30 Jan
Posted by Brian Anderson as Corporate Finance
In IRS Notice IR 2012-3 the IRS announced that innocent spouse defenses pursuant to IRC Section 6015(f) will become a little easier. Generally there are three different kinds of innocent spouse defenses, each with its own rules and exceptions. IRS Notice 2012-8, which somewhat confusingly was announced in IRS Notice IR 2012-3, sets out a proposed new Revenue Procedure which will supersede Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.) 2003-61. IRS Notice 20012-8 addresses the criteria used in making innocent spouse relief determinations under the equitable relief criteria of Internal Revenue Code Section 6015(f). The IRS Notice covers several topics. It provides for certain streamlined determinations; it creates new guidance on the potential impact of economic hardship, and the weight to be accorded to certain facts in determining equitable innocent spouse relief.
For the first time in three long years, the credit card market seemed to thrive. 2011 was just a fantastic year to be a credit card holder, or a potential credit card holder as some credit card issuers went above and beyond the usual to offer big bonuses and awesome promotions even I had never seen before.
Four credit cards in particular offered up front bonuses of $500 or more (one of which could be worth thousands of dollars depending on what you use it for).
Chase British Airways Signature Visa – This card only survived a few months, but the 100,000 bonus points one could earn was worth multiple domestic flights, or one very awesome first class round trip to select European destinations. Depending on where you fly from, this up-front bonus was worth up to $5,000; the largest bonus I’ve ever seen on a credit card, by a wide margin. Unfortunately, the Chase British Airways Signature Visa is now expired.
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Card – Southwest doesn’t charge you for your first two bags and they also provided the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Card which gave away two free round-trip domestic flights. Two flights on Southwest averaged about $800, so the bonus here was the second largest offered this year. The card comes with a reasonable $60 annual fee and a $50 Wanna Get Away flight bonus every year.
Citi ThankYou Premier Card – A brand new credit card in 2011, the Citi ThankYou Premier Card offers up points for every purchase and 50,000 bonus points were provided to new cardholders. That’s good enough for $500 in gift cards OR more than $600 in travel rewards but there’s a hefty $125 annual fee (not charged the first year).
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – One final card on our list which offers a $500 cash bonus, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card also includes a 7% point dividend bonus at the end of the year AND a dedicated live representative, 24/7/365. When you call into customer service, you automatically get a live agent, something no other credit card provides (without a big annual fee). The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card does have a $95 annual fee, waived in year one.
And if those cards weren’t enough, the return of the no fee balance transfer surely excited consumers, as both Chase and Discover launched a card offering a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months without a BT fee.
Now removed from 2011, I’m amazed at just how quickly a once devastated industry recovered to near full strength. Issuers were competing against each other for new cardholders, which is a win for everyone. Hopefully this strong trend will continue into 2012 and the ways Americans can save (or make) money by using their credit cards will continue to rise.
12 Jan
Posted by Brian Anderson as Corporate Finance
As the date of ‘Blue Monday’ is calculated, we offer you some simple steps you can take to lessen the blues.
The January blues have suddenly become a lot more specific, being at their most vivid on 16th January according to a formula used to calculate the most depressing day of the year. This takes into account the weather, the distance from Christmas, the level of individual debt and failure of New Year’s resolutions; ‘Blue Monday’ is decided.
The outlook becomes even worse when you think about the large gap between most people’s December and January payday, combined with the delivery of active credit card users’ January statements.
The current economic climate means that Blue Monday is going to affect more demographics than ever before youth unemployment over a million, house repossessions forecast to rise again, to name but a few bleak statistics- it could feel that these January pressures are reaching their peak.
The outlook isn’t all doom and gloom though and there are steps you can take to put you on the right track.
Set an
29 Dec
Posted by Brian Anderson as Corporate Finance
The IRS has filed felony criminal tax charges pursuant to Internal Revenue Code Section 7202 for willful failure to collect, truthfully account for and pay over trust fund taxes. This is yet another in a series of criminal tax charges being brought against responsible officers who haven’t paid over corporate trust fund taxes. In most situations the IRS proceeds against responsible officers who willfully fail to pay corporate trust fund taxes, by assessing the tax directly against the individual under Internal Revenue Code Section 6672. This is generally referred to as the trust fund recovery penalty. Sometimes the IRS goes further and brings criminal tax charges.
In this case the defendant is a New York CPA who, according to the information filed in U.S. District Court, failed to pay payroll taxes to the IRS for three years running.
01 Nov
Posted by Brian Anderson as Corporate Finance
The best credit card for graduate students is American Express. With your American Express card, you can charge as much as your credit will allow. If you look into credit cards, you will find out that American Express allows more to be charged than just about any other credit card around. A good benefit with American Express is that you can take it overseas and get accepted credit in any place that takes credit cards. You can also draw money out of American Express overseas more easily than with any other credit card.
American Express is the ideal card for graduate students because of the high level of charging that is a part of American Express. It is also the ideal card because it teaches graduate students to plan to pay off their charges in monthly installments. Another key point of American Express is that it is a more private credit card than others.