Goodwill can be sold by itself to another company. can be purchased and charged directly to stockholders' equity. is only recorded when the purchase of an entire business occurs. may be expensed upon purchase if desired.

You are chairman of the board of a successful technology firm. there is a nominal federal corporate tax rate of 35 percent, yet the effective tax rate of the typical corporation is about 12.6%. your firm has been clever with use of transfer pricing and keeping money abroad and has barely paid any taxes over the last 5 years; during this same time period, profits were $28 billion. one member of the board feels that it is un-american to use various accounting strategies in order to avoid paying taxes. others feel that these are legal loopholes and corporations have a fiduciary responsibility to minimize taxes. one board member quoted what the ceo of exxon once said: “i’m not a u.s. company and i don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the u.s.” what are the alternatives? what are your recommendations? why do you recommend this course of action?

The larger the investment you make, the easier it will be to: get money from other sources. guarantee cash flow. buy insurance. streamline your products.

China's new 5 percent tax on disposable wooden chopsticks, reflecting concerns about deforestation, has been praised by environmentalists. the move is hitting hard at the japanese, who consume 25 billion set of wooden chopsticks annually. almost all of the chopsticks used in japan come from china. the reuirements for chinese manufacturers of wooden chopsticks to pay the 5 percent tax is a factor in their external environment.