Sam Handwerger, CPA, is a full-time Lecturer in the department, and is a University of Maryland undergraduate accounting alumnus. He also holds a Master of Science in Taxation degree from the University of Baltimore. Handwerger was a Senior Tax Researcher with EY in New York City and later led the Tax Planning and Preparation Departments of the CPA firm Handwerger, Cardegna, Funkhouser & Lurman. In 1996, he was awarded the Governor's Volunteer of the year award in the State of Maryland for financial and management advisement to non-profit organizations. Before joining the Smith School on a full-time basis, Handwerger held adjunct positions at the Johns Hopkins University School of Business and the University of Baltimore Law School.
SMITH BRAIN TRUST – “Did you notice the time of day when the Associated Press officially announced Joe Biden as president-elect?” Maryland Smith’s Samuel Handwerger asks. “No?”
“Neither did I,” he says, “but it should have been at 4:20, the unofficial California time for ‘Mary Jane,’ the good stuff, pot, marijuana.”
SMITH BRAIN TRUST – The year 2018 saw a pretty robust economy in the United States. But one sector slid about 1.7%, adjusted for inflation. Any guesses which one?
Maryland Smith’s Sam Handwerger offers a hint: That dip represented a significant blow to about 10% of the overall economy.
SMITH BRAIN TRUST – For many workers, the pandemic has meant working from home, often for months on end. But what does 10 months of remote work mean for your 2020 tax return?
It’s kind of a good news/bad news situation, says Maryland Smith’s Samuel Handwerger.
When COVID-19 prompted a mid-March campus “Terp” shutdown it also halted TerpTax, a 6-year-old, free on-campus tax-filing service. Maryland students – mostly Maryland Smith accounting majors and including both master’s students and undergrads – had been assisting student peers and low-income members of the surrounding community, as both walk-ins and by appointment, from 6-9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays in Room 3522 of Van Munching Hall.
SMITH BRAIN TRUST – If you admire your CPA for that unflappable aura of calm at the height of tax season — even during this unusual tax season — there’s something you should know.
SMITH BRAIN TRUST – When Maryland Smith’s Samuel Handwerger was a kid, his dad made use of a legal tax gimmick to reduce the income taxes he would have to pay on his portfolio income – his interest, dividends and gains on his investments. He did this by gifting these interest- and dividend-bearing investments to Sam so that Sam would pay the tax, but the tax would be based on Sam’s much lower tax bracket.
SMITH BRAIN TRUST – Ready to get cozy and catch up on some of the movies and TV shows you've missed? Maryland Smith faculty have some suggestions for the must-see TV series, movies and documentaries – some you’ve no doubt been hearing buzz about, others you may have missed, and some you’ll want to watch again.
Billions (drama, four seasons, Showtime)
SMITH BRAIN TRUST – The recent Congressional committee passage of the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act to decriminalize marijuana may have been influenced by more than just the revenue the proposed excise tax will generate, says Maryland Smith's Samuel Handwerger, pointing to a recent tax court case that highlighted the need for Congressional action regarding Section 280E of the federal tax code.
SMITH BRAIN TRUST – Sometimes, maybe the best way to explain a complex issue is to make it come alive as a comic book, set in outer space. At least that's the approach taken by the New York Fed, which recently published "The Story of Monetary Policy" in comic book format.
SMITH BRAIN TRUST – A few weeks ago, Maryland Smith’s Samuel Handwerger wrote a letter to former President Bill Clinton. But it wasn’t a letter concerning the former President’s views, his presidency, or his politics.
