Unlike a lot of potentially one-sided bills out of the House, this bill stands a decent chance of passage. See the details in this article by Michael Cohn in AccountingToday: http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/government_news/house-committee-passes-bill-banning-state-taxes-on-internet-access-71013-1.html This really looks like a ban that people are in favor of – think of the dollars it will cost everyone if the states can tax our internet usage! With the midterm elections coming up and all the politicians fighting for their lives, not voting for this bill would be stuff the other side can use to win. Plus, right now this ban has expired every few years, so it will be less work to have to extend the ban – the current extension ends November 1, 2014. Plus this ban extends to Ohio and Texas, states that have an internet tax and were allowed to keep it under the original bill that has been extended since 1998. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa
Burbank CPA Financial Musings: Americans are getting into debt to afford food, gas
While many of the upper class wealthy people are not using debt to pay for things, lot of the middle class still not recovered from the mortgage crisis in 2008. See this article in Marketwatch from the Wall Street Journal by Peter Atwater to details on more people using credit just to pay for their kids education or buying a new car because the old one is about to die, as well as having to use credit to pay for food and gasoline: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-are-getting-into-debt-just-to-get-by-2014-06-18 The more scary items are using credit to pay for month to month expenses. This could mean that more people are beginning to live paycheck to paycheck (actually credit card payment to credit card payment) which can be a future problem for an economic recovery (eventually people won’t be able to pay for things on credit, and perhaps when inflation comes back, the economy comes crashing down again.) For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa
Musings of a Burbank CPA: If your boss offers a ‘stealth’ raise, take it!
So your boss is going to cut year end bonuses this year. However the company will match more contributions to the company 401k. It is actually a ‘stealth raise’ that you should take advantage of. If your company matches 15% of the first 5% of salary you contribute and that 5% is about $4,000, your employer is giving you $600 a year in retirement contributions; 15% return on your money (plus whatever it makes from investing) is a pretty good deal. Sometimes there is an even bigger match – check with your employer. Over time this is probably a better deal than the additional bonus (although you have no choice in the matter.) Plus you get a tax deduction for the contribution you make. So it may actually be a good thing to get a smaller bonus (although your wife and kids may not think so, but you can always explain it to them.) For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa