Some of that debt comes in the form of personal loans. When that money from a personal loan hits your bank account, it can feel like a financial shot in the arm. But what are the tax consequences? Let’s take a look at personal loans and the IRS implications that come with them. What Are Personal Loans? A personal loan is a loan you can use for things like debt consolidation, home improvements, a wedding ring, or medical expenses....
What Is a Home Office Deduction Home offices are very common. If you use one to run your business, you may be able to take certain deductions on your taxes. However, you need to meet certain eligibility criteria and may be subject to a limit on how much you can deduct. In order to claim a home office deduction, you need to meet at least one of the following conditions:...
“I am considering dealing with some debt reduction,” President Joe Biden said at a White House briefing. “I’ll have an answer on that in the next couple of weeks.” Tens of millions of borrowers with federal student loans have been waiting for two years to hear whether a pandemic-triggered freeze on payment obligations would be followed by an actual cancellation of at least some of every borrower’s outstanding balance. Thursday’s comments confirm his latest thinking involves invoking his executive authority to cancel student debt owed to the federal government, rather than trying to get a bill passed through Congress, where even his fellow Democrats in the evenly divided Senate haven’t always supported his proposals....
In some cases, consumers might consider a blanket mortgage in order to finance a new home’s construction. Here’s a look at how blanket mortgages work and when they might make sense. When To Use a Blanket Mortgage Blanket mortgages are most often used by investors, commercial property owners, and multifamily buyers looking to rent their properties or otherwise use them for income. Investors often use these loans to either finance the purchase of multiple properties at once or consolidate their existing mortgages into a single, easy-to-manage loan....
There are significant differences when it comes to bookkeeping and accounting, and it’s important to know whom to turn to for what tasks. Bookkeepers can help organize your day-to-day finances, such as your daily sales, expenses, and even payroll. An accountant, on the other hand, will take your bookkeeper’s nuanced records and translate them into tax preparation, and also offer advice about the health of your business and future planning....
In this situation, we’ll look at ownership by a corporation vs. ownership by an employee. Acceptable Business Expenses for Use of Car/Truck First, remember that whether the business or the employee owns the car, only actual business use of the car is deductible as a business expense. Commuting expenses between home and business are not deductible and personal travel is not deductible. Taxes and Business Vehicles Probably the biggest benefit to either the company or the employee from owning a business car is the cost savings from tax deductions....
States set the requirements for unemployment eligibility, which include minimum guidelines for work history and previous earnings. Typically, those requirements could make it challenging to get unemployment benefits as a college student. But understanding all your options can help you find financial relief if you lose your job while in school. Can College Students Get Unemployment? The short answer to whether college students can get unemployment benefits is that it depends....
Why You Can’t Buy an Annuity Online One reason you typically can’t buy annuity online is that companies don’t want to disrupt their primary distribution source: insurance agents and brokers. This is a model that’s worked well for companies and agents alike. Agents and brokers are paid a commission when a client buys an annuity. They can also cross-sell products to clients. Companies benefit from good agents and brokers educating clients and building relationships....
Like a traditional IRA, Roth IRAs have contribution limits based on income and filing status. You can withdraw your money anytime you like, but there are some penalties and tax traps to avoid, especially if you rolled over money from a traditional plan. When Can You Withdraw From Your Roth IRA? You can withdraw your contributions from a Roth IRA at any time, tax-free and penalty-free. Roth IRAs are ‘first in first out’ which means all of your contributions are withdrawn before earnings....
Non-Renewal Versus Cancellation Note that a non-renewal notice is not the same thing as a notice of cancellation. When your insurer cancels your coverage it terminates your policy mid-term, before the expiration date listed in the declarations. When your insurer non-renews your policy, it allows your coverage to lapse after it has expired. In either case, your insurer must comply with state notification laws. It may also be obligated to provide a reason why your coverage is being terminated....
It’s also important to use your official letter to set the right tone for the next two weeks you’ll be in the office as well as your relationship with the company in the future. The letter may sit dormant in an HR file, but your former boss (who’s also a potential future reference) will be impressed with your professionalism. Plus, you never know when an old employer might become a new client down the road or when you’ll cross paths again....
Do You Need It? Should your company insure its vehicles for physical damage? The answer depends on a number of factors. First, if you lease or finance any autos, the leasing firm or lender will likely require physical damage insurance for those vehicles. Other relevant factors include the age and condition of your vehicles and the features they contain. These affect the value of your autos. Any insurance payment you receive for a physical damage claim will be based on the actual cash value of the vehicle prior to the loss....
Mortgage loans also vary by whether they are fixed interest rate mortgages or adjustable interest rate mortgage loans, also called ARMs. The adjustable interest rate mortgages may have a fixed component and an adjustable rate component. An example is the 5/1 ARM loan. There is no such thing as “one size fits all” when it comes to a mortgage loan. Some borrowers may prefer a longer-term mortgage with lower payments, and some a shorter-term mortgage with higher payments–both depending on their income and individual goals....
Defining a Condo Condos are private residential units within multi-unit buildings, projects, or communities. Residences often share walls similar to apartment units, but they also can be semidetached, like townhouses, or even fully detached. The residents frequently share common areas and amenities like yards, swimming pools, laundry rooms, or garages. Condominium associations play a significant role in the lives of most condo owners. An association, run by a board of directors, maintains the common areas, services, and amenities and is comparable to a neighborhood homeowners association (HOA)....
Purpose The purpose of contractionary fiscal policy is to slow growth to a healthy economic level. That’s between 2% to 3% a year. An economy that grows more than 3% creates four negative consequences. When governments cut spending or increase taxes, it takes money out of consumers’ hands. That also happens when the government cuts subsidies, transfer payments including welfare programs, contracts for public works, or the number of government employees....
The bank will raise interest rates to make lending more expensive. That reduces the amount of money and credit that banks can lend. It lowers the money supply by making loans, credit cards, and mortgages more expensive. Purpose of Monetary Policy The purpose of a restrictive or tight monetary policy is to ward off inflation. A little inflation is healthy. A 2% annual price increase is actually good for the economy because it stimulates demand....
Find out more about crowdsourcing and how companies use it. What Is Crowdsourcing? Crowdsourcing is the outsourcing of work to a large, sometimes undefined crowd of people. It can also be thought of as a method of sourcing goods, labor, information, or ideas from a large group of participants. The concept of crowdsourcing is built on a theory sometimes referred to as the “wisdom of crowds.” The idea is that, together, a large group of people can collectively provide surprising insight or value, even if individually they’re wrong, uninspired, or inaccurate....
Even if a data breach doesn’t involve a loss of money, it can involve a great deal of time and resources to issue new cards, track down the information that got out into the wild, and monitor for any further issues. There are three things you should be sure to do if you find out you’ve been part of a data breach: figure out what (if anything) was stolen, reset your passwords, contact the credit bureaus, and sign up for a credit monitoring service....
What Are Business Meal Expense Deductions? Business meals are deductible business expenses, and most meals are deductible at 50% of the cost. But entertainment expenses are not deductible as a business tax expense. There was a temporary exception to the 50% limit on deductions for food or beverages from Jan. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2022, Your business could deduct business meals at restaurants and bars at 100% during this time....
What It Does The Commerce Department’s mission is to “create the conditions for U.S. economic growth and opportunity.” It negotiates trade agreements, provides economic research, and sets business standards. As a result, its responsibilities are as diverse as its 12 agencies: How It Affects the U.S. Economy The Commerce Department helps to set both domestic and international trade policy. For example, it renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement. It did this under Trump’s threat to dump NAFTA if Canada and Mexico didn’t agree....
