Hank, a calendar-year taxpayer, uses the cash method of accounting for his sole proprietorship. in late december he performed $20,000 of legal services for a client. hank typically requires his clients to pay his bills immediately upon receipt. assume his marginal tax rate is 32 percent this year and will be 37 percent next year, and that he can earn an after-tax rate of return of 12 percent on his investments. should hank send his client the bill in december or january?

Richardson hired j.c. flood company, a plumbing contractor, to correct a stoppage in the sewer line of her house. the plumbing company's 'snake' device, used to clear the line leading to the main sewer, became caught in the underground line. to release it, the company excavated a portion of the sewer line in richardson's backyard. in the process, the company discovered numerous leaks in a rusty, defective water pipe that ran parallel with the sewer line. to meet public regulations, the water pipe, of a type no longer approved for such service, had to be replaced either then or later, when the yard would have to be excavated again. the plumbing company proceeded to repair the water pipe. though richardson inspected the company's work daily and did not express any objection to the extra work involved in replacing the water pipe, she refused to pay any part of the total bill after the company completed the entire operation. j.c. flood company then sued richardson for the costs of labor and material it had furnished. (c) for what, if anything, should richardson be liable? explain."