube shifter Standard model $ 67,500 $ 67,000 Click adjustment model 94,500 89,000 Deluxe model 108,000 110,000 Total down tube shifters 270,000 266,000 Bar end shifter Standard model 83,000 90,050 Click adjustment model 99,000 97,550 Total bar end shifters 182,000 187,600 Head tube shifter Standard model 78,000 77,650 Click adjustment model 117,000 119,300 Total head tube shifters 195,000 196,950 Total fi nished goods $647,000 $650,550 (c) Assume that Maddox has a firm purchase commitment for the same type of derailleur included in the raw materials inventory as of November 30, 2014, and that the purchase commitment is at a contracted price 15% greater than the current market price. These derailleurs are to be delivered to Maddox after November 30, 2014. Discuss the impact, if any, that this purchase commitment would have on Maddox’s financial statements prepared for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2014.

1.       : Is there a role for personality characteristics such as authoritarianism and Machiavellianism in contemporary organizations? Explain your thinking.

What are reversing entries, and why are they used?

Suppose that David has elected to account for inventories and has adopted the last-in, first-out (LIFO) inventory-flow method for his business inventory of widgets (purchase prices below).  WidgetPurchase DateDirect CostOther CostsTotal Cost #1August 15$ 2,100$ 100$ 2,200 #2October 30$ 2,200$ 150$ 2,350 #3November 10$ 2,300$ 100$ 2,400 In late December, David sold one widget, and next year David expects to purchase three more widgets at the following estimated prices: WidgetPurchase DateEstimated Cost #4Early spring$ 2,600 #5Summer$ 2,260 #6Fall$ 2,400 a) What cost of goods sold and ending inventory would David record if he elects to use the LIFO method this year?  b) If David sells two more widgets next year, what will be his cost of goods sold and ending inventory next year under the LIFO method? c) How would you answer (a) and (b) if David had initially selected the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method instead of LIFO? d) Suppose that David initially adopted the LIFO method but wants to apply for a change to FIFO next year. What would be his §481 adjustment for this change, and in what year(s) would he make the adjustment?

Make a list of six possible aims a manager of a high street department store might have. Identify some conflicts that might arise between these aims?