All of the following increase the basis of real property except:
a) casualty restoration to bring the property to pre-casualty condition.
b) zoning costs to bring a property into compliance with government regulations. c) assessments for local improvements, such as sewers and sidewalks, and the cost of extending utility service lines to the property.
d) repairs including interior and exterior repainting, fixing gutters, and patching leaks.

You are head of the schwartz family endowment for the arts. you have decided to fund an arts school in the san francisco bay area in perpetuity. every 5 years, you will give the school $ 1 comma 000 comma 000. the first payment will occur 5 years from today. if the interest rate is 5.9 % per year, what is the present value of your gift?

You are chairman of the board of a successful technology firm. there is a nominal federal corporate tax rate of 35 percent, yet the effective tax rate of the typical corporation is about 12.6%. your firm has been clever with use of transfer pricing and keeping money abroad and has barely paid any taxes over the last 5 years; during this same time period, profits were $28 billion. one member of the board feels that it is un-american to use various accounting strategies in order to avoid paying taxes. others feel that these are legal loopholes and corporations have a fiduciary responsibility to minimize taxes. one board member quoted what the ceo of exxon once said: “i’m not a u.s. company and i don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the u.s.” what are the alternatives? what are your recommendations? why do you recommend this course of action?

Christopher kim, cfa, is a banker with batts brothers, an investment banking firm. kim follows the energy industry and has frequent contact with industry executives. kim is contacted by the ceo of a large oil and gas corporation who wants batts brothers to underwrite a secondary offering of the company's stock. the ceo offers kim the opportunity to fly on his private jet to his ranch in texas for an exotic game hunting expedition if kim's firm can complete the underwriting within 90 days. according to cfa institute standards of conduct, kim: a) may accept the offer as long as he discloses the offer to batts brothers.b) may not accept the offer because it is considered lavish entertainment.c) must obtain written consent from batts brothers before accepting the offer.