July 2007

Dear CCH Learning Center Subscriber,

Welcome to the July 2007 issue of Focus on Learning, the monthly newsletter for the CCH Learning Center that provides insights on how to use the Learning Center to your full advantage and updates on new courses and features available to you. In each issue we highlight a course (or series of courses) on a timely topic, and let you know about new courses released in the CCH Learning Center. We also inform you of new useful features, provide helpful tips on existing features, and help you use the CCH Learning Center to meet your professional development and CPE needs.

New Learning Center Core Library Courses
CCH is committed to keeping you up-to-date and knowledgeable on the latest issues that impact your firm or corporation. Many new or revised courses covering a wide range of topics have been released to the CCH Learning Center Core Library over the past two months, including:

• Capital Gains, Dividends and Income Brackets: Impact of the Reduced Tax Rates (Second Edition) 

• Consolidated Returns: Determining Whether to File 

• FIN No. 46R -- Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities 

• Primary Residence and Vacation Home as a Personal Tax Shelter 

• Recent Tax Developments (May-June 2007) 

• Retirement Planning: Maximizing After-Tax Income 

• Retirement Plans and Traditional IRAs: Rollovers of Taxpayer Investment 

• Revenue Recognition: General Principles (Third Edition)

• SAS 107: Audit Risk and Materiality in Conducting an Audit 

• SAS 108: Planning and Supervision 

• SAS 112: Internal Control

New Courses — Specialty Libraries
In addition to the titles listed above, several new courses have been released exclusively to various CCH Specialty Libraries. These new Libraries cover a broad range of courses in specialized topics including accounting and audit, international taxation, sales and use taxation, state taxation, and wealth management. New courses released exclusively to these libraries include: 

• Accounting and Audit: Specialty Library 

  • FASB 157: Fair Value Measurements

  • FASB No. 158: Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension 
    and Other Postretirement Plans

  • Pension Plans -- Employers: FAS 87 and 158




• State Taxation: Specialty Library

  • Business Tax Incentives 

  • State Corporate Income Tax Apportionment 

  • Streamlined Sales Tax Project  (this course is also available in the Sales and Use Taxation Library)
    

• Wealth Management: Specialty Library

  • Bankruptcy Abuse Act: Impact on Financial and Estate Planning 

  • Means-Testing Medicare: Retiree Pain for Little Governmental Gain 

  • Postmortem Planning: What Executors Must Know  

Course Spotlight
As of the last quarter of 2006, the home ownership rate for Americans was 68.9%. This housing boom has created many new homeowners, making the need to understand how to use the home as a tax shelter much more critical. CCH’s new course, Primary Residence and Vacation Home as a Personal Tax Shelter, reviews the tax benefits of home ownership and the tax breaks available at the purchase and sale of a home.

Primary Residence and Vacation Home as a Personal Tax Shelter focuses on using a primary residence, or a vacation home, as a personal tax shelter. A tax shelter is defined as a financial arrangement that reduces taxes. As home ownership has risen, the need to understand how to use the home as a tax shelter as become much more critical. This course reviews the benefits of home ownership as well as the tax breaks that can be claimed upon the sale of a home. Planning pointers are integrated throughout the course the help you use the tax law to your clients' best advantage. Examples illustrate course concepts. The course reviews tax breaks and benefits associated with:

• Purchasing a Home

• Home Ownership

• Home Sales

Upcoming Courses
We will release many new courses in the CCH Learning Center in the weeks and months ahead to give you even more choices and more value. Among the new and updated courses that are in development now, look for courses in the following areas soon:

• Accounting and auditing developments

• Audit risk assessment standards

• Charitable giving

• Consolidated returns

• Business deductions

• Estate and gift tax return preparation

• Investment strategies

• Itemized deductions

• Life Insurance

• Recent tax developments

• Tax credits

Audio Seminars
CCH’s wide range of interesting, educational CPE options now includes audio seminars. Each audio seminar allows an unlimited number of users at your firm to get up-to-speed on a hot topic using nothing more than a telephone connection. Plus, participants can earn up to 3 CPE Credits. Learn about upcoming audio seminars here.

CCH’s audio seminars, presented by top experts, are designed to provide you with updated information on the hottest tax and accounting topics. Along with detailed handout materials, each site registering for an audio seminar receives topically-related bonus items such as books, journals, newsletters or self-study CPE courses. Check out the latest Audio Seminars schedule for details on upcoming seminars, including “LIFO: Concepts, Applications and Opportunities (Part 1)” on July 26.