Business News Online

New Credit Card Rules: Brace Yourself for the Backlash

Posted on Wednesday, 16th June 2010 by Gregory Moore

On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve Board enacted additional consumer protections for credit card users in the ongoing game of legislative whack-a-mole. These new rules, which won’t go into effect until August 22, may bring some relief to perpetually bedraggled plastic swipers. But if we’ve learned anything from recent history, it’s that each push against credit card issuers nets a an equal or greater reaction from the industry. Let’s take a quick look at some of the bones that the Fed is throwing before looking into the crystal ball to see what overcompensating screw-over tactics the credit card industry will cook up next.

Late Fees and Penalties Capped at $25

Under the new rules, late fees and over-the-limit penalties cannot exceed $25. Further

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How to Kick a Bad Spending Habit

Posted on Monday, 14th June 2010 by Gregory Moore

Do you have something you like to splurge on, even when it’s not the best idea? Whether it’s eating every meal out, picking up all the latest gadgets, or hitting the mall for shoe-buying sprees, your splurges could be costing you more than you think. Curbing the habit can help you build your savings and even tackle debt. Here are a few ways to do it:

1. Keep track of what you spend. Once you’ve recorded a few weeks or a month, highlight your luxuries (anything not totally necessary) to see where you’re spending the most.

2. Calculate what it’s costing you. That $4 almond latte you have every weekday may be just $4, but that adds up to a whopping $1,040 a year. To get a

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IRS Takes the Thrill Out of Gambling

Posted on Sunday, 13th June 2010 by Jeremy Lee

By Oregon Tax News,

Thanks to the IRS, successful gamblers may become losers. Those gamblers who win $600 from racetracks and state lotteries, $1,200 or more from slots or bingo, $1,500 from keno, or $5,000 from poker will receive a Form W-2G from the IRS to report their winnings. Federal tax law acknowledges wins as income but only acknowledges losses in relation to the wins in the same year. For example, if a person wins $10,000 this year and loses $9,000 next year, his two-year total of taxable gambling income is going to be $10,000, not $1,000. Individuals who win $10,000 at poker in June, lose $10,000 in July could wind up significantly boosting their taxes.

The exception to the rule is the rare taxpayer who claims to be a professional gambler. This elite group does not have a same-year timing problem. They

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How To Make Good Use Of The Paper Your Accountant Gives To You (part 1)

Posted on Saturday, 12th June 2010 by Jeremy Lee

Every company has an accountant. They are often seen as gray men, with round glasses and little social skills. Many think that their existence is justified by bookkeeping, which, in turn, is a law enforced requirement, right?

Wrong.

They can do a lot for your business, even preventing critical failures that could potentially put you out of business.

They periodically produce three sheets of paper, the balance sheet, the income statement (or Profit & Loss statement, P&L) and the cash flow statement.

The balance sheet is a summary document which gives a very aggregated view of assets and liabilities, that is, of strengths and weaknesses of the company.

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From ranch to city of the future

Posted on Saturday, 12th June 2010 by Laura Hernandez

permits now in hand, Babcock Ranch developer Syd Kitson is thinking about systems.

The real estate downturn has thrown a pall over this project, as it has others, but whenever the 18,000-acre ranch is developed, Kitson wants it to be the first of its kind in many aspects.

Now that the project is moving into the design-and-engineering phase, the firsts Kitson envisions for Babcock Ranch are coming together in what he calls “a system of systems.”

Babcock’s need to have a city-wide solar power grid, ultra-speed broadband, energy efficiency and other state-of-the-art features led to the announcement last week that IBM would supply software to help Kitson & Partners engineer and design its city and to integrate all these systems.

That partnership led Kitson to a stage in Orlando on Tuesday, where he addressed 4,000 IBM employees and their clients about making the systems work together.

On top of these workaday functions for the planned city of 20,000 homes is an issue of critical importance to Floridians these days: economic development.

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Treated Like a Criminal at Checkout? Don’t Put Up With It

Posted on Wednesday, 9th June 2010 by Gregory Moore

Credit card fraud is a serious issue, and retailers and credit card issuers have enacted a number of measures to help protect your identity and their bottom-lines. But the backlash of tighter security is that many common citizens are needlessly being treated like potential criminals. The ever-shifting rules for credit card security make it difficult for customers to know when they should give up their personal information and when they have every right to clam up. In spite of that, here are four situations where the law is clear.