dmuneka

The first W2s are starting to come out this week. Just a reminder that there is a new kid on the block this year. Hopefully this will start to spell the end of the for-fee tax return filing in the US.

I think it depends on where in the US. In NYC, I pay around 32% of my gross income in federal and local taxes, social security, medicare, etc. That's almost 4 months of my salary.

On top of that, I have to pay for health insurance, deductibles, and retirement savings, which I assume my French counterpart wouldn't have to separately pay for.

This is similar to the School Leaver programmes run by large accounting firms in the UK as well. You get paid a decent amount to get accredited whilst working for the firm. The programmes could take 6 years, but at the end of it, you would be a much more valuable employee than the person who drank away 3 years of their life! Plus you'd be a qualified accountant!

The downside is when all your mates are out having fun, you're being worked to the bone! Not really fun for an 18 year old.

Shares are a form of equity. Owning the shares will give you a claim to the residual assets of the company after all the liabilities have been settled. So what you own is effectively the 'Net Assets' of the company. This is different from outright owning the actual underlying assets of the company.

To slightly complicate things, the total assets shown on the annual report of these companies are mostly on their cost basis. During an acquisition like this, they would be 'fair valued', which could result in significant write up or write off compared to the cost basis.

As a Brit, you should appreciate the level of infrastructure you get to enjoy. You are more than welcome to come live in the US with some of the most 'innovative' privately funded infrastructure.

I'd be happy to swap my overpriced RCN internet with TalkTalk or not have to get a new wheel on my bike every year thanks to the pot-holed roads of New York.

Whilst what you say is true, it should, however, be noted that this is done mostly for liquidity considerations rather than beefing up any accounting ratios. Obviously it’s impossible to tell without seeing the actual legal documents, but the upcoming guidance on lease accounting will most likely require that this type of sale and leaseback transaction to be shown on the balance sheet. So any benefit of turning this into an off-balance sheet lease would only be for the next few years.