Archive for the 'Government' Category

I just heard about this today. There are evidently quite a number of folks planning to switch from the Big Banks to smaller, member owned credit unions on November 5th. It’s Bank Transfer Day. The description and goal of Bank Transfer Day is straightforward: If you currently have checking and savings accounts (deposit accounts) with a [...]

In the past I blogged on this topic: Nashville, TN – Home-based businesses take hit from Metro Council. Today the “Beacon Center” (formerly the Tennessee Center for Policy Research – a libertarian leaning organization) published it’s own report on how the regulatory situation in Nashville “Music City” is stifling entrepreneurship of folks who either would [...]

One of the attractions of a home based business is the possibility – when carefully documented of course – of deducting part of one’s home as an “office expense”. A portion of the rent/mortgage, utilities, etc. can be deducted in theory for exclusive business use. But some people who work at home get a bit [...]

While Nashville, TN is friendly to Big Business and congratulates itself for every corporation that relocates its headquarters in the vicinity, it’s love for entrepreneurship is not quite so uniform. Unless there’s a photo op or some way for politicians to congratulate themselves for attracting a business, people wanting to start a home based business [...]

If you are deducting your business mileage, be aware that the IRS just upped what you can deduct for the rest of the year to 55.5 cents per mile.  That becomes effective July 1st. The previous rate was 51 cents per mile… so nearly a 10% increase. This is nice for deductions but, to me [...]

The Christian Science Monitor notes today that Human Waste Could Be Used As Biofuel An optimist might suppose that we’ve finally found a renewable fuel source in politicians as they seem so full of the necessary precursor! From Ghana: Now a Columbia University professor of environmental engineering has teamed up with a social enterprise in [...]

Tax Prof Blog notes today that… the IRS ruled that third-party payment processors such as EBay’s PayPal service do not need to collect taxpayer identification numbers or withhold taxes from sellers who have 200 or fewer transactions in a year. Here’s the IRS notification… A large number Ebay sales folks were about to have to [...]

As the Fiscal Times reports today, which we already knew but need constant reminding of, Government regulation kills business. Here’s part of the insanity that I wasn’t aware of: Case in point:  The Environmental Protection Agency classifies milk as an oil because of its animal fat content. It therefore subjects dairy producers to the same costly [...]

Have affiliate marketers gone too far? Or are consumers just really dumb? Probably both in this case:   Replete with established news logos and official-sounding names such as “News 6 News Alerts,” the sites tout independent investigations of “miracle” acai berry supplements, claiming that they cause major weight loss in a short period of time [...]

From the Fiscal Times Please Note: Check with your tax advisor to learn the actual circumstances under which these deductions were granted so you don’t go getting yourself in  trouble! 1. Cosmetic implants you know where! And only if for business purposes… 2. Cat food for feral cats in a junk yard to cut down [...]