Gift Wrap Trading Aletia Van Niekerk 012 9982579 Email GMD Products & Graphic Design Lombe Chalungumana 011 3386248 / 076 3256780 Email “Our flag unites us all under a common future and makes us a strong nation,” she said. “It is representative of our future aspirations as a nation.” National Flag Marc Coetzee 011 8870143 / 082 4551116 Email Other South African mobilisation campaigns include Football Friday, The People’s Bus and the Diski Dance. As of 1 May, fans and companies can make their flag pledges by SMSing the word “flag” to 32175 and thereby “celebrate the first time the 2010 Fifa World Cup is being held on African soil,” said Sophie Masipa, Marketing Manager of the International Marketing Council of South Africa (IMC), the custodian of Brand South Africa, in a statement this week. The SMSs cost R1 each. Masipa added that the initiative is a demonstration that the national flag is for every South African – a representation of our people no matter where we live in the world, regardless of background and without relevance to personal beliefs. SAinfo reporterWould you like to use this article in your publication or on your website? See: Using SAinfo material “It is our quest to literally ‘Flag’ South Africa.” Symbol of unity, hope As hosts of the World Cup, the IMC says that South Africans and Africans are on the eve of welcoming thousands of potential Brand SA advocates to our country and continent. Nation branding South Africans can demonstrate their support for the nation brand by joining in celebrations such as these, through which we are welcoming the world to our country, the statement read. “It is imperative that we actively show our support for our national football team, Bafana Bafana – a South African brand ambassador representing us on the World Cup’s centre stage,” added Masipa. Where companies can get flags 4 May 2010 Ikamva Contract Publishing Karen Lundie 011 4310322 / 082 3872906 Email Stone Moon Design Unathi Rafu 011 4621753 / 082 8307822 Email “We want to see our national flag, a symbol of unity and hope for future generations, flown far and wide across the country. From building wraps to office park entrances and in our neighbourhoods, we want to paint the nation with pride through our country’s most visual representations,” she said. Head Masters Ivan Lazarus 011 6261424 Email Masipa also urged government departments, provinces, host cities and municipalities to fly the flag with pride. With less than 40 days to go to the kick off of the 2010 Fifa World Cup™, individuals and companies alike are being urged to take up the national “Fly the Flag” challenge, through which they can buy, distribute and fly the national flag. read more

CCH Tax Day ReportCongress is expected to consider another Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the federal government, including the IRS, open past December 9. Lawmakers are scheduled to recess December 9. The IRS finalized consistent basis reporting regulations. In addition, the IRS issued proposed regulations for valuing certain LIFO inventories. Also, the IRS released proposed regulations relating to partnerships and debt financed companies, as well as pension plan cashouts.CongressHouse. The House passed the 21st Century Cures Bill (HR 34) on November 30 by a 392 to 26 vote (TAXDAY, 2016/12/01, C.1). The bipartisan measure now heads to the Senate for consideration.House Ways and Means ranking member Sander Levin, D-Mich., announced he will not be seeking re-election for the tax writing committee’s top Democratic leadership role (TAXDAY, 2016/12/02, C.1). Levin has endorsed Ways and Means member Richard E. Neal, D-Mass to take his place as ranking member.IRSBasis Reporting. The IRS finalized consistent basis reporting regulations (T.D. 9797; TAXDAY, 2016/12/2, I.1).LIFO. The IRS issued proposed changes to Reg. §1.472-8 NPRM REG-125946-10; TAXDAY, 2016/11/29, I.1).Installment Agreements. The IRS finalized its user fee schedule for installment agreements (T.D. 9798; TAXDAY, 2016/11/30, I.1).Online Tools. The IRS launched a new online application to assist taxpayers with balance inquiries (IR-2016-155; TAXDAY, 2016/12/02, I.2).Principle Residence Indebtedness. The IRS issued guidance on qualified principal residence indebtedness (Notice 2016-72, I.R.B. 2016-50; TAXDAY, 2016/11/29, I.5).SOI Bulletin. The IRS released the Fall 2016 Statistics of Income Bulletin (IR-2016-157; TAXDAY, 2016/12/02, I.2Discount Factors. The IRS has provided insurance companies with tables setting forth loss payment patterns and discount factors, as well as salvage discount factors for the 2016 accident year (Rev. Proc. 2016-58, I.R.B. 2016-58; Rev. Proc. 2016-59, I.R.B. 2016-58; TAXDAY, 2016/12/01, I.1; TAXDAY, 2016/12/01, I.2).Partnerships. The IRS released proposed regulations related to partnerships that hold debt-financed real property and have exempt organization partners (NPRM REG-136978-12; TAXDAY, 2016/11/23, I.1).Pension Plans. The IRS issued proposed regulations that would update the current final regulations regarding the minimum present value requirements of Code Sec. 417(e)(3), and would provide clarifying changes (NPRM REG-107424-12; TAXDAY, 2016/11/28, I.1).Conservation Easements. The IRS released an Audit Techniques Guide on Conservation Easements (TAXDAY, 2016/11/29, I.3).Donations. The IRS reminded taxpayers about certain rules for charitable deductions (IR-2016-154; TAXDAY, 2016/11/29, I.4).Sharing Economy. The IRS reminded taxpayers about resources for the sharing economy (IR-2016-153; TAXDAY, 2016/11/28, I.2).Cybersecurity. The IRS announced “National Tax Security Awareness Week” (IR-2016-156; TAXDAY, 2016/12/02, I.3).By Jessica Jeane and Jalisa Mathis, Wolters Kluwer News Staff read more

CCH Tax Day ReportThe California Board of Equalization (BOE) established the personal income tax adjusted basis of real property sold by taxpayers based on information provided by the taxpayers’ certified public accountant (CPA), who tracked all costs and expenses of construction on the property and maintained bank and other financial records, receipts, and information. A large portion of the documentation needed to substantiate the property’s adjusted basis was lost when the taxpayers changed their professional representative and when their representative’s computer system crashed. However, after consideration of all the evidence, the BOE found that the information compiled and provided by the CPA was the most reliable. Moreover, the CPA stated in a declaration that he was confident that his former employee prepared a competent computation of the adjusted basis prior to the filing of the income tax return for the year the property was sold. The BOE also noted that the evidence submitted by the CPA reflected amounts for capitalized construction loan interest and capitalized mortgage interest included in the adjusted basis reported by the taxpayers. Those amounts were tracked meticulously on a detailed schedule that reflected the exact amounts of interest that were paid and whether the taxpayers had claimed those mortgage interest payments as current year deductions or had capitalized those amounts.Lowe and Berkoff, California State Board of Equalization, No. 571973, January 26, 2017, ¶406-633 read more

A record 10 million Indians are set to take a national test on March 15 to delete the il from the adjective describing them as illiterateIn 2009, the then UPA government decided to launch a new scheme to draw illiterate adults to classrooms. But the bureaucrats were up against a,A record 10 million Indians are set to take a national test on March 15 to delete the il from the adjective describing them as illiterateIn 2009, the then UPA government decided to launch a new scheme to draw illiterate adults to classrooms. But the bureaucrats were up against a wall. Many similar schemes launched earlier had already gathered cobwebs, unable to entice the millions who remain illiterate even six decades after Independence.It was then that the officials came up with a new idea: issuing a certificate declaring one a literate person.That one document did for the adult literacy programme-christened Saakshar Bharat-what no amount of publicity, backed by all the machinery at the government’s disposal, could have.If the meat of the matter lies in statistics, here’s one: 580,000 illiterate adults took the Basic Literacy Test when it was held for the first time in August 2010. Four years on, the figure went up to 4.1 million in August 2014. When the next test is held on March 15, officials expect nearly 10 million people to appear for these certificates. To ensure the record turnout, state governments have been enrolling learners in villages for months now.”The certificate has become a status symbol of sorts in villages, where most of the target group lives,” says YSK Seshu Kumar, director general, National Literacy Mission Authority, which handles the Saakshar Bharat programme. People who score well in the test and secure the literacy certificate often frame it and put it up on their wall, Kumar adds.It is, after all, an affirmation of their capability and potential. Many among these new learners are women, and most among them had never stepped into a classroom before.advertisementLiteracy programmes, though, are not exactly a novel concept in India. Post-Independence, the first such effort, the National Adult Education Programme, was launched on October 2, 1978. Exactly a decade on, the National Literacy Mission (NLM) took off in May 1988. But it was not until after another decade, when the NLM strategy was modified to launch Saakshar Bharat in September 2009, that the accelerator was pressed hard.Touted as the world’s largest literacy mission, Saakshar Bharat aims at raising literacy levels to 80 per cent and reducing the gender gap in literacy to 10 per cent by 2017. With a target of imparting functional literacy to 70 million people, with the prime focus on women, the programme is being implemented in rural areas of all districts with an adult female literacy rate of 50 per cent and below as per Census 2001.So what makes the biannual Basic Literacy Test one of the most talked-about competitive examinations in rural India today? The fact that it tests a new learner on abilities to read aloud and with understanding at a reasonable speed, taking dictation, reading and writing numbers and simple calculations. And the encouraging numbers: since August 2010, approximately 43.3 million people have taken the test, conducted by the National Institute of Open Schooling.Of these, 31.3 million have passed the 150-mark assessment. Those who score at least 40 per cent are graded B and those scoring more than 60 per cent receive the A-grade literacy certificate. People failing to score 40 per cent are graded C and have to take it again.And the project sure has come a long way. In its early days, State Literacy Mission Authority staff had to knock on doors asking people to come to the adult education centres. Today, officials say, with justifiable pride, the project is on automaton. In fact, it has moved to the next level: as millions achieve basic literacy, they are now asking for more.”We have covered 32 of Rajasthan’s 33 districts in the last five years,” says Sudhanshu Jain, director, State Resource Centre, Jaipur. “The bigger challenge now is to keep up with the pace of the programme. As we have more and more literates, they now want to move to basic and vocational education and advanced studies. We are making efforts in that direction as well, and with the help of NGOs we have begun providing facilities in our adult education centres.”Besides, the state is making the literacy programme more attractive by integrating it with modules on legal and electoral literacy, financial literacy, and clubbing it with the Jan-Dhan Yojana and issues of disaster management and rural requirements, among others.The Saakshar Bharat programme has done considerably well in states such as Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, besides Chhattisgarh and some of the states in the North-east.In fact, the basic literacy mission has probably done the best in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand despite problems of Maoist extremism in that belt, says Nasim Ahmed, assistant educational adviser, School Education Department, Ministry of Human Resource Development. Giving due credit to the states, Ahmed says this has been possible primarily because the adult education departments of these two states have taken the lead on mission mode.advertisementApart from the adult education centres and the smaller literacy learning centres in villages, the literacy drive is now also backed by new education centres being set up by public sector undertakings (PSUs) as part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives. The PSUs, according to officials, donate about Rs 2.5 lakh to establish these centres with a few computers, sports equipment, sewing machines, TV sets and other computer-based learning modules. On the private side, Tata Consultancy Services has developed some functional literacy software that helps complete learning modules in 50 hours-a huge improvement over the 300-hour-long book modules. Of the targeted 904 such centres, 458 have already been set up.While the infrastructure mechanism is still being put in place, what cannot be denied is that a quiet revolution is going on somewhere-everywhere. And come March, millions more would, confidently and proudly, check the box in any application that asks whether they are literate.Follow the writer on Twitter @anubhutivishnoi read more