Word: pretax
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There's a joke in the accounting trade that the difference between a wobbly grocery cart and a corporate auditor is that the cart has a mind of its own. Very funny, unless you had invested in MCI (formerly WorldCom), which recently announced that the pretax income it reported for 2000 and 2001 was just a tad off--$74.4 billion less than it had said, after writedowns and adjustments. Outside auditors have signed off on bogus earnings reports and balance sheets at companies from Rite Aid to Xerox. In some cases, auditors dealt with corporate brass intent on concealing thievery...
HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS (HSAs) Products of the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act, which Congress passed in December, HSAs went into effect on Jan. 1, allowing you to save money in a tax-free account to pay for health-care costs. Individuals with "self-only" policies can make a pretax annual contribution of $2,600, and families can contribute up to $5,150 to an HSA account...
...pocket expenses. Last month the agency ruled that flexible-spending accounts, or FSAs, can be used to pay for over-the-counter drugs like cough syrup and pain relievers, in addition to long-accepted items like copayments, prescriptions and glasses. FSAs let people contribute and spend pretax dollars. Any unused money in the account at year's end reverts to the employer, but the number of spending options is growing. Most companies will change plan rules for 2004 and allow folks to load up on everything from antacids to bandages, says Jon Kessler, CEO of benefits administrator WageWorks...
...defunct digital-TV firm OnDigital, and from cable firms ntl and Telewest. Under his tenure, the company embarked on a risky $3 billion conversion to all-digital technology, to offer more channels and support interactive services. The plan seems to have paid off: in August BSkyB reported a pretax profit of $418 million on sales of $5.13 billion in the year ended June 30. Financial success, however, doesn't necessarily mean consensus, and analysts have been probing for an explanation for Ball's rumored departure. One theory is that Ball wanted to pay a dividend on BSkyB stock, rewarding shareholders...
...Rough Landings Turbulent times at British Airways; the airline landed itself with a jumbo first-quarter pretax loss of 364 million. This after BA revealed a wildcat strike by staff last month could set the company back a further €57 million...