Fortner Bayens, P.C. Banking Letter - July 2018 Edition

2018 Independent Bank Compensation Survey 

30th Anniversary Edition!

FBLG's annual Independent Bank Compensation Survey is now open and available to complete on our website. Many of you are long-time participants and we welcome your participation again this year. When you participate in the 2018 survey, you are automatically entered into a Prize Drawing for a $500 Amazon gift card. 

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Farm Bill Pushes Through Senate with Overwhelming 86 to 11 Bipartisan Vote

Kristen A. Rea, CPA

A successful farm bill provides support for the volatile farm sector and includes essential policies such as price-support programs, crop insurance, and loan guarantee programs. On June 28, the Senate voted to enact the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2) with changes and sent it back to the House for approval. The bill originally passed in the House on June 21. The bipartisan desire to rush relief to farmers is well on track to pass each chamber again with a compromise bill and head to President Trump’s desk before the current bill expires September 30.

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Tenant Improvement Property No Longer Eligible for Bonus Depreciation and 179

Mark J. Corey, CPA, JD

As the provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act continue to be implemented, unintended consequences of the new law also have been revealing themselves.

One error relates to the depreciation of a new class of property called “Qualified Improvement Property” (defined in new code section 168(e)(6)).  Qualified Improvement Property (QIP) replaces three previous classes of improvement property (Qualified Leasehold Improvements, Qualified Retail Improvement Property and Qualified Restaurant Property).  

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Community Banks Receive Reprieve from Long-Form Call Reports

Cullen Wormer

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) has approved the implementation of additional burden-reducing revisions to all three versions of the Call Report. These Call Report changes were proposed by the three federal banking agencies: the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and approved by the FFIEC.

This is part of an ongoing effort to ease reporting requirements and lessen reporting burden on small and large institutions.

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AICPA Recommends More Guidance on Virtual Currency Taxation            

Dave J. Bayens, CPA

In every aspect of life, individuals, business entities and corporations inspect and monitor their large assets.  Whether it is an investment portfolio, real estate properties or large construction projects. Therefore, it is important to keep an eye on your sizable assets in an effort to avoid any deterioration or loss of value.  Financial institutions are no different; they accomplish this through annual reviews of their larger lending relationships, which inherently have a more substantial risk associated with them.

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Leases and Land Easements

Michelle L. Steinbronn, CPA

Earlier this year, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2018-01, Leases – Land Easement Practical Expedient for Transition to Topic 842, to address the diversity in practice related to the treatment of land easements under ASU 2016-02, Leases, issued February 25, 2016. It was also issued to address concerns about the costs and complexity of evaluating whether existing or expired land easements meet the definition of a lease.

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July Folk Feature - Let's Go Abroad

Kaitlyn B. Dowd

July may just be the best summer month. In case you missed it, the first half of July has been packed with national holidays and momentous sporting competitions.

It all started with Canada Day, followed by Wimbledon, the Fourth of July, and most recently Bastille Day in France. Their national holiday was upstaged by their own World Cup victory the very next day.

July also has had the best food holidays. National ice cream day ushered in national hot dog day, which of course leads to national tequila day and then, before you know it, the month concludes with national lasagna and cheesecake day. I think it’s fair to say that July is not the best month to start a juice cleanse, liver detox, or otherwise undertake a salubrious lifestyle metamorphosis.

With all the bedlam, it is no wonder that Argentina’s Independence Day on July 9th passed by without garnering much attention. However, this oversight will be rectified, with a little help from FBLG’s Val Stark in this month’s folk feature. 

To read more, click here.