Joomla! site syndication http://www.rapidtaxpro.com Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:06:43 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.rapidtaxpro.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.rapidtaxpro.com Joomla! site syndication http://www.rapidtaxpro.com/latest/brookhaven-citizens-against-unfair-taxes-continue-to-raise-questions-about-proposed-transfer-tax.html Brookhaven, NY (PRWEB) October 18, 2007 -- With less than five weeks before Election Day, the Brookhaven Citizens Against Unfair Taxes, Inc. continue to turn up the heat and stoke the debate about the Town's proposed 2% transfer tax on home sales that will appear on the November 6th ballot. A transfer tax, no matter how disguised by the Town Board as a Community Preservation Fund is still just an additional tax that places an unreasonable burden and unnecessary barriers for buyers and sellers and impedes home ownership at a time when there is a real crisis in the housing market on Long Island, explains Linda Bonarelli, President of the Brookhaven Citizens Against Unfair Taxes, Inc. Members of the grassroots organization say that the new transfer tax adds to the already high cost of owning a home, and that it will discourage home ownership and only encourage more people to leave Brookhaven for more affordable housing in other nearby areas and/or out of state. According to Brookhaven Citizens for Unfair Taxes, Inc. the Town of Brookhaven is not being honest with residents about where the projected $35 million in annual revenues, anticipated to be generated from the transfer tax would be applied. Numerous questions still need to be answered by the Town about the proposal: 1. If the transfer tax revenue is directed into a Community Preservation Fund, what open space parcels of land have been identified to benefit from preservation and for what purpose? 2. The Town is proposing to use 10% of the revenues generated from the tax for administrative purposes, how will this increase the size of local government at a time when government spending on Long Island should be controlled or consolidated? 3. The proposed transfer tax is a progressive tax that will be perpetuated on the residents of Brookhaven Township for 20 years, what if any accommodations are being made for middle-income working families, young homebuyers or senior citizens to exempt them from this tax? 4. Brookhaven voters already approved a $100 million dollar bond issue to preserve open space, why is an additional $35 million in tax revenue for Community Preservation needed annually? 5. What are the legal ramifications or consequences in the event that a buyer or seller is delinquent in paying the 2% transfer tax? With less than five weeks until Election Day voters have a crucial decision to make whether to pull the lever with their conscience or with their pocketbooks. Long Islanders already pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation. The proposed 2% transfer tax on home sales will result in the flood gates of migration from Long Island emanating from the Town of Brookhaven. Protect your home from excessive taxes and stop the tax. Vote NO to this so-called Community Preservation Fund. On November 6th, vote NO on Proposition #3. For further information about this transfer tax, see www.stopthebrookhaventax.com (http://www.stopthebrookhaventax.com/) # # # News - Latest Sat, 12 Jun 2004 11:54:06 +0100 http://www.rapidtaxpro.com/newsflash/liberty-tax-service-unveils-hispanic-services-certification-for-tax-preparation-offices.html Virginia Beach, VA (Vocus) September 4, 2007 -- Liberty Tax Service (www.libertytax.com (http://www.libertytax.com/)), a retail income tax company serving the United States and Canada, announced today the rollout of a pioneer certification program for tax offices serving Hispanics. Liberty?s ?Gold Seal Certification? will be awarded to its offices that complete thirty hours of intensive training and pass twenty tests in Hispanic tax preparation issues. The ?Gold Seal Certification? will be officially promoted as ?Busque por el Oro?, or ?Look for the Gold? for customers. Over eight hundred tax office franchisees and employees have enrolled in the certification program that began in June 2007. The training is being conducted over twenty weeks with a new topic taught twice a week. The course listings include: Hispanic Culture, Tax Preparation for the Foreign Born, Working with Interpreters, Community Outreach Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINS). Offices that attain the Hispanic Services Certification status are presented with a customized gold seal to display in the window. The seal attests to the number of training hours and certified employees in both English and Spanish. Recipients are also required to have full-time Spanish speakers in their offices. Offices who receive the ?Gold Seal Certification? are able to enroll their bilingual employees in an innovative ?Interpreter Training Certification Program? which is expected to drastically increase bilingual staffing this year. Liberty (www.libertytax.com (http://www.libertytax.com/)) hired Blaire Borthayre, author of Marketing Tax Preparation Services to the Hispanic Community (published by John Wiley Sons), to design and implement the program. Ms. Borthayre is the leading expert in Hispanic tax preparation. She appeared most recently on NBC Nightly News and National Public Radio to discuss the Hispanic tax preparation. ?There seems to be a belief that translating marketing materials into Spanish is a magic bullet to reach the Hispanic consumer. The truth is that newly immigrated; Spanish-dominant Hispanics experience life in a different cultural context than mainstream America. Tax preparation offices ignore this at their own peril.? With over 2,400 offices in the United States and Canada, Liberty actually began their Hispanic initiative in 2003 by hiring Borthayre to conduct trainings nationwide. This year, Liberty decided to take matters a step further. Martha O?Gorman, VP of Marketing, stated ?The purpose of the Hispanic Services? ?Gold Seal Certification? program is to ensure that Hispanics are receiving top notch services tailored to their needs in our offices. Tax preparation is only one part of the equation. Language skills, cultural competency and trust are all critical components of an office that serves the Hispanic community. The ?Gold Seal Certification? is a sign of our commitment to the Spanish dominant consumer. Borthayre, A Mexican American agrees. ?This certification is going to set higher standards for the industry in general. Too many Hispanics are being served in broken English by tax preparers with no experience in foreign born taxpayer issues such as ITINS. I am grateful to Liberty for stepping up to the plate. Liberty Tax Service (www.libertytax.com (http://www.libertytax.com/)) is expected to begin an intensive Spanish language media campaign in December to explain the background of Hispanic Service certified offices and to encourage Spanish speaking consumers to ?look for the gold seal? when choosing a tax office. About Liberty Tax Service: Founded in 1997, Liberty Tax Service is the fastest growing retail tax preparation company in the industry?s history. Founder and CEO John T. Hewitt has 38 years of tax industry experience, the most of any CEO in the tax preparation business. Hewitt is also the founder of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (NYSE: JTX). Liberty Tax Service (www.libertytax.com (http://www.libertytax.com/)) operates 2,400 offices throughout the United States and Canada, and has prepared over 5,000,000 individual income tax returns. The company focuses on computerized income tax preparation, electronic filing and refund loans. Emphasis on customer service including audit assistance, a money back guarantee and free tax return checking are just a few of the above and beyond features offered by Liberty Tax Service. CONTACT: Martha O?Gorman Chief Marketing Officer (800) 790-3863 ext. 8022 ### Newsflashes - Newsflash Mon, 09 Aug 2004 08:30:34 +0100 http://www.rapidtaxpro.com/newsflash/can-you-deduct-your-mortgge-payment-from-taxes.html As a landlord, you will want to make sure you take advantage of all of the tax benefits you can receive by owning a property. There are many other deductions than just the obvious ones. Expenses incurred to cancel a lease, reimbursements to renters for expenses that they have incurred and many others exist. Make sure you are taking advantage of all of the expenses you have. Interest. Mortgage interest payments on the loan to purchase the rental property are a deductible cost, but make sure you also deduct interest on loans for improvements to the property, as well as credit card interest for credit card accounts you use to purchase any items or services for the property. Interest can be one of the largest deductible expenses for a landlord. Depreciation. The cost of your property is recovered over time through depreciation. After the second year of ownership, you can claim depreciation over a 27.5 year period. Repairs. Any repairs you make to the rental property are deductible expenses in the year the expense occurs. These include painting, replacing broken windows, hiring a plumber to fix leaks, putting new flooring down, plastering walls. To qualify, you have to make sure the expenses are ordinary expenses in the cost of running the rental property, reasonable costs and not capital improvements. Travel. If you have to travel to your rental property to collect rent, discuss issues with renters, attend renter association meetings or carry out repairs, you can deduct the cost of this travel. If you have to visit service providers such as plumbers or electricians, you can deduct that as well. If you are travelling from a distance, you can deduct the cost of your hotel as well. Home Office. If you use a room in your home as an office to conduct the business of running your rentals, that portion of your own rent or mortgage is deductible. Losses. You can claim any losses as deductions. These include fire and weather damage or floods. If you have insurance, you can only deduct the non-reimbursed portion, of course. Insurance. The premiums you pay on your property insurance is deductible. You will probably have flood, fire, theft and liability insurance on the property. Services. Any kind of fees you pay for services related to the property are deductible, such as attorney fees, accountant fees, payments to property management companies, real estate investment advisors and other professionals who provide you services to properly manage your rental property. Some expenses that you may have are not deductible, however. If you have a loss of rental due to vacancy are not deductible, and certain modifications that are capital in nature such as a new roof, room additions, a new fence, etc. are not deductible. Vince Paxton publishes for the most part for http://www.insidewoodworking.com (http://www.insidewoodworking.com/) , an online publication about woodworking tools and cnc machinery. Working on his detailed publications such as http://www.insidewoodworking.com/cnc/index.html (http://www.insidewoodworking.com/cnc/index.html) Newsflashes - Newsflash Mon, 09 Aug 2004 08:30:34 +0100 http://www.rapidtaxpro.com/newsflash/escape-the-burden-of-taxes-with-colorado-interest-mortgage-rate-refinance.html Let?s face it. Even if they are for a good cause, taxes are a pain. It doesn?t help when you know it?s not being used the way it should be because of the shameless pilfering of corrupt politicians. Unfortunately, there are only two things certain in life and these are death and taxes, so there?s really no way to get away from them. Less Is More Instead of moving to the jungle where the Internal Revenue Service or IRS can?t find you and force you to pay taxes, why not think about relocating to a state where taxes are minimal and not so painful like Colorado? In Colorado, you don?t only get to breathe fresh mountain air all the time, which is already a perk in itself, but income tax is a flat 4.63% and is calculated based on taxable income, basically the income left over from federal exemptions and standard deductions. That is so much better than having your taxes computed from your gross income. Yes, Colorado is indeed ideal. You get to pay less in taxes and save more of your hard earned money for yourself and your family. With a Colorado interest mortgage rate refinance, you?ll be well on your way to making bigger savings in the famous Centennial State. Lower Is Definitely Higher Of course, real estate and personal business properties are taxable in Colorado. But isn?t it taxable everywhere else? The important thing is the fact that the state of Colorado collects considerably less than a third of the nation?s 50 states. You can be sure that your Colorado interest mortgage rate refinance is reasonable and therefore, easy on the finances. At this point, you?re probably a tad bit disappointed. After all, why can?t you just have your Colorado interest mortgage rate refinance as it is without the added burden of state taxes? Well, as inviting as it may be, you can?t fight the institution and you certainly can?t fight the government. There are simply some things that can?t be helped, one of them the taxes imposed on the property you are buying with a Colorado interest mortgage rate refinance. Look on the bright side. It won?t go away altogether, but it is a lower tax rate than anywhere else, giving you higher savings than when you purchase property in, say, Vermont. The Price Of Living Like any financially sound person, you are of course thinking about the cost of living. That is naturally dependent on your lifestyle. Retail sales tax in Colorado amount to only 2.9%. Add that to your daily expenses and to your Colorado interest mortgage rate refinance payments and you get the picture. The math is actually fairly straightforward. Also, if you lived in the state for a full year, you are eligible for sales tax refunds and individual state income tax returns. Employment is not a problem. Colorado plays host to thousands of industries and Denver, the state?s capital, is the home of Wall Street in the West. Indeed, Colorado is not only economically and financially ideal; it also provides perfect living conditions. After all, who can put a price tag on beautiful mountains and fresh air? In Colorado, you get those, and more, for free. Newsflashes - Newsflash Mon, 09 Aug 2004 08:30:34 +0100