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Deloitte rower earned gold medal at Paris Olympics

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Oliver (Olli) Zeidler, a full-time specialist and consultant for Deloitte Germany, earned a gold medal in the men’s single sculls rowing event at this year’s Paris Olympics, marking Germany’s first gold title since 1992 in the event and the first medal overall since 2000. 

As a former competitive swimmer who turned to rowing late in his career, Zeidler continued a family tradition of rowing success by following in his grandfather’s and aunt’s footsteps, both of whom are Olympic champions.

This year, 15 elite athletes, including 10 Deloitte professionals, competed as part of Team Deloitte at the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. So far, they have earned seven medals (gold, silver and bronze) but are likely to earn more now that the Paralympic Games are underway this week.

“I come from a very sporty family,” Zeidler told Accounting Today. “As a child I tried a lot of things. I played basketball, I did athletics and also swimming. At some point, swimming became more and more competitive, and I needed to train more and more. That’s why I became a professional swimmer. And it went pretty well. I was successful at the German championships — European junior champion in the relay — and then in 2016 I unfortunately missed the qualification for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.”

“After that, there was not that much fun left. That was mainly because a lot of people on my team retired,” he continued. “It was a bit hard to push myself, so I decided to retire from swimming as well in November 2016.”

Oliver Zeidler of Deloitte training for the Olympics.jpg
Oliver Zeidler of Deloitte training for the Olympics

SIMON HOFMANN

He spent four to six weeks doing nothing until his body started sending him signals that he needed to be doing some kind of sport, he said. That was when he decided to take up rowing.

“I started rowing on the rowing machine in the basement of my parents [home],” said Zeidler. “At some point, I asked my dad then if he could teach me how to row on the water because it can be pretty dull to only row in the basement looking at a wall. And that’s how the journey started.”

He had been working for one and a half years already at Deloitte up to the time when he changed from swimming to rowing. 

“I did a traineeship in Germany and started a bachelor’s degree supported by the company and a master’s degree as well, supported by the company,” said Zeidler. “I was always aware that in Olympic sports you will not have those big sponsors once you retire. I knew that the time would come when I would need to stop with rowing or with sports. When the professional area took over, I didn’t want to start in my 30s. I wanted to start earlier, building a base, and Deloitte allowed me to do so with their programs.

“I didn’t need to take holidays for my competitions or the training camps,” he added . “That was super helpful because before it was really difficult to do the 40-hour job, but they supported me.” 

Deloitte started to support the German Olympic team after the 2021 Olympics with a collaboration, as well as the International Olympic Committee partnership in the last two games. Internationally, it signed a 10-year partnership with the IOC in 2022 through 2032.

Zeidler prepared for this Olympic rowing regatta for three years, which included two trips to Paris. “In total, we spent five to six weeks on the lake, already in training camps to be really prepared for the adverse weather conditions we sometimes find there. It was definitely one of the keys for success that I knew already the course and everything.”

His race plan was designed to peak in the semifinal and the final. “It worked out perfectly,” said Zeidler. Whereas he had struggled in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago and only made the B final in the end, he was proud of his performance during the semifinal in Paris. 

“It was an amazing race in the end,” he said, even though the lineup in the semifinal was similar to the one in Tokyo. “I was really happy when I was able to finally put my boat on the water and do something. Before, the wait was terrible. But I set an Olympic record in the semifinal in front of my mom watching. It was a very emotional moment. And after the semifinal during the cooldown, I really took one or two minutes to say goodbye to the demons of Tokyo.”

Oliver Zeidler of Deloitte specialist and rower.jpg

Oliver Zeidler of Deloitte

After that, his mind felt freer. “I was really looking forward to racing the final, and the Olympic final was the race I wanted to have,” said Zeidler. He had made it to the point where he felt he was at the peak of his abilities and was able to really enjoy it. 

“Even if you think that the Olympic finals are the biggest thing you can achieve in rowing, there was no pressure anymore,” he added. “The semifinal was a lot of pressure, but the final was just going out having fun and executing the race plan. I knew that if I execute the race plan, I will win a medal today. … In the end, it was the gold medal. I had a perfect race in the final, and I was super happy after that. It became very emotional for friends, family and also for myself, and I think that’s what the Olympics are known for,”

The fans were very supportive during the medal ceremonies. “The grandstands in Paris, this was also amazing to see,” said Zeidler. “Even at the heats we had grandstands, and when I just watched the racing, I had shivers all over my body. Sometimes my knees became a bit soft. But when I heard the crowd cheering, it was such a cool atmosphere on the rowing course.”

He hopes to compete in the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles. “I’m aiming for 2028 and my goal is to become as successful as my grandpa and my aunt,” he said. “They both won one gold and one bronze medal at the Olympic Games, so I hope to manage to win at least a silver, if not another gold medal.”

His grandfather, Hans-Johann Färber, became Olympic champion in 1972 and won a bronze medal four years later. His aunt, Judith Zeidler, won gold in the Seoul Olympics and then bronze in Barcelona.

“It’s the third generation of Olympic gold medalists in the family now,” said Zeidler.

Over the years, he had been inspired by the stories of his family members. “Rowing is a very traditional sport,” said Zeidler. “That’s something I really love, and the Olympics were just something very special. But I think back to the days when my grandpa showed me the books of the Olympic Games where it was captured, and that’s how my dream developed to become an athlete and an Olympian one day as well. It’s a nice family story, but in total, the Olympics, the values they share, is just something I can really connect with.”

He had many opportunities to connect with other Deloitte athletes at the games, including a fellow rower, Jan van der Bij, who hails from the Netherlands and won a silver medal in the men’s eight.

“In total, we had 15 Deloitte athletes in Team Deloitte, and 10 of them are actually Deloitte professionals,” said Zeidler. “Of the Deloitte professionals, we have a lot of rowers. That is very cool. We are like a family in rowing, so we know each other. Even after racing, we caught up and celebrated together in the different houses of the nations. For example, I met Jan from the Netherlands, who won the silver medal in the eight, and it’s cool to not only have the same sport you’re in, but also the same employer and a similar professional background within the firm.”

The athletes attended parties to celebrate the victories with other Deloitte professionals. “If you think about the Olympics, all the nations have their houses, but also the sponsors have their houses where they make little parties,” said Zeidler. “Every evening you can attend two or three parties, and one morning, Deloitte invited us to their house. We met a lot of Deloitte professionals there, a lot of volunteers who were there for the games.”

“It was a nice atmosphere, and it felt a bit like coming home, as well, because it was not really screaming ‘Deloitte.’ It was a bit of a hidden place there in the middle of a park, and it was cool to see. Catching up with the colleagues was also nice — so not Olympians, but the colleagues were into the IOC partnership and into the sports business groups.”

The celebrations continued in Paris and on the flight home as well.

“After the games, after winning the gold medal, I was already in completely another world,” said Zeidler. “For example, one evening, my girlfriend and I got invited to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We went up there in a private elevator. All the other people needed to wait, and I think they were wondering, ‘Who are these guys? Why are they allowed to go up there in a private cabin?’ And then the Eiffel Tower guys even let us one floor above all the others, so we had a clear view over the city.”

“And on the way back, the pilots let me sit in the cockpit for 40 minutes, including the landing,” he continued. “And then arriving here, there was a big reception at the airport with friends, family, a lot of media. They brought me to a little place here in a convertible where I was waving to former teachers, to friends, to a lot of families who are living here close to Munich in the same village. And the celebration continued. Then I went to Deloitte, to the office. There was also a reception. Then the next day at my rowing club in Frankfurt, there was also a reception with a lot of people showing the medal around. It was a crazy world.”

He has already been scouting out the next Olympics venue. “I actually fly to L.A. on holidays, so I think I will definitely have a look at the rowing course there and see.”

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Tax advantages of life insurance for wealthy families

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Life insurance strategies could help wealthy families remove assets from their estates while acting as the collateral for loan financing and a source of tax-free distributions.

These possible benefits come with potentially high premium costs for a “whole life” or “permanent” policy instead of a fixed-term contract. The strategies also come with an array of complex planning questions related to trusts and estates and tax rules that are in flux this year and likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future. But the positives prove appealing for many wealthy and ultrahigh net worth clients, said Peter Harjes, a certified financial planner who is the chief financial strategist with life insurance and estate services firm ARI Financial.

“It’s not necessarily the estate taxes per se — it’s really the loans and the leverage and eliminating the uncertainty for their family when they’re not here,” Harjes said in an interview. “Having a vehicle that provides immediate liquidity to eliminate that uncertainty is more valuable to them.”

READ MORE: Why life insurance is the new stretch IRA

And, in most cases, the death benefit will not trigger taxes on the beneficiary — which is one of the many tax advantages of life insurance and related products. Just last week, the IRS issued a private letter ruling concluding that rebates on policyowners’ premiums don’t count as taxable income. The hefty premiums require careful cash-flow planning, but the policies could act as a hedge against inflation and, when paired with a trust as the beneficiary, they could offer a much more flexible means of passing down assets than individual retirement accounts.

“Usually, death benefits from employer-sponsored life insurance plans or private life insurance policies are tax-free,” according to a guide to the pros and cons of life insurance by advisor matchmaking and lead-generation service SmartAsset. “Additionally, the cash value in whole-life insurance accumulates tax-deferred growth. This means that a person can reinvest the money in the cash value of a life insurance policy without facing tax implications. The policyholder will not pay capital gains on any dividends or growth on the cash value. But there are a few situations where life insurance may have some tax implications.”

At its root, thinking through those ramifications comes down to whether a client would like to pay taxes on the seed or an entire garden, according to Harjes. 

Using cash-value insurance policies for tax-free loans, more

A “cash value” policy that assigns the leftover portion of a premium net of costs into an interest-earning account means that, “essentially we’re creating a bond-like return inside of the policy without the duration risk,” Harjes noted. In addition, the clients could take out tax-free loans against the policy or withdraw from the cash account without any tax hit, as long as the amount doesn’t exceed their total premiums.    

“Using cash-value life insurance products, in general, really eliminates the uncertainty of where taxes go,” Harjes said. “Private placement life insurance happens to be the biggest hot topic, simply because, when you’re talking about trusts, you tend to hit the highest tax brackets quickly.”

However, advisors and their clients should carefully consider the consequences of any movements of assets out of the account.

“It’s important to note that withdrawing the cash value will reduce the policy’s overall value and might increase the risk of the policy lapsing,” according to a guide by insurance and brokerage firm Transamerica. “Policy loans are tax-free as long as the policy is active, but if the policy is surrendered or lapses, any outstanding loan amount is treated as a distribution and taxed accordingly. Generally, you’ll only owe taxes on amounts that exceed the total premiums you’ve paid into the policy. A financial professional can help you understand the implications of taking a policy loan, including any potential taxes.”

READ MORE: Could an ‘insurance overlay’ help managed accounts in retirement?

The many factors and possible uses to consider add up to great reasons for advisors to discuss life insurance with their wealthy clients, Harjes said. He brought up an example of a billionaire real estate investor whose life insurance policy preserves the client’s family-owned company as the collateral for hundreds of millions of dollars in financing and an asset to be handed to the next generation.

“The tax attributes alone make it a very successful product in someone’s financial plan from a tax perspective,” Harjes said.

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AICPA slams IRS regs on related-party transactions

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The American Institute of CPAs is urging the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service to suspend and remove their recently issued final regulations labeling some partnership related-party transactions as “transactions of interest” that need to be reported.

The Treasury and the IRS issued the final regulations in January during the closing days of the Biden administration. 

The regulations identify certain partnership related-party “basis shifting” transactions as “transactions of interest” subject to the rules for reportable transactions. They apply to related partners and partnerships that participated in the transactions through distributions of partnership property or the transfer of an interest in the partnership by a related partner to a related transferee. Taxpayers and their material advisors would be subject to the disclosure requirements for reportable transactions. 

Last June, the Treasury and the IRS issued guidance to related parties and partnerships that were using such structured transactions to take advantage of the basis-adjustment provisions of subchapter K. Last October, the AICPA sent a comment letter urging them to refine the rules. Now that the final regulations have been issued, the AICPA is again warning they would result in an undue burden to taxpayers and their advisors.

In a new comment letter on Feb. 21, the AICPA asked the Treasury and the IRS for immediate suspension and removal of the final regulations due to the impractical provisions and administrative burdens it imposes. 

“These final regulations continue to be overly broad, troublesome, and costly, which places an excessive hardship on taxpayers and advisors without a meaningful corresponding compliance benefit or other benefit to the government,” said Kristin Esposito, the AICPA’s director of tax policy and advocacy, in a statement Monday. “These regulations exceed their intended scope, especially due to the retroactive nature.”

The AICPA contends that the final regulations cover routine, non-abusive transactions, provide an unreasonably low threshold, and impose an unreasonably short 180-day deadline for taxpayers to file Form 8886, Reportable Transaction Disclosure Statement, for transactions related to previously filed tax returns due to the six-year lookback window. It pointed out that under the new rules, advisors would have only 90 additional days beyond the standard reporting deadline to file Forms 8918, Material Advisor Disclosure Statement.

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IRS adds W-2, 1095 to online account, but is closing TACs

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The Internal Revenue Service made some improvements to its IRS Individual Online Account for taxpayers, adding W-2 and 1095 information returns for 2023 and 2024, but reports circulated about cutbacks to the agency, with layoffs and closures of taxpayer assistance centers scheduled.

The first information returns to be added online for taxpayers are Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement and Form 1095-A, Health Insurance Marketplace Statement. The forms will be available for tax years 2023 and 2024 under the Records and Status tab in the taxpayer’s Individual Online Account

In the months ahead, the IRS plans to add more information return documents to the Individual Online Account. 

Only information return documents issued in the taxpayer’s name will be available in their Online Account. The taxpayer’s spouse needs to log into their own Online Account to retrieve their information return documents. That’s true whether they file a joint or separate return. State and local tax information, including state and local tax information on the Form W-2, won’t be available on Individual Online Account. The IRS said filers should continue to keep the records mailed to them by the original reporter. 

The IRS had been adding more technology tools, including Business Tax Accounts and Tax Pro Accounts, in recent years thanks to the extra funding from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. However, layoffs of between 6,000 and 7,000 employees and hiring freezes at the IRS in the midst of tax season threaten to stall such improvements, according to a group of former IRS commissioners. Both IRS commissioner Danny Werfel and acting commissioner Douglas O’Donnell have stepped down in recent weeks. Over the weekend, dismissal notices went out to 18F, a federal agency that helped develop the IRS’s Direct File program and other tools like the Login.gov authentication service. The Trump administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency have reportedly made plans to shut down at least 113 of the IRS’s in-person Taxpayer Assistance Centers around the country after tax season, according to the Washington Post, either terminating their leases or letting them expire. Werfel had been using the funds from the Inflation Reduction Act to expand the number of Taxpayer Assistance Centers, opening or reopening more than 50 of them for a total of 360 nationwide.

A group of Democrats on Congress’s tax-writing committee criticized the move to close the centers. “Ask any congressional district office and you’ll hear about the challenges constituents face during filing season, which is why Democrats ushered in a once-in-a-generation investment in modernizing the IRS and delivering the customer service the people deserve,” said House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Richard Neal, D-Massachusetts, Tax Subcommittee ranking member Mike Thompson, D-Califonia, and Oversight Subcommittee ranking member Terri Sewell, D-Aabama, in a statement last week. “This administration is hellbent on destroying our progress. It wasn’t enough for them to fire nearly 7,000 IRS employees in the middle of filing season, but now, they are skirting federal mandatory notice procedures and reportedly shuttering over 100 offices that offer taxpayer assistance — an absolute nightmare for taxpayers. As required by the Taxpayer First Act, a 90-day notice must be given to both the public and the Congress before closing any Taxpayer Assistance Centers. We need answers now. We are demanding the Administration provide a list of the centers they plan to close — it’s the least the ‘most transparent Administration’ can do.”

Lawmakers are also concerned about reports of immigration officials pushing the IRS to disclose the home address of 700,000 people suspected of living in the U.S. illegally. According to the Washington Post, the IRS had initially rejected the request from the Department of Homeland Security, but with the departure of O’Donnell last week, the new acting commissioner, Melanie Krause, has indicated she is open to exploring how to comply with the request. However, that move could violate taxpayer data privacy laws, one Senate Democrat warned

“The Trump administration is attempting to illegally weaponize our tax system against people it deems undesirable, and if anybody believes this abuse will begin and end with immigrants, they’re dead wrong,” said Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, in a statement. “Trump doesn’t care about taxpayer privacy laws and has likely promised to pardon staff who help him violate them, but those individuals would be wise to remember that Trump can’t pardon them out from under the heavy civil damages they’re risking with the choices they make in the coming days, weeks and months.”

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