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DATA DRAFT
Preserving Virginia’s land: The facts
Between 2002 and 2007, Virginia lost more than 200,000 ACRES of forest, farm and other rural land to development. A conservation movement to protect land, which includes Land Preservation Tax Credits, has had results. As of August 2013, more than 3.84 MILLION ACRES of open space, parks, historic lands, natural areas, forests, farms and other lands have been preserved. The below chart is from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Conservation Lands Database.
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Learn more in the Land Preservation section of http://vaperforms.virginia.gov. n REPEAT AFTER US >>
The IRS does not make phone calls
Just how bad are phone scammers pretending to be the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) demanding payment? Believe it or not, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration continues to receive complaints — 90,000 to date. So far, they have identified 1,100 VICTIMS who have lost an estimated $5 MILLION.
The IRS repeats its warnings not to fall for these scams, so tell your clients: The first contact the IRS will make with you for payment is via official mail correspondence, not from a phone call. n
DID YOU KNOW?
When it comes to margins, accounting is the most profitable, according to Sageworks. In a ranking of the financial data from private companies, Sageworks found that accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services had the highest profit margin of all industries — 19.8 PERCENT. n
ACREAGE PRESERVED IN VIRGINIA, 2004–2013
FISCAL YEAR TOTAL STATEWIDE ACREAGE PRESERVED
ANNUAL ACREAGE PRESERVED 2004 3,174,019 39,497 2005 3,243,079 69,060 2006 3,313,584 70,505 2007 3,411,172 97,587
2008 3,504,983 93,811 2009 3,594,437 89,454 2010 3,700,687 106,249 2011 3,734,975 34,289 2012 3,798,442 63,467 2013 3,841,509 43,066
>> BY THE NUMBERS
$30 million
The record payout by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) for a whistleblower tip, paid in 2014 to a whistleblower overseas who alerted the SEC to an ongoing fraud. Last year, the SEC received its highest number of tips since the program was implemented three years ago — 3,500. Nine whistleblowers received awards. n
