The Small Business Tax Help Blog

Archive for June, 2009

The Reverse Mortgage is one of the safest Senior Products ever created.  It allows for seniors to take equity safely from their homes with a decent interest rate and never make a payment.  Here are 10 reasons why the Reverse Mortgage is a fantastic product for seniors and remains one of the safest products on the market.

1) Reverse Mortgages have no payments!  The Reverse Mortgage is an equity loan that allows a senior to take up to sixty percent of the home’s value.  However, the borrower is never required to make a payment.  Ever.  This means that you will never default on the loan, and your home can never be foreclosed on.

2) The Reverse Mortgage is 100% federally regulated.  The department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, and the Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, has designed and regulated all HECM Reverse Mortgages.  These are the most popular Reverse Mortgages.  They have set closing costs, ownership rights, and interest rates to protect customers.  These apply to every lender.

3) The Reverse Mortgage is a loan designed to be non-Recourse.  This means that the loan is against the value of the home and not against any other assets of the estate.  A Reverse Mortgage can never be called and should something happen to lower the value of the home, the federal government protects the borrower with guarantee that they will not have to be responsible for the difference.

4) The Reverse Mortgage has no time limit.  The loan will last as long as the home remains the primary residence.   If the borrower decides to take a monthly payment with their funds, these funds will continue to be paid every month until the borrower turns 150!

5) The Reverse Mortgage requires that every applicant receive Reverse Mortgage Counseling.  This is a free service.  It requires that every person who has a Reverse Mortgage, to first meet with a third party representative validated by the HUD and have their questions answered and made sure that they understand the process.  It is a wonderful service and is mandatory for all applicants.

6) The Reverse Mortgage has a low interest rate.  The most popular product is the HECM.  It is an adjustable rate Reverse Mortgage.  The rate is indexed to the U.S. Treasury bond, NOT the stock market.  It has slow adjustment and the rate is protected by the Federal Reserve.

7) The Reverse Mortgage protects all Homeowner’s Rights.  The bank puts the first position mortgage which protects the home from all other loans and creditors.  It also allows for you to sell the home at any time, maintain your homestead exemption, and the loan remains classified as Home Equity.  It also allows you to remain in the home for the rest of your life.

The Reverse Mortgage has no income, credit, or health requirements.  You will not need to have a certain credit score to get a Reverse Mortgage, nor will you need have any level of income.  You will not have to have a physical or have any type of health requirements.  The loan is only based on the home.

9) The Reverse Mortgage is extremely flexible for payments.  You can receive a lump sum, a line of credit, or a monthly payment.  You can also receive a combination of any of these methods.  You can use the funds for any purpose and the funds are 100% tax free!

10) The Reverse Mortgage can be a solution for expensive retirement and long term care.  Most seniors did not plan for a recession, inflation, and low home values jeopardizing their retirement.  The Reverse Mortgage is an extremely safe way to ensure that tightening costs and dangers of a longer retirement do not lower the value of living and enjoyment that seniors have earned.

Signpost – 5 useful financial tips

With 2010 just beginning, many people, especially college students, request financial and tax advice to prepare them for new financial storms, tax breaks and particularly refunds.

Expired Earned Income Tax Credit PSA – 2004

* Approximately 7 million renters in the UK – equivalent to London’s entire population[1]

* New social networking tools make life easier for tenants and landlords

Discerning tenants across the UK now have the power at their fingertips to find the perfect pad. Following the success of its ‘reinventing renting’ initiative in London, upad (http://www.upad.co.uk) has rolled out its online property rental service nationwide.

Free to renters, upad launched in October 2008, offering tenants in the capital a choice of 60,000 properties. Today, the site launches nationally, enabling renters to choose their ideal property, whether that’s a studio apartment in central Manchester, or a five-bedroom house in Brighton.

upad’s national debut also sees it embrace social networking, with the launch of several industry firsts. Visitors to the site can link to upad’s Facebook group, the ‘Rental Surgery’, where a team of experts including a solicitor and IFA can answer questions online on issues ranging from capital gains tax to tenancy agreements. Renters and landlords can also share their views and experiences via mini news alerts, discussion boards and RSS blog feeds.

A new Wikipedia (http://www.upad.co.uk/wiki) application provides free information relating to the property rental sector.  As well as searching for material (by words and phrases) individuals and companies will be encouraged to build the upad community by contributing relevant articles and content.

Commenting on upad’s national launch, James Davis, CEO, said:  “Whether someone wants a place to live or to rent out their property, upad makes life easier.  Because property rental is our business we know that as well as good choice of properties, both renters and tenants often need advice and someone to speak to. And that’s where options like the Facebook Rental Surgery and the upad Wiki come in – everything people need, all in one place. Despite the importance of social networks in many other walks of life, no online communities existed for landlords and tenants, so we set about changing that.”

And, to mark its national launch, upad is giving away £100,000 in free online advertising. Between 10th and 19th June 2009,  upad will allow almost 1700 ads to be posted at no cost, enabling landlords and estate agents to advertise as many vacant properties as they want free of charge.

-Ends-

Notes to editors

upad (http://www.upad.co.uk) is the UK’s marketplace for property rental. It is a free online service that connects renters to landlords to help them find their ideal property quickly and easily. Launched in October 2008 under the banner ‘reinventing renting’, the company’s innovative approach is aimed at filling a gap in the property rental market.

upad’s website deploys bespoke state-of-the-art technology to overcome issues identified by renters such as out-of-date information and poor online experiences.  In particular upad enables online searches that are interactive and intuitive to produce relevant properties.

Free to renters, upad costs landlords £59 per listing.

Read the upad blog at http://www.upad.co.uk/blog/, or follow upad on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jamesATupad, and the upad Rental Surgery on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=531625015.

For further information and interviews, please contact:

Katrina Suppiah/Kate Alexander, Publicité

Tel: + 44 (0)20 8543 6582/+44 (0)20 8543 8481/+44 (0)7809 028711

Email: k.suppiah@publicite.co.uk/k.alexander@publicite.co.uk

[1]     In 2006, 2.6m households were rented. Using calculations from the 2008 Rugg Review (*2.4). Growth in past 2-3 years, 7m.

50 things that changed our life in the past decade

There were, of course, huge political and social upheavals that roiled our world in the past decade. But there were also the gradual lifestyle changes that you don’t always notice when they’re happening — kind of like watching a child grow older. Here’s an alphabetical look at 50 things that changed our lives since the beginning of the millennium:

THE GREAT TOBACCO TAX SCANDAL-***Governments need to stay out of business***

To vote in special election, register by Tuesday

Voters statewide will decide two tax measures, Measures 66 and 67, designed to raise money already budgeted for schools, prisons, and other state programs.

President Obama Holds a Health Reform Town Hall in New Hampshire

During my initial consultations with new clients, I am frequently asked about setting up Corporations and LLCs. Here are a few common questions/misconceptions about forming a corporation or LLC in a different state than you live in:

Q: I am a New York resident and business owner. I have been told that I can save a great deal of tax each year if I establish my company in a tax-free state. Is it really this easy to avoid New York State income taxes?

A: No, it is not that simple. The way New York handles multi-state tax issues is by allowing a credit against NY income taxes equal to the amount of income taxes paid to other states. If you are a full-year or part-year resident of NY and if any part of your income was taxed by another state, local government, or the District of Columbia, you may claim a credit against your NY State tax. Therefore, if your income is not taxed by the other state, your credit against NY income tax equals zero and you end up paying the full NY income tax rate.

Q: What about other benefits of establishing my business in another state such as the anonymity provided by Nevada Limited Liability Companies (LLCs)?

A: Though Nevada is heralded as a state that provides business owners anonymity, this only holds true for shareholders of a Nevada corporation, not a Nevada LLC. Members and managers of a Nevada LLC must be disclosed on annual reports that immediately become public information. Additionally, if you are involved in arms-length transactions with your clients and/or customers, they meet you face-to face and they know who you are. Therefore anonymity is only valuable in certain industries where that face-to-face contact is not prevalent. Further, by establishing your New York-based business in Nevada, you will have to undergo additional filing fees in order to do business and report your business activity in NY.

Q: With all the talk about establishing entities out-of-state, what is my best course of action?

Unless you are operating a large business, most small and mid-size companies are better off establishing their business in the state that they plan to do business in. This ensures that you do not have to shoulder the burden of additional reporting requirements, administrative provisions, state filing fees, accounting fees, and legal fees. Consult with both your attorney and your CPA before going online to setup a company in a different state.

From tax preparers to tax prognosticators

The economic crisis and the downfall of the real estate market spurred a slew of tax law changes that will impact the upcoming filing season.

Bookkeeping In A Box – Small Business Owners Testimonial

When you make the decision to earn income from the internet you will need to go through a set up process to be ready for business.

Following are the basic steps in setting up for home business success.

1. Attitude

The key to your business success is your attitude.

Treat your business like a business.

This is critical whether you are working part-time or full-time. One of my colleagues is a mother who works from home around her family. She has always put her family first whilst at the same time developing her business. She says, “I work part-time, but I have a full-time attitude.”

Put another way, “If you have a hobby attitude you will have a hobby income, if you have a business attitude you will have a business income.”

You can be successful working part-time and you can be successful working full-time but it is highly unlikely that you will be successful working in your “spare time”.

2. Working Environment

A space that you can call your own, free from distractions for your scheduled time.

A comfortable chair and organized desk.
Stationery supplies as required. For example:

- Pens
- Highlighters
- Stapler
- Whole punch
- Sticky tape
- note book(s)
- A simple filing system
- Ring binders
- Manila folders

Consider the value of a broadband connection. Your time is valuable and a broadband connection can allow you to get more done in a given time frame.

3. Schedule

Develop a schedule that works for you, your family (or “significant others”) and your business. When you allot a block of time for work then use that time for work. Equally important is to schedule time for your other commitments – family time, self education (reading, listening and viewing), “health time” (exercise, cooking and eating), and leisure time. During these other times don’t work. After all if one of the reasons to work from home is to spend more time with your family then you don’t want your working at home time to consume your family time.

You are working for yourself and your schedule (by your choice) is your “boss”. When you have people calling you or dropping around unexpectedly or maybe out-of-town visitors may want to catch up with you then you need to make a choice. Are you committed to your own business success? What will be your choice in these situations? Only you can decide what is important to you.

In a family environment you may need to negotiate with your partner and children to have your business time agreed upon, during which you will not be interrupted. Put this schedule prominently somewhere so all family members are aware of your work schedule.

4. Describe Your Business

Be able to describe your business concisely; a powerful one or two sentence description that someone can repeat in describing your business to others. A unique and memorable tag line can also be invaluable for promoting your business.

5. Know Your Product or Service

Once you have selected your product or service to sell, it may or may not be something that you use yourself but you need to know your product intimately. If you are selling e-books then know the content and its value. If you are selling software then use it knows it “inside out”. You will develop a reputation of providing quality information and because of your product knowledge you can become the preferred supplier.

It is not practical to use certain products (for example a woman may choose to sell man’s shoes or vice versa) in which case the seller won’t be a product user, however the seller can still know the benefits and features of the product intimately.

6. Administration

Use good record keeping practices.

This may involve a consultation with a tax advisor who can let you know about the optimal way to set up your financial records and what records need to be kept. Your advisor will also recommend record keeping systems and you can find out what software may simplify this aspect of your business. Additionally your obtain advice on the best arrangement for your bank accounts. You will most likely be advised to have a separate bank account.

You will also need to keep track of your various logins, usernames and passwords. A very handy little software tool for this is Trepid available as either the free Late version (without password protection) or the commercial Plus or Biz versions.

There are other useful tools for this also from a simple paper notebook to free and commercial password keepers. One popular solution is Rob form that will remember your login details and can automatically fill out your login and other registration forms.

7. Computer Protection

Your computer is the lifeline to your business dealings and must be protected including the data that is stored.

You need a virus scanner, personal firewall, anti-spy ware and anti-aware and preferably an email scanner with the ability to delete suspect of spam email from the server before it is downloaded to your computer.

8. A Domain Name

You will most likely need a domain name for your business and one cost effective

9. Payment Processing

You will need a way to process credit cards; that may be using services such as:

This is the most economical way to get started. Once your business picks up you may need to look into your own merchant account for credit card transactions.

Consideration may also be given to other forms of online currency.

10. Email accounts

Once you have your own domain you can use an associated email account. This can further assist in the promotion of your business and promotes a more professional business image.

As a final comment on continuing in your internet business, conduct your business ethically, provide extraordinary service and be proud to put your name to the products or services that you are selling and you will be on track to developing a sustainable long term internet business.

eSmartTax.com, Powered by Liberty Tax, is All New for 2010

Now more than ever, online tax filers want their refunds fast and easy. eSmart Tax’s newly redesigned website, available at www.eSmartTax.com, does just that, and more.

Tax Deduction Tips & Advice : How to Simplify Filing Federal Income Tax Return