Finances

Buying a home with bad credit doesn't have to stop you from finding an affordable lender. By shopping online for a lender you can find the best lending rates for your situation. The following search tips will help you get started. Gather Your Information Before you begin searching for mortgage quotes, gather all your financial information ahead of time. A copy of your IRS tax form from last year will list most of the financial information you will need to enter. If you are buying a home, know the home's price and how much you plan on putting down....

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How many times do you check you restaurant bill? If not often, I would advise you to do it more, especially when dining on your overseas vacations. Still, much more Americans check their restaurants bill, than the number of homebuyers, who check the charges for their mortgages. There are two popular misconceptions about the mortgage surcharges. First - the charges are all the same because of the competition. Second - there is nothing we can do about it, so why bother? They are both wrong. The charges vary, sometimes within the same company depending on who their customer is....

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Refinancing your house's mortgage is not the same thing as getting a second mortgage. While both allow you to cash out your home's equity, terms and rates differ between the two types of loans. To know which financing option is best for you, learn each loan's features and pick the one that best meets your needs. Refinancing Your Mortgage Traditional refinancing is basically replacing one mortgage loan with another. Typically, refinancing lowers mortgage payments through lower interest rates or longer loan terms....

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Real estate prices are rising across the country, and Americans are tapping into their home equity like never before. Americans took out $431 billion in home equity loans in 2004, and that amount may increase in 2005. The reasons vary; some are using the money for home improvement, others are using the money to buy real estate, and some are taking reverse mortgages in order to enjoy a better retirement. With interest rates still near historic lows and the bull real estate market continuing, more and more predatory lenders are entering the lending profession....

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The Internal Revenue Service is reporting that the difference between what U. S. taxpayers owe and actually pay on time totals more than $300 billion a year. Studying over 46,000 tax returns for individuals revealed the tax gap. These results indicate a failure of 15 to 16 percent of individual tax payers to fully pay their taxes. IRS enforcement activities recovered roughly $55 billion of that total gap, leaving a net tax gap of $257 billion to $298 billion. The tax gap is comprised of three components -- underreported income, underpayment of taxes and failure to file tax returns at all....

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As a sole proprietor, it's wise to familiarize yourself with the some key deductions that may reduce your tax bill for 2004. Small-business consultants generally recommend that you hire an accountant to prepare your tax returns, payroll and financial statements. But you should also meet with your accountant well before the year-end rush to discuss such matters as tax planning, and record keeping for tax deductions. Seven common small business tax deductions: 1. Employee Benefit Plans - You may deduct contributions to employee benefit plans (such as health insurance plans and retirement plans)....

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Does this scene sound familiar? It's April 7. You haven't seen the top of your dining room table in two weeks because of the piles of paid bills, receipts, canceled checks, and unidentified cash register receipts covering it. Your head pounds and your stomach churns as the countdown to April 15 begins. You might hate to pay taxes, think the system is unfair, dislike the forms, and even stage a mini-tax rebellion, but in the end the tax man cometh - with penalty if you're not careful! The key to your survival is taking an organized approach to this unavoidable task....

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Employers often ask employees to designate the amount of tax withholdings for paychecks. Occasionally, employees will fail to withhold a sufficient amount in the eyes of the IRS. The IRS will then send a "lock-in" letter on the amount to be withheld. What's an employer to do? Withholdings Four taxes must be withheld from employee paychecks - Medicare, Social Security, Federal Income and State Income tax. The Medicare tax is set at roughly 1.5 percent of salary while social security is set at 6....

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For many business owners the answer to this quandary is tax preparation software. Fill out a fairly simple interview, click "print" and out comes a completed return that will pass muster with the IRS. The answer to all your problems? or is it? Can One Software Program Cover All Businesses? Take a moment to consider the wide range of businesses that exist in the United States. Now cut that number down to those that can be categorized as "Internet businesses". If you were asked to write a business plan to provide web design services to each of these services, how long would it be?...

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The knock on the door from a Tax Inspector is something that every taxpayer fears. Your immediate thoughts will be "Have I been honest with my tax returns or not". So what do you do? First, don't panic. Second, sit down and work out your next steps so you can win any tax investigation. Here are the main things to do:. Advice 1 - Get to your Tax Lawyer first Get in touch with your lawyer first as soon as you receive notice that you are to be audited or investigated. After that see your accountant but be guarded in what you say to him or her if you have not been totally honest in your tax affairs....

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