A few years ago $3.00 per gallon was the ceiling, now it’s the norm.  Billings, Montana is the only major city where the average price of a gallon of regular gas is less than $3.00.  Fuel cost has become a major factor in what a person drives.  Perhaps it’s time to reconsider ANWR?

Ford announced this week it’s voluntarily recalling 144,000 2005 and 2006 F-150s due to a risk (said to be relatively low) of inadvertent airbag deployments.  The inadvertent airbag deployments are preceded by numerous illuminations of the airbag warning lamp.  If you are experiencing this with your vehicle, the restraint system needs serviced.

Ever wonder about security on Wi-Fi  networks and hotspots?  I came across these tips from the Federal Trade Commission when discussing a number of privacy related issues with them:

Use these tips to tell if a Wi-Fi network is secure:

• If a hotspot doesn’t require a password, it’s not secure.
• If a hotspot asks for a password through the browser simply to grant access, or asks for a password for WEP (wired equivalent privacy) encryption, it’s best to proceed as if it were unsecured.
• A hotspot is secure only if it asks the user to provide a WPA (wifi protected access) password. WPA2 is even more secure than WPA.

Use these tips for a safer Wi-Fi experience:

• When using a Wi-Fi hotspot, only log in or send personal information to websites that you know are fully encrypted. The entire visit to each site should be encrypted – from log in until log out. If you think you’re logged in to an encrypted site but find yourself on an unencrypted page, log out right away.
• Don’t stay permanently signed in to accounts. After using an account, log out.
• Do not use the same password on different websites. It could give someone who gains access to one account access to many accounts.

The full release can be found at: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/02/wireless.shtm

Thanks Greg Levi, Joe Brandt, Steve Jordan, FIADA & all 300 attendees- the Car Counselor’s Orlando Dealer Tech 2.0 session a great success!

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the next Car Counselor’s Dealer Tech 2.0 event on Friday, January 21st in Orlando, Florida at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress.

Welcome to the 55 technology companies and lenders and all those attending the Car Counselor’s Dealer Tech 2.0 day at Columbus Fair Auto Auction!

Nov. 10, 2010

In the just-released Revenue Procedure 2010-44, the IRS offers dealerships a very beneficial UNICAP method that will resolve many of the issues dealerships have faced from IRS UNICAP audits. The new guidance allows dealerships to file a Form 3115 to elect the new method using the simplified automatic provisions. Under the new method, qualifying dealerships can reduce or, in some cases, completely eliminate the amount of UNICAP that they are required to capitalize.

Since the IRS began attacking dealership UNICAP five years ago, there has been uncertainty about exactly what costs dealerships needed to capitalize. The holdings the IRS issued in a 2007 private letter ruling changed significantly how most dealerships, and even the IRS, applied UNICAP to dealership operations. The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), with the help of consultants from Crowe Horwath LLP, fought the 2007 IRS ruling and successfully convinced the IRS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury of the need for guidance that reflected what was really intended by the UNICAP law. In addition, NADA encouraged the IRS to issue guidance that would be easy for dealerships (and IRS auditors) to apply. The new guidance seems to answer most of these concerns.

In this new revenue procedure for dealerships, the IRS allows dealerships to file a Form 3115 to change their method of accounting for UNICAP. The guidance contains certain safe-harbor provisions that address some of the most controversial aspects of the UNICAP rules and can be applied in a simplified manner. Dealerships use the automatic provisions to file the form, which means that one copy of the form is sent to the IRS and another is attached to the dealership’s tax return. There is no filing fee, and consent to the change is automatically granted. In subsequent audits by the IRS, the auditor may check to see if the form was filed properly and whether the dealership is complying with the new rules.

Bob Zwiers, one of Crowe’s consultants to NADA, says, “This new revenue procedure is what we have been working for. We have been telling the IRS that their interpretation of the UNICAP rules was overly burdensome and relief was needed. This new ruling goes a long way to getting the IRS back to what we always thought should be a reasonable application of the UNICAP rules. Most dealerships will want to take advantage of the ruling by formally adopting the new method by filing that Form 3115.”

This information is provided by Crowe Horwath.  For more information, please contact Stephen Bedell at 614.365.2213 or stephen.bedell@crowehorwath.com or Bob Zwiers at 616.752.4278 or bob.zwiers@crowehorwath.com.

In response to the dealer’s question regarding whether the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (formerly known as the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act) can apply to a transaction involving a servicemembers spouse, the answer is yes. If there is any interest, I will post additional materials on this subject.

Today the Obama administration lifted the six-month moratorium on deep water oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico that was imposed after the BP oil spill.  The administration has been under heavy pressure from both the industry and others located in the Gulf region to lift the ban on grounds it has cost jobs and damaged the economy. A recent federal report stated the moratorium likely caused a temporary loss of 8,000 to 12,000 jobs in the Gulf region.

While the ban on exploratory oil and gas drilling is lifted immediately, drilling will not resume immediately.  The director of the agency that oversees offshore drilling, Michael Bromwich, said it would take “at least a couple of weeks” after the ban is lifted before permits are approved.

President Obama today signed legislation that raises the limits on federally guaranteed loans to $5 million for small businesses.  Auto dealers are eligible to participate under the Program, just as they were under the previous pilot program that had a cap of $2 million.  I have not yet completed my review of the Bill nor had an opportunity to speak with the SBA to see if issues that led to very few banks and other lenders participating in the pilot program have been remedied.  More to come later…