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.

Handwerger's professional accomplishments includes giving professional expert testimony in various legal cases involving accounting and tax issues as well as for the now landmark decision in Maryland Tax Court, Har Sinai West v. Comptroller. Further, in 2013 Handwerger orchestrated a "no-change" IRS audit in Tax Court involving a $30.0 million assessment, Docket 28353-12.

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UMD Smith Offering Free Risk Assessment for Nonprofits, Small Firms

Smith’s Justice for Fraud Victims project is providing pro bono control risk assessments. The work is CPA-supervised including under professor and JFV director Samuel Handwerger.
11-Mar-2024 03:05:15 PM EDT

How a Repatriation Tax Challenge Before SCOTUS Could Upend the Tax Code

Samuel Handwerger describes implications of Moore v. United States, a case before the Supreme Court that challenges the Mandatory Repatriation Tax provision of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
28-Sep-2023 08:05:34 AM EDT

UMD’s Justice for Fraud Victims to Host Business Fraud Prevention Seminar

Speakers representing federal and local law enforcement will discuss the latest financial fraud tactics against businesses, and practical counter methods, in a free event in College Park, Md., Nov. 3, 2023
19-Sep-2023 02:05:35 PM EDT

‘Safe Harbor’ for Crypto Fraud Victims and its Relevance to the Celsius Case

Samuel Handwerger explains the safe harbor accounting method as a recourse for cryptocurrency investors in cases like that of Celsius Network.
16-Aug-2023 10:15:44 AM EDT

Student Loan Forgiveness on Ice: Insights for Borrowers

Accounting lecturer and tax expert Samuel Handwerger at the University of Maryland examines the Biden Administration’s stalled student loan forgiveness program and gives advice for borrowers for the latest repayment pause period.
08-Dec-2022 02:10:09 PM EST

Senator Tim Scott's claim that the IRS will monitor private bank accounts is not accurate

Based on the last version of the Biden plan, Tim Scott's comments were not entirely accurate. The only accounts that would be subject to the reporting requirement would be where the total deposits exceed $10,000 after taking out of the equation W-2 wages and government benefits, e.g., social security payments.
28-Oct-2021 04:50:41 PM EDT

The 280E Tax Code as an Obstacle for Cannabis Firms and the SAFE Banking Act

The SAFE Banking Act was a big step toward removing barriers for cannabis businesses. But Maryland Smith accounting expert and CPA Samuel Handwerger says other obstacles loom. Among them, the tax code.
25-May-2021 12:25:07 PM EDT

How Tesla’s Bitcoin Play Fits Into Cryptocurrency Taxation

Maryland Smith tax expert Samuel Handwerger starts with Elon Musk’s stake in virtual currency and explores the implications for the future of finance – and the IRS.
18-Feb-2021 01:15:15 PM EST

"The problem begins when the IRS tries to be accommodating to university accounting systems. Those systems invariably record tuition as it is charged as opposed to when paid."

- https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/news/quirk-irss-tuition-reporting-rules

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