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Archive for September, 2009

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? It would be huge and completely useless because each business would have different needs. A Internet business selling flowers would have completely different needs from an online bank which would have different needs from a hosting company and so on. The only way you could create a practical plan for all Internet businesses would be to offer a collection of general services they could all use on their sites. Tax preparation software designers have the same problem.

There are over 15,000 pages in the tax code and over 100,000 pages of regulations interpreting those pages. Changes are made to the tax code ever year, and new regulations are issued constantly. If one were to create a list of questions for every tax deduction and credit detailed in those pages, the list of questions would be the size of a phone book! Yet, tax software programmers have somehow boiled it all down to a simple 30-minute interview process? Common sense should tell you that doesn’t make sense.

As practical matter, tax software programs are designed to make sure that you claim a general set of deductions that are applicable to businesses across all industries. Most programs try to mask this fact by asking you to identify your business before proceeding. For a lark, you might try selecting another industry and then running through the interview process. You will find that the interview process is modified a bit, but you are still being asked the same basic tax deduction questions.

If you are only claiming general business tax deductions, you are paying more than you should in taxes. Ask yourself if you have seen any of the following questions in a tax software program interview:

Q. Do you store business inventory in your house?

Hint: You may be able to claim hundreds or thousands of dollars in deductions.

Q. Did you start a pension plan for your employees?

Hint: You may be able to claim a tax credit for the next three years totaling $1,500.

Q. Do you have a home-based business and a second office?

Hint: You may be able to deduct your commuting expenses each day. Yes, commuting expenses.

Q. Do you have business meetings at your home?

Hint: Did you charge your business for the space?

Q. Should you claim the standard mileage rate for your auto or the actual costs?

Hint: The standard mileage rate may not the best option.

Q. Did you modify your business location to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act?

Hint: You may be able to claim a tax credit AND tax deduction for tax savings of $20,000 or more.

Q. Did you refinance your home?

Hint: The points you paid on your original mortgage are fully deductible now, not over the length of the loan.

This represents only the tip of the iceberg of available credits and deductions available to you. Just one of these deductions could save you thousands of dollars in taxes. Yet, you are never going to see these questions raised in a tax software program interview. The tax code and regulations are simply too large to be incorporated into a usable software program.

Your business is unique. You face and overcome issues and problems that are unique to your size, financial situation and particular business needs. Don’t short change yourself by limiting your deductions by using tax software programs.

Richard Chapo is with http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com – recovering overpaid taxes for small businesses. Visit our article page – http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com/articles – to read more tax articles.

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Predicting mortgage interest rates can be tricky. We do have some good information to work with though and make a good prediction. Here are my 2009 and 2010 mortgage rate predictions, and how I made them:

Early in 2009, home mortgage interest rates were around 4.69% for a standard fixed rate 30 year mortgage. These were some of the lowest recorded interest rates in history, and homeowners across the country saw the low rates and took advantage by refinancing or loan modification. Mortgage lenders and banks became flooded with applications from all types of homeowners, and had to do something to slow down the massive amount of paperwork that was piling up. A mortgage rate increase of .5% took effect around May of 2009, which was expected. I thought this would happen as a way for mortgage lenders and banks to catch up with the already filed applications.

This rate increase was minimal enough to still allow truly struggling homeowners a chance to refinance, but enough that homeowners just looking to save money, with no real financial hardships, held back on applying until rates were lower again. This rate of 5.19% is still low enough to help homeowners save themselves form defaulting on their mortgage, or being foreclosed on and losing their home. This is still a good rate to refinance or get a home loan modification. So right now, a typical 30 year home loan will have a 5.19% fixed interest rate. This is where my predictions come into play.

I predict that mortgage interest rates will again be lowered to their prior lows of around 4.69%. This will be sometime around the middle of October this year and should last until April 2010. October of this year will be just about when mortgage lenders and banks catch up with the prior applications, and be ready for a new wave. If you can wait a little you should, however if you are risking your home or finances, take action now.

At my site I will teach you how to properly refinance or modify a home mortgage saving you thousands of dollars, or even your home. A lot of Greedy Mortgage Lenders will try to suck you dry if you let them. Learn the right way to refinance or modify your home loan at my site: http://www.refinancingcondo.com

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Owing to the global recession, job losses are mounting and an increasing number of Americans are struggling to meet their monthly mortgage payments and are facing the possibility of losing their home to foreclosure. However, there is now a real viable alternative in the form of loan modification. This article aims to elaborate on the basics of how to modify a mortgage loan.

President Obama’s ‘Making Home Affordable’ plan places a large emphasis on loan modification. As such, the government and lenders alike have released a number of guidelines explaining how to modify a mortgage loan and are encouraging lenders to simplify the process by offering financial incentives to lenders getting borrowers on a program.

A loan modification is essentially a process by which a borrower and lender negotiate new terms on an existing loan in such a way that the monthly payment is made affordable for the borrower. Although it might sound a little bit like refinancing, its main differences are that it does NOT take out a new loan and, in addition, those with poor credit are also eligible.

When it comes to asking how to modify a mortgage loan, the first piece of advice will always be to research the eligibility criteria of your specific lender. Some, for example, might only offer the program to those who are already in arrears on their payments, while others open the applications to borrowers who are not yet delinquent.

Asking how to modify a mortgage loan leads fundamentally, once you know you qualify, to the application process! You simply must fill out the application in detail. Incomplete applications will win you no favors from your lender. The application should be accompanied by the support financial documents and, importantly, a hardship letter detailing how you came to face such financial struggles and how you can adjust to ensure you can meet the new monthly payment every month. The application is vital. Spend time on it!

To find out more on how you can qualify for a Mortgage Modification Loan, all you have to do is Click Here

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There are several ways to obtain a car title loan. One of them is through online auto financing. Below are some great online sites where you can acquire a car title loan and get the money you need today to help pay for car repairs, medical bills, overdraft protection, groceries, entertainment, et cetera.

Plastics.com — Car Title Loan

Plastics.com offers car title loans to help you purchase your dream car without touching your savings. With the car title loan programs offered at this site, you no longer need to worry about having not enough reserved money to pay for emergency expenses, like hospital medical bills, car repairs, and the like. You can just borrow the money you need to purchase your car.

Plastics.com offers up to $2, 500 in car title loans. Approval is quick and you only need to fill up a short form in order to apply. If your vehicle has not been paid off yet, you can still qualify for a short term cash advance instead of a car title loan.

FastBucks.com — Car Title Loan

FastBucks.com is a financing service company offering car title loan programs for consumers who have clear car titles for vehicles with liability insurance. In order to qualify for FastBucks.com’s maximum car title loan amount of $2, 500, you would to be currently employed at the same place and living in your current residence for six months or longer.

Initially, FastBucks.com offers a car title loan period of 3-30 days. However, at the end of your initial loan contract, adjustments can be made. You come in on your due date and pay the full amount in cash, and have the lien removed from the title. Or you could pay the interest fees and extend the loan for an additional period of time.

GuarantyTrading.com — Car Title Loan

GuarantyTrading.com is another online lending company based in Huntsville, Alabama. The website offers car title loans to people with bad credit, no credit, or poor credit. Aside from that, GuarantyTrading.com gives discount rates on their car title loans, starting at 10 per cent on newer cards with less than 100, 000 miles.

The maximum car title loan amount is up to $10, 000. Generally, the company lends up to one half of the wholesale value of the car. However, if you’ve been at your job for a long time and living in your residence for roughly the same amount of time, the company can lend more money to you.

Credit scores used to be a top secret number and only lending professionals are allowed to take a peek at it. Then, in March 2001, Congress passed a law that lifted the veil over credit scoring secrets. Now, you can find out what your credit score is by contacting any credit reporting agency authorized to release free credit scores or accessing their respective sites.

Normally, credit reporting agencies, which are private companies, sell your credit scores and reports to lenders who request for copies in the event that you apply for a loan. Through the 2001 legislation governing credit scores, the consumer is also given the right to request for their own credit scores and reports. However, you may have to pay a small fee charged by the private credit reporting agencies, unless you come under the following categories:

* Consumers who were denied credit in the past 60 days
* Consumers who are unemployed
* Consumers who are on welfare
* Consumers who believe their credit reports contain inaccurate information due to fraud

If you fall under any of the categories enumerated above, then you are entitled to free credit score and report. However, if your request for free credit score and report is based on allegations of fraud, the law provides that you make your request from the credit reporting agency that issued the questioned credit report.

Below are a few good sites to start your search for free credit scores:

AnnualCreditReport.com

As provided by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), AnnualCreditReport.com is your premier access to free credit scores and reports. Here, you can request for a free copy of your credit report from each of the nationwide credit reporting companies — Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union — once every 12 months.

Experian.com

As one of the three major credit reporting agencies operating in the United States and the United Kingdom, Experian offers you free credit score and report on a free trial basis. The trial period lasts for 30 days, during which time you are emailed alerts of key changes to your credit report. After the trial period expires, you will be sent a communication asking if you wish to extend your Experian membership. Paid members are allowed unlimited Experian credit reports and scores.

ELoan.com

As an alternative to Experian.com, E-Loan is also another place where you can sign up for the 30-day free trial Experian membership and receive free credit score and report.

However, in addition to Experian, E-Loan also offers CreditXpert free credit score, showing your score and ranking as used in credit decisions. Since the score is free, no credit cards are required but you must verify you identity by providing verification information such as your SSN and other personal data.

If you’re unable to make your mortgage payment on your due date, don’ t panic. Conversely, don’t disregard the whole late payment issue entirely. Because of a job loss or other causes beyond a person’s control, often they are incapable of making their mortgage payment in a timely manner. When this situation arises, it is time for you to call your lender and advise him/her of you financial woes. Often a lender can help protect your credit rating and keep you in your home during this turbulent economic period. It is often possible to renegotiate your mortgage terms with lenders when hardship situations like this strike.

It is necessary to call your lender and advise him/her of your financial distress at the first hint of trouble. Your lender will likely ask if your income loss is temporary or more long-term. If your present financial difficulties are the direct result of a job loss and future mortgage payments may be in jeopardy, tell the lender at once the exact nature of your income loss. There are steps that must be taken immediately to forestall the possibility of foreclosure on your home. The determinative factor of whether or not a lender can help you depends on what type of loan that you have.

If your loan is of the conventional variety, your lender may be able to look into your financial situation and come to some resolution that is advantageous to both you and the lender in short order. However, if you have a backed or underwritten loan that is from the US government, government regulations may require that your lender be unable to advise you of alternative advice until your loan is ninety days in arrears. Regardless of the type of loan you have, you must make immediate contact with your lender to advise him/her that you in financial trouble.

There are specific measures that lenders can take to help you when you are in financial distress. They can: 1) Agree to accept a partial payment instead of the normal full mortgage payment, 2) Discharge the late payment penalties, 3) Grant you a free interest rate loan or a low interest loan in the amount of the missed payment, 3) Provide you with an interest rate or principal reduction on your present mortgage loan, 4) Provide a re-amortization schedule or loan refinancing schedule on your present loan, 5) Provide you with an extended time period to get current with your mortgage payment. Sometimes the extension can be for as long as one to two years, 6) Move your current delinquent payment to the end of your loan. This gives you time to get back on your feet financially.

You’d be surprised to find out how many lenders are sympathetic to your honest hardship predicament. They will do all they can to keep you in your house making monthly mortgage payments rather than let you foreclose on the property. No one wins in a home foreclosure. It is your responsibility to take the initiative and contact your lender when non-payment of your mortgage becomes evident. Your lender can’t help you, specifically if they are not aware that you’re having problems making your payments.

Not all lenders can offer all seven of the possible renegotiation alternatives mentioned above, however, most lenders have access to some of these proactive measures. Obviously, you must prove to the lender that you qualify for this type of help. This proof is normally in the form of a detailed financial statement that substantiates the loss of income. The difficult part for many people is that they feel embarrassed to ask for help in this situation because they have been self-sufficient all their lives. However, one must forgo vanity and contact their lender quickly so that they can mitigate the possibility of losing their hard earned home to foreclosure.

Did you know it takes many months for the average person to find the right mortgage? Visit Home Mortgage Loans and find out how you can cut that time in HALF! I highly recommend visiting here for more info about fixed rate mortgages

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There are mainly two types of mortgages – fixed rate mortgage and adjustable rate mortgage (ARM). With fixed rate mortgages, interest rates do not change with time. But in the case of adjustable rate mortgages, the interest rates are adjusted at certain intervals. Mortgage loan rates greatly differ with state, lending company, loan amount, value of the security, credit rating of the buyer and the type of the loan.

Mortgage loan rates are governed primarily by the Federal Reserve Board. So, if the board changes the interest rates, the mortgage lenders should adjust their interest rates accordingly. Mortgage loan rates are also influenced by many market and economic factors such as inflation. Generally, lower mortgage loan rates can be availed if you pay a down payment of 20% or more of the loan amount. On the other hand, if you pay a down payment of 5% or less of the loan amount, you may only qualify for a higher interest loan.

Generally, the mortgage loan rates fall somewhere between 5% and 13%. Long term loans have slightly higher interest rates than short-term loans; usually the difference is below 1%. Loan rates also differ with mortgage loan types such as commercial loans, FHA loans, VA loans, home equity loans, home improvement loans, and bad credit/sub prime mortgage loans. First mortgage loan rates are usually lower than those of second mortgages.

Many Internet sites provide comparison and reviews of different mortgage loan rates offered by lenders. Most mortgage lenders update their records and rates daily. Many Internet sites also provide mortgage rate calculators, which help you calculate the exact interest rates and monthly payment amounts. These Internet sites also provide information on loan securing points, closing costs and fees, monthly installments, and penalties.

Mortgage Loans provides detailed information on Mortgage Loans, Bad Credit Mortgage Loans, Refinance Home Mortgage Loans, Online Mortgage Loans and more. Mortgage Loans is affiliated with Investment Real Estate Loans.

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