Personal loan, debt consolidation, refinancing

Savings Accounts that Work for You

 Business, Credit, Credit Cards, Debt, Financial, Investing, Jobs, Money, Savings  Comments Off
Nov 112012
 

Savings accounts are vital, especially in today’s world where unemployment is on the rise and employees as well as business owners face uncertain futures.  If you lose your job tomorrow, how will you pay your bills?  Do you have a safety net in place that will allow you to cover your monthly living expenses, your home, your healthcare, etc.?  If you do not have any savings in place to last you at least a few months if you end up losing your job and your income, you will face being foreclosed, being evicted, and getting into credit card debt.  Savings accounts are also necessary in the event that your checking account runs of out of enough funds and you need to transfer money from one account to another in order to pay off your credit card bills.

Standard Savings Accounts

Standard savings accounts are available at every bank, whether it is a brick and mortar bank or a strictly online bank.  Interest rates often accompany savings accounts, which means that, each month, you will earn a percentage of earnings on the amount of money you have invested into that savings account.

Most basic savings accounts do not offer very high interest rates, especially these days when interest rates have sunk so low that many banks do not even offer a full 1% on regular savings accounts.  You may, however, find a bank, such as a community bank rather than a big bank, which is able to provide you with higher interest earnings.

Also, some banks offer interest rates that go up as the balance in the account increases.  In this way, you are rewarded for investing in that bank, and as you continue adding to savings, you are increasing your interest rate at the same time, which means more monthly earnings.  This translates to your money growing with ease.

Certificates of Deposit

Certificates of deposit, or “CDs” for short, are able to offer you higher interest rates than standard savings accounts, but you need to be prepared to lock your money into that account for a specified amount of time, such as 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, or even a year or more.  Depending on how long you lock in your money, you will earn different interest rates, so it is entirely up to you to decide what you feel comfortable with.  If you feel that you will not need to access the money for a long time, then go for a longer term plan if it offers a higher interest rate that makes sense to you.  If, however, you are worried that you may need to access that money at some point, and you want to rest assured that it will be available to you sooner than later, go for the shortest possible term.  The reason for this is because you will pay a penalty fee if you need to take out the money before the CD has expired, or come to term.

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When you are ready to get a credit card, just remember that a line of credit comes with a lot of responsibility, so be sure to save up enough money in an emergency savings account, budget appropriately so that you do not end up overspending and so you do not end up in debt because you are unable to pay off those credit card bills.

How to Increase Your Yearly Profits with a Company Registered in Cyprus

 Business, Financial, Investing  Comments Off
Nov 112012
 

Every company’s goal is to earn as much as possible. This is a well known fact. Naturally, if you are  a company owner, your main goal is to earn as much and to spend as little as possible. With all the expenses you will have to pay for running a company, it is necessary that you find things you can spend less on, if possible.

One of the main expenses you will have to face when running a company is taxes. Taxes are pretty much fixed costs that you will have to deal with every year. You may not think that there are ways for you to be able to lessen it without committing a felony. However, there are actually ways that you can do so.

A great way for you to be able to reduce your taxes is by establishing your company in Cyprus. By doing this, you will be able to get all the advantages of a Cyprus based company – primarily regiarding to tax benefits.

Now, you may have noticed the title of this article and you may be wondering how exactly a Cyprus company and its taxation can increase your yearly profits. Well, it is quite simple. With Cypriot taxation laws, your Cyprus based company will be charged with less taxes. Obviously, less taxes means more revenue that you can be able to re invest for the development and growth of your company.

In short, your Cyprus company formation will greatly help you get more revenue anD less expenditures as time goes by. But, what are the things included in Cypriot taxation laws that will in effect cut your annual taxes? Here is a list of some of them.

  • Cyprus offers a low tax enviroment to build your company in.
  • Cyprus imposes only a fixed 10% corporate tax on Cyprus based companies.
  • Cyprus is a member of the European Union, making it subject to all the beneficial policies implemented by the EU.
  • There exists an advance ruling practice.
  • The taxable losses that you incur can be directly and indefinitely carried forward on future earnings to offset it.
  • The dividend income that is acquired from abroad is tax exempt.
  • Capital gain from an immovable property sale that is done abroad is tax exempt.
  • There are no strict transfer pricing rules that are followed.
  • Trading in securities is tax exempt.
  • Profits that are gleaned from buying and selling shares is tax exempt.

All of these and more are what you will be able to get if you make a wise decision and opt to build your company in Cyprus. You will find that doing so will actually be one of the best financial decisions that you have ever made. Aside from reducing the taxes you pay – which is a huge benefit in itself – you will also be able to access a whole new world of possibilities by taking the step to invest in Cyprus. 

Mary is the Accounts Department Manager at http://www.oxfordcy.com. She has a Computer Science Degree from the Central London Polytechnic with considerable experience and expertise in accounting and audit.

Why You Need Workers Compensation Insurance

 Business, Financial, Insurance, Jobs, Legal, Money  Comments Off
Nov 092012
 

Workers Compensation is not something that anybody wants to have to claim, but sometimes, it is unavoidable. Accidents within the workplace do happen, particularly in industries like construction or mining. As a business owner or operator, it is important to ensure that you acquire appropriate workers compensations insurance, not only to ensure that your employees are covered if an accident does occur, but to ensure that your business is not out of pocket – the law as it currently stands in most countries, including Australia, England and the U.S, states that if an employee has an accident while on the job, in most circumstances it is the company’s responsibility to cover their medical bills as well as their salary while off the job.  

Workers Compensations laws and insurance guidelines in countries like the U.S and Australia are extremely strict, primarily due to people previously rorting the system to acquire more compensation than they were actually allowed – for example, if they have broken a finger, they may suggest that the rest of their hand has been injured to acquire more compensation in extreme cases. Though this isn’t common and employees are usually honest, it was becoming an issue in certain countries. The laws attempt to ensure that businesses can’t be sued by employees when they have received workers compensation, but again, to enforce this you must make sure that your Workers Compensation insurance is up to scratch. In saying this, you must ensure that if an accident does occur, you follow the advice of financiers and your policy to ensure you are doing right by your employee.

Business insurance, in particular Workers Compensation insurance, is compulsory in many countries. Several factors can impact on the employer’s Workers Compensation insurance cost; claim history plays a part in discounting or loading your insurance cost – this basically provides you and your employees with an incentive to create a safe work environment. Those who work in high-risk sectors like construction, mining, transport or hospitality should ensure that they get a flexible policy. Ensuring that you acquire a policy with the right company for you is pertinent; make sure you choose a company with a policy that suits your exact needs, that are available when you need information or help, and who don’t have extremely high premiums.  

Workers Compensation is vital, whether it is legally required in your country or not – both for employer and employee. Accidents do happen, and it is important to ensure that your policy covers everything you may require to ensure that you and your employees are both catered to and looked after.

Chloe works on behalf of Trades Essentials, the leading tradesman insurance broker in Australia. They provide tailored insurance solutions or tradesman and builders. 

5 Common Tax Cheats

 Business, Financial, Legal, Money, Mortgage  Comments Off
Nov 082012
 

For those people who are thinking about cheating on their taxes, this is a very bad idea. In fact, cheating is highly illegal and punishable by time in jail as well as large fines. Below are five of the most common ways people cheat on their taxes.

Creating a Fake Dependent

In order to gain more money in stimulus earnings, some people create fake dependents to claim on their taxes. At one time, creating fake dependents was such a large problem in the United States that it prompted government to begin asking for dependents’ social security numbers when filing taxes. In doing so, the government found an effective way to lessen this type of tax cheating. Some people, who can’t steer clear of cheating the government through the creation of fake dependents, have now begun stealing children’s social security numbers; this is a sure way to get caught and makes this tax cheating tactic a very dumb one to implement.

Using the Home for Business Purposes

People cannot legally deduct part of their rent payments simply because they carry out business tasks in their homes. The only legal way to deduct parts or portions of rent, mortgage, and utility payments is if part of the home is being used exclusively for business tasks. For example, if a person uses a home office to carry out business tasks, the office room must be used only for business tasks; not for any other type of purpose such as watching TV for pleasure purposes. The only amount that can be tax deductible is the portion of square footage that the room consumes of the owner’s total home square footage. For example, if a person has a 400 square foot home office, and his or her total home square footage is 1600 feet, only 25% of the rent or mortgage payment can be deducted for business-tax purposes.

Not Reporting Money Gained through Gambling

Anytime a person wins money through gambling, every penny won must be reported; this even includes money won through home-poker games. Most casinos and track events will have winners fill out a Form W-G2 when large amounts of money are won which helps to lessen the amount of people who try to conceal their gambling earnings. For those people who win money and don’t report it, chances are, if it is a large amount of money, the government will find out, making it important to never try and cheat the government through this type of common tax-cheating method.

Giving to a Fake Charity

Just as it is illegal to create fake dependents, it is also highly illegal to create fake charities. In fact, the government maintains a list of charities that are eligible to take in tax-deductible deductions. In doing so, they have made it very simple to identify those people who are stating they are giving money away to fake charities and then turning around to take their donations off on their taxes. Just like any other tax-cheating strategy, inventing a fake charity is a very bad one to follow.

Not Filing Taxes

Not filing taxes is the worst thing a person can do. Eventually, it may take a few years, but eventually those people who refuse to file their taxes are usually caught. Many of these people end up spending time in jail for trying to skip out on paying their taxes. In addition to jail time, not filing taxes also comes along with a hefty fine, putting a person in worse financial shape than they were before they stopped filing.

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Henry Duncan is a corporate accountant and guest author at Accounting-Degree.org, a site with guides and information on getting an online masters in accounting.

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