Money, Debt and Taxes

Today’s guest post is compliments of Anya.

The Federal Trade Commission consistently put forth a sincere effort to secure the consumers’ interests and thwart the deceptive and unethical business practices. It offers consumers the assistance to detect, cease and evade fraudulent debt relief agencies and which help to avoid debt settlement scam. Recently, the FTC has issued an enforcement policy statement on a new FTC rule in order to protect consumer’s interests by dissuading debt relief firms from collecting up-front fees. In its statement, the FTC proclaims that while most companies that sell debt relief services over telephone are strictly forbidden from charging fees before settling or reducing a consumer’s credit card or other unsecured debt. On the flip side, this will certainly adjourn the enforcement of the new rule for tax debt relief services for a while.

The ban on advance fees introduces few changes in the existing FTC Telemarketing sales rule. Few tax debt relief companies have accused that they are baffled by this new rule and expressed uncertainty whether the rule applied to them or not. Question arises whether all tax debts will be regarded “unsecured,” and will come under this new rule. The FTC currently is taking this matter into account and the FTC representative states “services that represent, directly or by implication, to renegotiate settle, or alter the terms of obligation between a person and a taxing entity (tax debt relief services).”

The enforcement policy however makes it crystal clear that tax debt relief services must comply with the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule and exception may take place during the enforcement deferral period, only for the debt relief amendments. It also intends to remind providers that they must act in accordance with with the FTC Act, which has been working constantly for banning unfair and deceptive practices.

All valuable and explanatory information regarding this new rule are now available in FAQ section of the agency’s website http://www.ftc.gov/ . In order to assist businesses to determine whether they are covered by this new rule and discuss how fees may now be collected or to guide a consumer regarding the intricacies of the new act, browse through the enforcement policy statement on FTC new debt relief rule. If you are a consumer restore your peace of mind and attain financial freedom with this new act.

The IRS is calling this Saturday, March 21, 2009, Super Saturday and is offering free tax preparation for people earning less than $42,000 per year. There are over 250 Taxpayer Assistance sites, and hundreds more community sites where trained volunteers will prepare your Federal income tax returns for free.

You will need to bring all your tax papers with you, including social security cards for everyone on the tax return, a photo ID for the taxpayer (and spouse if married), and all your income and expense paperwork.

This is also a good time to get help from the IRS if you can’t pay your tax bill, or if you have other unresolved issues with the IRS. Whatever your income, on Super Saturday, you can go to any of the IRS sites and set up a payment plan to pay your tax bill, or talk to an IRS representative about your tax problems. The IRS says it is committed in these tough times to make it easier for tax payers to pay their taxes.

To find out where you can have your taxes prepared for free, visit the IRS Website.

Last year I wrote a post called 101 Tax Deductions for Your Online Business.   I was looking it over today, and thought I would point out a few of my favorites.

#10. Business related webinars and seminar fees. This is one of my all time favorite deductions, because I love to travel, and I love to be able to write off my travel. As long as the main purpose of your trip is business, and you spend the majority of your time in business related activities, you can write off all your travel expenses. So for example if your business is web design, and you go to a seminar for web designers where you can meet vendors, potential clients, and learn more about the latest advance in web design, you can write off your airline tickets, hotel fees, and 50% of your meals. Just make sure you have a real business purpose for the trip.

#58 – 66 Start up and organizational costs. Until you actually open your virtual doors and are “in business” you can’t deduct the expenses you incur while getting your business started. However, once the business is started you can take your start up and organization costs, and amortize them over “not less than 60 months”. With amortization, you don’t get to deduct all your expenses at once, but you do get to take a portion each year for 5 years. This can be to your advantage, because you will be deducting expenses in later years, when you will probably be making more money.

#98-101. Qualified Home Office. Sometimes thought of as an audit flag, a qualified home office done right is a great tax deduction. If you have a place in your home that is used regularly and exclusively for business, you can write off a portion of your mortgage, rent, utilities and home improvements. Just make sure you follow all the rules carefully and you will have a great tax deduction that will stand up to an auditor.

What are your favorite tax deductions for online businesses? What are the strangest things you have heard of people deducting for their business?