Pay off debt: For most people being debt free offers the most satisfaction and relief. On an online poll, more than 50% responders chose to use their tax refund amount to pay off debts or get as close to debt free as possible.

Build up a nest egg or add to it: If you do not have an emergency fund yet, then this is the best place for your tax refund to go. If you already have a nest egg, so to speak; feather it! Reinforce the emergency fund and make sure that you have a larger amount to fall back on, if there is an emergency.

Take a much needed vacation: This may, on the face of it seem like a frivolous expense. But sometimes a vacation can be a much needed way to recharge; a break can be just the thing to give you a boost of fresh energy. It can be a way to become more productive once again.

Additions / alterations / repairs to the home: If the bathroom has been crying out for a makeover for a while now; or if that old carpet is definitely bald and frayed, or if some furniture needs replacing then really that solid little amount of the refund may be just the thing. It makes particular sense to use the money to get the kind of alterations made that will help save more money in the long run. For instance making your home more energy efficient will save you money in the long run which is money well spent right now.

Increase retirement contributions: This is a good long term plan to augment saving for your future.

If none of these seem an urgent requirement for you, then by all means blow up your refund amount on things that offer instant, even immense satisfaction!

Do it yourself: it may seem like a daunting prospect to do your own filing, however when you put your mind to it, filing your own returns is not that difficult and best of all it is free so that it saves you a bunch of money. You can e-file your returns online or you can to print out the forms and mail them in.  This web page is actually a service that will help you; the basic requirement being to fill out a simple form. Turbo Tax helps you file your returns with step by step guidance; another good and helpful site is H & R Block at home.

Claim all the deductions that you are entitled to: It is a common enough belief that if you claim too many deductions you are liable to be audited. However as long as you claim those deductions that you are rightly entitled to claim and you are able to substantiate those claims with requisite documents/receipts, there is no reason to fear an audit. Deductions claimed will reduce one’s total taxable income so that you end up paying tax on a lesser amount. So pay attention to what you can claim as rightfully yours and do so.

For instance you can claim exception on any charitable donations made, you can claim any theft that occurred or if there was a natural disaster that caused loss and damage. Education expenses such as student loan interest as well as expenses incurred to improve or maintain job skills could also be claimed. For those with kids under age 17, the Child Tax Credit can be obtained. First time home owners, or purchasers of new cars are also entitled to claim certain exemptions or tax credits.

A couple of months ago, just such an initiative was underway in Copenhagen where the future of business was decided during the World Business Summit on Climate Change. The aim of this summit was for top CEOs to discuss how their firms can help solve the climate crisis through innovative business models, new partnerships, and the development of low-carbon technologies. The object was also to send a strong message to the negotiating governments on how to remove barriers and create incentives for implementation of new solutions in a post-Kyoto framework.

The result of the meeting was a document called The Copenhagen Call which sets out 6 steps to be implemented to set a firm foundation for a sustainable economic future.

1. Agreement on a science-based greenhouse gas stabilization path with 2020 and 2050 emissions reduction targets that will achieve it;

2. Effective measurement, reporting and verification of emissions performance by business;

3. Incentives for a dramatic increase in financing low emissions technologies;

4. Deployment of existing low-emissions technologies and the development of new ones;

5. Funds to make communities more resilient and able to adapt to the effects of climate change, and

6. Means to finance forest protection.

So why is it so important to halt climate change?

• Intensified and More Frequent Weather Events. This means damage to property, loss in business and to human life, workdays lost.
• Rising Sea Levels: This means that coastal areas are actually reclaimed by the sea and we actually loose vast tracts of land for cultivation or other production.
• Water Shortages and Threats to Food Security: Droughts and scarcity of water has direct impact on agricultural produce and all business.
• Rising Temperatures: This means higher cooling bills and more resources spent on energy for longer periods of time during a year
• Disease and Other Health Effects: Climate change also means more proliferation of disease and infection which causes lower productivity and lost workdays
• Disruption of the Ecosystem, Habitat Destruction and Species Extinction: Why should you care if some corals got bleached or if a part of a rain forest in a distant continent was destroyed, or if an obscure species of penguin was on the verge of extinction? Well that could mean that the tourism industry of a place is affected or that there is no raw material to produce the things you take for granted. It is all interconnected and each has effect on us; all of us. It would be shortsighted and unwise to think otherwise.

Dhirubhai Ambani’s was the original rags to riches story. When he died some years ago he left a staggeringly vast empire but no will and two sons; each ambitious and believing that he deserved a portion of the pie that was being usurped by the other.   Enter the mother. Kokilaben Ambani the tycoon’s widow helped arrive at a pact and there was a division of assets resulting in an uneasy peace being brokered between the bickering brothers.

However now the squabbling siblings are once again at loggerheads and this time it is natural gas that is causing the rift. And this time the murky world of politics is also involved with Anil accusing the minister of petroleum in India of siding with his brother Mukesh. According to a settlement brokered Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was to supply 28 million cubic meters of gas a day at $2.34 per million units to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL) for 17 years.

However $4.20 per million units was the price set by the government in 2006 for all buyers of gas from the basin. This was not acceptable to younger brother Anil since a lower price was fixed inter se between the brothers under their family pact. Of course there is the entire legal tangle to sort out and the matter is now before the Supreme Court; and Anil is shouting foul play and partisanship by the Ministry of Petroleum, who is saying this is a natural resource and does not belong to either of the brothers. Whew!

A fascinating story there about big money, big business, charged with emotion, featuring estranged brothers and even a legal battle and a dash of politics thrown in. Sidney Sheldon and Jeffery Archer are probably wishing they had thought of this story first!

This Newsweek article, The Recession is Over, reaches this conclusion based on the fact that the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, holds that a mixture of targeted investments, tax credits, subsidies, reforms, and direct purchases can preserve or create jobs in the short term, improve America’s economic competitiveness in the long term, and catalyze private-sector investment.

An article that I recently read on Bloomberg also gave me pause for optimism and made me wonder if the worst was over and we were all on our way to recovery. According to the Bloomberg article, “The worst U.S. recession in five decades probably eased in the second quarter as trade and government stimulus mitigated the damage from declines in housing, inventories and consumer and business spending, economists said.”

According to the reports, the outlook for the second quarter is better than that of the first quarter; in other words, things seem to be on the mend.  According to experts economic recession is when GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth is negative for a period of two or more consecutive quarters, and now according to the Bloomberg article, whereas in the first quarter of the year the economy shrank and 5.5%, in the next quarter, that rate had slowed down to 1.5%. it was also found that sales of new houses went up.

“The recession is entering its final hours as the credit markets have mended and the record fiscal stimulus works its way through the system,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York. He added optimistically that this could well be the last quarterly decline of real GDP for this recession and that the outlook is a positive one for the second half of the year.”

I take heart from what all these experts say; and am reasonably convinced that perhaps the worst is over. What now remains to be seen is if unemployment is going to reduce which is one of the key pointers for an economic revival.

The problems identified by the new president and his team that they will be seeking to address are:

• Wages are stagnant as prices rise
• Tax cuts are benefitting the wealthy instead of the middle class

So the president and his vice president aim to jump start the economy by

· Enact a Windfall Profits Tax to Provide a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American Families

· Provide $50 billion to Jumpstart the Economy and Prevent 1 Million Americans from Losing Their Jobs

Obama and Biden aim to cut taxes by $1000 for working families to offset the payroll tax they pay and provide the middle class American tax relief by:

• Creating a new “Making Work Pay” tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. The “Making Work Pay” tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.

· Eliminate Income Taxes for Seniors Making Less than $50,000

· Simplifying tax filings for middle class Americans.

Trade, another area where the US is perceived to be lagging will receive a shot in the arm by

• amending the North American Free Trade Agreement,
• ending tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs to other countries
• rewarding companies that support American workers.

Obama and his Veep also have a Green Agenda and want to create new jobs

• By investing in the manufacturing sector, they want to create 5 million new green jobs!
• New Jobs Through National Infrastructure Investment
• Increasing federal support for research, technology and innovation for companies and universities so that American families can lead the world in creating new advanced jobs and products.
• Protecting small businesses

What is also a priority is to protect the home owner and crack down on mortgage fraud. A universal mortgage credit is sought to be created, more accountability is sought to be enforced in the subprime mortgage industry, accurate loan disclosure is sought and bankruptcy loopholes for mortgage companies are sought to be plugged.

For more details about their Economic Agenda, look here.

I wonder if any country in the world (with the exception of the United States with whose blessings and with whose support Israel dares to act with such utter brazenness) would be permitted to commit such acts of aggression against another people, killing civilians including children in their hundreds. By labeling the Hamas a terrorist organization and their fire cracker rockets as military offensives against the Israeli citizenry, the Israel military has reacted completely out of proportion to the provocation. Half a dozen or less Israeli citizens die and more than a thousand, two hundred Palestinians, hundreds of children among them die…. Where is the justice in this! How is this complete over reaction going to increase Israel’s security? Even French president Sarkozy thinks this is not going to reinforce Israel’s security.

To defend the preponderance of civilian casualties among those dead in Gaza, the Israelis conveniently explain it away by saying that the Hamas militia use civilians as shields. How can the suffering and death caused to civilians fall within the ambit of Israel’s right to defend itself!

I think of what rage and powerlessness the people of Gaza may feel against such an unchecked and flagrant Israeli onslaught. It is not unimaginable that a child orphaned in this offensive grew up and became a suicide bomber who went and blew himself up in a busy Israeli locality.

There are prominent Jews who have spoken out against Israel, condemning its actions, because not only is there military action by the Israelis, they have cut off the sources of food, water, electricity and aid to the Gaza strip. Horrified Jewish academicians are reminded of the siege of the Warsaw Ghetto, when they see this and the dead and bloodied bodies of young children.

A telling statement was made by Jewish comedian, TV personality and fiction writer Alexi Sayle. He said: “I want to one day be proud of my country – of that country. I want one day to be proud of my people, but at the moment I am ashamed…..”

]]> http://www.greatpriceshere.com/2009/01/29/the-offensive-israeli/feed/ 15 http://www.greatpriceshere.com/2008/11/02/green-tax-breaks/ http://www.greatpriceshere.com/2008/11/02/green-tax-breaks/#comments Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:26:11 +0000 Nicole Price http://www.greatpriceshere.com/?p=174 Like I keep saying, that which is good for the environment is also good for us and our finances. And that is even more so when you consider that environment friendly decisions can get you some very useful tax cuts. Although global oil prices have eased a great deal since I did a post about tips to save gas, it still pays to be energy efficient in terms of your home: heating, cooling, insulation, etc. not only for the savings in terms of the energy consumption bills but also in terms of the tax credits you get.

The reason that the government gives you tax breaks is so that you are encouraged to make purchases that reduce energy consumption on the whole, lowering pressure on grids and helping you reduce you carbon footprint and therefore lowering emission and pollution levels.

So if you want to avail of some tax breaks then you can make certain energy saving alterations / additions to your home. According to the Washington Post, homeowners will qualify for credits to help with the cost of installing top-efficiency windows, doors, roofs, heating and air-conditioning systems, and water heaters. Windows, skylights and storm windows will qualify for a credit of 10 percent of the cost, with the credit capped at $200 and central air-conditioning systems and heat pumps will qualify for $300 credits. If you are thinking about forking out for residential fuel cells or solar panels, with which you can generate your own electricity (solar generated electricity is free remember) that will give you even bigger tax credits and you have until 2016 to have these devices installed.

For more information about green tax breaks, look here. For Green tax breaks you can also take a look here.

Another exciting bit of news that I read informs me that the federal government will help chip in as much as $7500 towards buying a fuel-saving vehicle such as hybrids and electric cars. Lots of reasons to go green then! Meanwhile I thought this was hilarious, so put in here for your enjoyment:

While the system of barter (trading or swapping an item with someone who requires it, in return for acquiring something that you need), which was used over centuries had its own obvious limitations. For instance, a vegetable farmer may be willing to offer his produce in return for some tools that another individual is making, but the tool-maker may not, at the time have any need for the farmers produce, and by the time he does, the produce of the vegetable farmer would have been spoiled, so the barter becomes untenable to that extent. So what was then required was to have an intermediate commodity that doesn’t perish and is reliably in demand throughout the year. In earlier times, items of intrinsic value such as copper, gold or wine were used as currency. Early settlers in Australia traded with rum as a currency! Grain and cattle were other items used as and by way of currency.

Even in ancient times, coins were minted by the ruler of the land were stamped with an emblem that guaranteed the weight and value of the metal and used as currency. These were usually made from precious and semi precious metal so that they carried intrinsic value and were stamped with the ruler’s seal thereby imbuing it with an intangible value stemming from authority as well.

The reason for the emergence for paper money was twofold; one, the shortage of precious and semiprecious metal and secondly, ease of portability (soon coins became too heavy to carry around). In Europe the first paper money consisted of paper ‘coins’ issued in Protestant Leyden (today, Leiden) in the Netherlands during the Spanish siege of 1574. Later, governments directed citizens to replace precious metals with paper money to hasten the general acceptance of paper as currency.

Usually currency notes are made by adding cotton paper, linen or other textile fibers so as to make them more resistant to wear and tear. There is also a thin layer of varnish to protect them from soiling. In order to make it impossible or at least very difficult to make counterfeit notes, currency is usually enhanced by a water mark, the thread component and several other factors. Over the years, bank notes have also been printed on materials such as polymer, silk, leather etc.!

So fascinating is the subject of currency, that numismatics is the term coined for the scientific study of currency and its history in all its varied forms and I found this very interesting site devoted to numismatics which gives you access to bank notes from around the world and you can also order any that you want!

This CNN money article, is a real useful ready reckoner. It gives you information about the new tax breaks, like those for mortgage insurance and mortgage debt forgiveness. Unless you are in a really high income tax bracket, you are probably entitled to a one time stimulus tax break this year. This article has a very useful list of exemptions so check it out.

This article by William Perez talks about how one couple were able to eliminate paying taxes altogether. This article talks about how you can substantially reduce or eliminate your income tax by saving for retirement, owning a home, sending your kids to college. William Perez has compiled a comprehensive list of ways to lower your taxes with links to more details on each point, so that you can get more information of any of the basic topics he has covered.

On the official IRS site there is a tax topics index where you can seek out detailed information about whichever deduction you need for instance Topic 451 deals with IRAs. Here you will find articles about general information, IRS procedures, collections, alternative filing methods, Filing Requirements, Filing Status and Exemptions, Adjustments to Income, Itemized deductions, methods of computation and pretty much everything you want to look up.

Did you know (I suppose you did) that The Energy Policy Act of 2005 of encourages you to be green? This is how: there are tax benefits for energy-efficient homes, vehicles and equipment. Earlier you could get tax credits for buying and owning a hybrid vehicle, but that provision is now no longer in force. Apparently the government does not want to encourage you to lower emissions and gas consumption or want you to reduce your gas bill. Ah well, in a year’s time we will see a new US president, perhaps a woman or a black man (or not, who can predict?), and then there will be a bunch of new stuff to contend with!

And just to put a smile back on your lips, here are a couple of links to some tax related humor:

http://www.offthemark.com/tax/tax.htm

http://www.martybucella.com/taxtoons.html

Enjoy!