eBay sellers, do you write off all your business expenses come tax time?
Expenses such as eBay fees, office supplies, home office expenses, and even gasoline can qualify as a deduction for your eBay business. Accurate bookkeeping will track all your business expenses and make your tax professional's life a lot easier come tax time. Cola Tax & Solutions provides bookkeeping service and tax preparation/consulting.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask as you have nothing to lose but $$$ to gain!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Do you hate bookkeeping?
If you're like most business owners the answer is yes.
Let us at Cola Tax & Solutions handle your bookkeeping! Our rates are low and usually range from $50-300/month. Included are monthly financial reports.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Importance of a Credit Report
Analyzing your credit report is a great way to make sure you are on tip top shape before applying for loans. The most important reason is the interest rate in which you are able to obtain. A higher risk = a higher interest rate. A great way to analyze your risk is by looking at a few key points in your credit report. First obtain a copy of your credit report – Get Your Equifax Credit Report Now! Next, look to see if you have any unpaid debt. Any unpaid debt might disqualify you for a loan so make sure to pay them before applying. After that, check to see how many revolving credit accounts, credit cards, you have open. You want to have around three open at one given time. If you are looking to close an account choose ones that are consumer cards and/or younger accounts. Older accounts with a good payment history are exactly what creditors want to see! The last step would be to make sure you have a balance less than 25% on all of the accounts, and the monthly payments should not be more than 7% of your monthly income. It would be best to not carry any balance on your revolving debt and have monthly payments on a mortgage, car or student loan. Hopefully these tips will help you get the best rate on your next loan!
By Cola Tax & Solutions
By Cola Tax & Solutions
Forex? What is it, anyway
The marketThe currency trading (FOREX) market is the biggest and the fastest growing market on earth. Its daily turnover is more than 2.5 trillion dollars, which is 100 times greater than the NASDAQ daily turnover. (click here to read full market background by Easy-Forex™).Markets are places to trade goods. The same goes with FOREX. The Forex goods (or merchandise) are the currencies of various countries. You buy Euro, paying with US dollars, or you sell Japanese Yens for Canadian dollars. That's all.How does one profit in Forex?Very simple and obvious: buy cheap and sell for more! The profit is generated from the fluctuations (changes) in the currency exchange market.The nice thing about the FOREX market, is that regular daily fluctuations, say - around 1%, are multiplied by 100! (in general, Easy-Forex™ offers trading ratios from 1:50 to 1:200). If, for example, the exchange rate of "your" pair of currencies increased by 0.6% in the last 4 hours, your profit will be 60% on your investment! Such can happen in one business day, or in a few hours, even minutes.Moreover, you cannot lose more than your "margin"! You may profit unlimited amounts, but you never lose more than what you initially risked and invested.You can implement your choice (the pair of currencies, the volume amount) under any direction to which the market is moving, and yet make profit. It does not matter whether the exchange rate is going up or down: you can always decide to buy Euro and sell dollar, or vice versa - buy dollar and sell Euro. You don't have to physically possess certain currencies in order to perform "buy" or "sell" with them.How do I start?Register (Easy-Forex™ offers the simplest and quickest registration process, no obligation); deposit your first trading "margin" amount (credit cards are welcome, only by Easy-Forex™); start trading.It can't be simpler or easier than that. Need help? We'll provide you with 1-on-1 training and service, as much as necessary (Easy-Forex™ offers real people service, live, in your own language).How do I trade Forex?You select the pair of currencies with which you wish to make a Forex deal. You determine the volume (the amount of the deal). You deposit the "margin" (collateral needed to facilitate the deal. Usually - only a very small portion of the whole deal, say: 1% or 1:100).Before you finally activate the deal, you can still "freeze" it for a few seconds. That enables you to either change the terms, or accept it as is, or altogether regret the whole idea. The "freeze" feature is a unique service by Easy-Forex™.When your Forex deal is running (you hold an "open position"), you can monitor its status and check scenarios online, whenever you wish. You may change some terms in the deal, or close it (and cash the profit, if any, or minimize the loss, if any). Moreover, Easy-Forex™ lets you determine a "take-profit" rate, with which the deal will close automatically for you, when and if such rate occurs in the market. Meaning: you do not have to stay near your computer when you hold open positions.Want to know more? Want to get on-line training? Register here (simple, quick, no obligation), we'll be glad to guide you, every step of the way.Good luck!Forex trading involves substantial risk of loss, and may not be suitable for everyone
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Definitions - Key Income Tax Words
Cola Tax & Solutions
Total Income – The sum of income from all sources such as wages, interest, dividends, alimony, IRA distributions, see the Income column on the 1040 for more info.
Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) – Your total income minus above the line deductions such as moving expenses, early withdrawal penalties, IRA contributions, student loan interest, see the AGI column on the 1040 for more info.
Standard Deduction – the basic deduction the IRS gives you from being single, head of household, or married.
Itemized Deduction – Schedule A, Instead of taking the standard deduction you can itemize your deductions such as your medical expense, taxes you paid, interest you paid (mortgage and mortgage insurance premium), charity donations, job expenses, for more information view the schedule A
Taxable Income – The amount you owe tax on after you subtract your standard or itemized deduction and exemptions from your AGI.
Tax - The net tax you owe off your taxable income. You can either use the tax schedule or the tax table to configure your tax. It is best to do both and use the lowest, this might save you as much as $8.
Total Tax – The tax subtracted from your total credits is your total tax. After you have your total tax subtract all payments and EIC, if any, that will give you your refund or payment amount.
Self Employment Tax – Any one with self employed income of more than $400 has to file self employment tax, SE tax is your Social Security and Medicaid tax. At a job you usually pay half and your employer pays another half for you when you are self employed you are responsible for the whole bit. For more information view the SE form
Education Credits – If you are a student or a parent of a full-time student you can claim either the HOPE or Lifetime credit if your AGI is less than 57,000 for single and 114,000 for married. These credits are taken off the tax you owe dollar for dollar.
Earned Income Tax Credit (EIC) – to qualify you must make less than 39,800 in 2007, and either be over the age of 25 or have a qualifying child. To see how much you can get check out EIC page 44-50.
Tuition and Fees Deduction – Much like the education credits except it lowers your AGI instead of dollar for dollar against the tax bill, on the other hand it has a higher income limit of 80,000 for single and 160,000 for married. (Only one of the three can be claimed for the same child in the same tax year)
Cola Tax & Solutions
Total Income – The sum of income from all sources such as wages, interest, dividends, alimony, IRA distributions, see the Income column on the 1040 for more info.
Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) – Your total income minus above the line deductions such as moving expenses, early withdrawal penalties, IRA contributions, student loan interest, see the AGI column on the 1040 for more info.
Standard Deduction – the basic deduction the IRS gives you from being single, head of household, or married.
Itemized Deduction – Schedule A, Instead of taking the standard deduction you can itemize your deductions such as your medical expense, taxes you paid, interest you paid (mortgage and mortgage insurance premium), charity donations, job expenses, for more information view the schedule A
Taxable Income – The amount you owe tax on after you subtract your standard or itemized deduction and exemptions from your AGI.
Tax - The net tax you owe off your taxable income. You can either use the tax schedule or the tax table to configure your tax. It is best to do both and use the lowest, this might save you as much as $8.
Total Tax – The tax subtracted from your total credits is your total tax. After you have your total tax subtract all payments and EIC, if any, that will give you your refund or payment amount.
Self Employment Tax – Any one with self employed income of more than $400 has to file self employment tax, SE tax is your Social Security and Medicaid tax. At a job you usually pay half and your employer pays another half for you when you are self employed you are responsible for the whole bit. For more information view the SE form
Education Credits – If you are a student or a parent of a full-time student you can claim either the HOPE or Lifetime credit if your AGI is less than 57,000 for single and 114,000 for married. These credits are taken off the tax you owe dollar for dollar.
Earned Income Tax Credit (EIC) – to qualify you must make less than 39,800 in 2007, and either be over the age of 25 or have a qualifying child. To see how much you can get check out EIC page 44-50.
Tuition and Fees Deduction – Much like the education credits except it lowers your AGI instead of dollar for dollar against the tax bill, on the other hand it has a higher income limit of 80,000 for single and 160,000 for married. (Only one of the three can be claimed for the same child in the same tax year)
Cola Tax & Solutions
Maximize your Refund!
Cola Tax & Solutions
The additional child tax credit is a tricky tax credit that is meant for the low-medium income families, and it is fully refundable which means it could put dollar for dollar in the taxpayer’s bank account! In order for a taxpayer to qualify for the additional tax credit they must claim the child tax credit. The child tax credit is a credit up to $1,000 that the taxpayer receives per dependent child under the age of 13. For example, the taxpayer has one child and his tax is $600 dollars. The taxpayer’s child tax credit will be $600. That will leave the tax payer with a tax bill of nothing. If the taxpayer made more than $11,000 dollars and less than the limit for the credit, then the taxpayer can claim the additional child tax credit. The scenario can change; the taxpayer has three kids and a tax liability of $500. If the taxpayer qualifies for the additional child tax credit they can be looking at a credit up to $2,500. However, these cases are very rare and easily looked over by a tax preparer. A good tax preparer will prepare the tax return according to the taxpayer’s documents. Then, the tax preparer will look at the return and see what could be claimed or increased if the return is filed differently. Small things could make a huge difference. Example: A taxpayer, with one child, claims $500 dollars in student loan interest paid. By claiming that deduction he will make his taxable income zero and make him owe zero in taxes. Sounds like the write thing to do right? Wrong. If the taxpayer did not claim that $500 deduction his taxable income might have been up to $500. Tax on that is around $50. He would then apply the child tax credit for $50. If he qualifies for the additional child tax credit the taxpayer will then have just increased his return by $950. Yes, the return, as in the bottom line. Scenarios as simple as that happen a lot more than you think. Especially by people using tax software as it does not check for that. Since the student loan interest is above the child tax credit naturally the system would say the taxpayer is not eligible for the child tax credit or the additional credit. Taxpayers are not required to claim student loan interest paid and by all means it is legal to not claim it. So, keep that in mind and make sure to ask your tax preparer what they are doing to maximize your refund!
Cola Tax & Solutions
The additional child tax credit is a tricky tax credit that is meant for the low-medium income families, and it is fully refundable which means it could put dollar for dollar in the taxpayer’s bank account! In order for a taxpayer to qualify for the additional tax credit they must claim the child tax credit. The child tax credit is a credit up to $1,000 that the taxpayer receives per dependent child under the age of 13. For example, the taxpayer has one child and his tax is $600 dollars. The taxpayer’s child tax credit will be $600. That will leave the tax payer with a tax bill of nothing. If the taxpayer made more than $11,000 dollars and less than the limit for the credit, then the taxpayer can claim the additional child tax credit. The scenario can change; the taxpayer has three kids and a tax liability of $500. If the taxpayer qualifies for the additional child tax credit they can be looking at a credit up to $2,500. However, these cases are very rare and easily looked over by a tax preparer. A good tax preparer will prepare the tax return according to the taxpayer’s documents. Then, the tax preparer will look at the return and see what could be claimed or increased if the return is filed differently. Small things could make a huge difference. Example: A taxpayer, with one child, claims $500 dollars in student loan interest paid. By claiming that deduction he will make his taxable income zero and make him owe zero in taxes. Sounds like the write thing to do right? Wrong. If the taxpayer did not claim that $500 deduction his taxable income might have been up to $500. Tax on that is around $50. He would then apply the child tax credit for $50. If he qualifies for the additional child tax credit the taxpayer will then have just increased his return by $950. Yes, the return, as in the bottom line. Scenarios as simple as that happen a lot more than you think. Especially by people using tax software as it does not check for that. Since the student loan interest is above the child tax credit naturally the system would say the taxpayer is not eligible for the child tax credit or the additional credit. Taxpayers are not required to claim student loan interest paid and by all means it is legal to not claim it. So, keep that in mind and make sure to ask your tax preparer what they are doing to maximize your refund!
Cola Tax & Solutions
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