Archive for the ‘International’ Category

Government Debt Loads Continue to Pile Up

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

According to the Washington Post, the Administration’s current policies will add $9.3 Trillion to the national deficit over the next decade.  This is a 14% increase over the White House’s previous projection of $8.5 Trillion.  The largest component of the increasing deficits is being caused by President Obama’s mid- and low-income tax cuts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/05/AR2010030502974.html?hpid%3Dtopnews

For an eye-opening look at the U.S. and world debt landscape, below are two very useful interactive links to evaluate worldwide and U.S. public debt loads now and in the past.

http://buttonwood.economist.com/content/gdc

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/federal_debt_chart.html

Current record levels do not bode well for interest rates and financial stability.

California’s $20 billion budget deficit and long history of high taxes, unfunded pension obligations and massive entitlement plans has creditors worried.  Recent debt downgrades and political gridlock will likely drive up future borrowing costs:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/californias-debt-now-risk_n_481058.html

http://www.treasurer.ca.gov/

 

To save some of your hard-earned taxes, check out tax planning strategies at: www.blakechristian.com

Also, for daily tax and financial updates, please follow me: http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA

California and Federal Tax Refunds Overlooked by Many

Monday, March 1st, 2010

In today’s challenging economic period, business owners are looking for every way to reduce costs and increase cash flow and profits.

We continue to see businesses and their CPAs overlook extremely valuable tax breaks, including:

- Federal and State Hiring Credits ($500 to $15,000 per employee)

http://www.blakechristian.com/hiring_tax_credits.html

http://www.blakechristian.com/california_tax_incentives.html

- Federal and State Eco/ Energy/ Green Credits (10% to 50%)

http://www.blakechristian.com/energy_tax_credits.html

- Use of Interest Charge DISCs for Export Sales

http://www.alliantgroup.com/_ag/index.cfm/our-services/export-incentives/interest-charge-domestic-international-sales-corporation-ic-disc1/

- Evaluation of Compensation Structure Options to Minimize After-Tax Cash Outflows.  This includes taking advantage of the lucrative and flexible qualified retirement plan rules.

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2008/CorpTax/Compensation.jsp

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2007/CorpTax/Services.jsp

- Re-Evaluating Legal Structure of Business Operations to Minimize Taxes

http://www.taxguideonline.com/hcvt/

There is still time to claim many of these tax benefits on your 2009 tax returns. 

www.blakechristian.com

For Daily Tax and Economic Updates, please follow me on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA

 

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Iceland’s Financial Meltdown Overshaddow’s U.S. – and The World

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

The international banking crisis which climaxed in 2008 hit the island nation of Iceland harder than any other country.  The EU member bailout of IceSave Bank left the 325,000 Icelandic residents with a whopping burden of $5.3 billion.

Home defauls, business failures and general economic chaos has been felt by every resident – and despair has turned into anger on all sides.

Iceland residents will vote this week whether they will opt to pay back these amounts to the EU nation which bailed them out, or default on the obligations.  Recent polls show a 60% disapproval rate of paying back these amounts.

 

Read more in these Financial Times links:

Iceland Voters Set to Reject EU Member Payback : http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fc525532-21ae-11df-acf4-00144feab49a.html

Bullying Iceland:  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e69c686a-20e4-11df-b920-00144feab49a.html

Tax Haven Audits – IRS Foreign Bank Account Reporting (FBAR) Update

Friday, February 26th, 2010

For Daily Tax Updates – Follow Me On Twitter: 

http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA

Please click below to view a 5 minute CNN Local interview (2009) covering the IRS/ Swiss tax battle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouAcmqHkvZE&feature=youtube_gdata

 

Significant civil and criminal penalties can be imposed on taxpayers having signature or other financial interests in foreign bank accounts.

The ongoing privacy and tax collection battle between the IRS and  Switzerland, as well as other countries, highlights the need for taxpayers to not only report their worldwide earnings, but also file various Treasury disclosures (Form TD 90-22.1) in order to avoid these very onerous penalties.

Read the linked AICPA articles to learn more about recent developments and the billions of dollars at stake:

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2010/CorpTax/FBAR_Reporting.jsp

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2009/CorpTax/Tax_Officials.jsp

 

Click below for a Financial Times article on Swiss Banking:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/501901c4-140e-11df-8847-00144feab49a.html