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 big bank, the organizers encourage you to remove all of your funds, close your accounts, and place your money in a new deposit account with a not-for-profit credit union.  The organizers ask that you do this by November 5. And since November 5 is a Saturday, you should definitely do it before November 5 since many big banks aren’t open on weekends. account with a not-for-profit credit union. The organizers ask that you do this by November 5. And since November 5 is a Saturday, you should definitely do it before November 5 since many big banks aren’t open on weekends.

The organizer, Kristen Christian has said, “I started this because I felt like many of you do. I was tired– tired of the fee increases, tired of not being able to access my money when I need to, tired of them using what little money I have to oppress my brothers & sisters. So I stood up. I’ve been shocked at how many people have stood up alongside me. With each person who RSVPs to this event, my heart swells. Me closing my account all on my lonesome wouldn’t have made a difference to these fat cats. But each of YOU standing up with me… they can’t drown out the noise we’ll make.”

I’m not against this at all… the only problem is that in the things I’ve read about it, I still can’t figure out why they chose November 5th, a Saturday!

Anyway, if you join in… here are some Steps to make Bank Transfer Day go Easily!

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 work from home or start small businesses.

Here’s the report “A Burdensome Tune” (pdf)

The report begins:

In its latest report, A Burdensome Tune: How Music City’s Regulations Harm Entrepreneurs, the Beacon Center analyzes the litany of rules and restrictions the city of Nashville places on home-based businesses, street and food truck vendors, sidewalk salesmen, taxi drivers, valet service operators, and auctioneers. These regulations hurt entrepreneurs and small business at a time when jobs are needed most.

The 4th page of the report starts the section detailing the obstacles Nashville places on starting a Home Business in particular.

In addition to limiting the amount of employees and square footage that may be used, it specifically and strictly bans all signage! How many barbers or cosmetologists could earn extra income from home but not even be allowed a simple sign to promote their services or even let customers referred by word of mouth know if they’re at the right address? Piano teachers can’t even teach lessons in their own home!

In today’s world where job creation is paramount, Nashville is acting as if people were using their homes to stable livestock instead of working with an iPad! Sadly the bureaucratic class looks for salvation en masse… the savior-mega corporation bringing 10,000 jobs at a time. It’s better for publicity to wine and dine such figures when they emerge instead of empowering families and individuals to generate income!

But some people who work at home get a bit overzealous like this accountant:

Tax Court: Accountant Cannot Deduct Bathroom as Home Office

Petitioner used one of the bedrooms of his residence exclusively as his office for his accounting business. Petitioner argued that he also used the hallway and the bathroom adjacent to this bedroom exclusively for his accounting business. Petitioner testified, however, that his children and other personal guests occasionally used the bathroom. Accordingly, the hallway and the bathroom were not used exclusively for business purposes. …

In the report Home-based businesses take a hit from Metro Council

As the City Paper notes:

Existing Metro law already allows residents to operate businesses from their houses, but it doesn’t permit patrons to visit for business purposes. Thus, home-based piano teachers, architects and others who have clients stop by violate the law.

“We went through the zoning codes of every comparable city in the United States,” Jameson said. “There is not a single city in the United States that flatly prohibits clients and patrons on site.”

The concern is for traffic, pollution, and parking issues ostensibly. But in reality, Nashville does not even have the will to bring it’s codes up to nationwide standards. So if you’re a white collar professional, web designer, tutor or other business person making money from your computer and your phone and you may need to see a customer and you’re looking to relocate to Nashville, TN be aware that currently your business may be “illegal”.

The previous rate was 51 cents per mile… so nearly a 10% increase.

This is nice for deductions but, to me at least, it reminds that inflation is pretty rampant!

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 Accra, Ghana, to turn “fecal sludge” into biodiesel or methane fuel. The project, called the “Next-Generation Urban Sanitation Facility,” is in cooperation with Waste Enterprisers and is being underwritten by a recently announced $1.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The purpose of the project is “sustainable sanitation” …

To make it of practical use in the United States – or anywhere – vehicles would need to be “flex fuel”.

The Open Fuel Standard Act of 2011 was proposed to create markets for these alternative fuels so that any US vehicle could run any number of related fuels so that consumers have lower priced fuel options for their vehicles.

It’s only if such a law were passed here that alternatives to gasoline would stand a real chance to thrive without government subsidies.

On a related business note about the benefits of cutting eliminating waste, check out this excellent article on how eliminating waste, recycling has really worked well in Indiana:  Subaru’s “no waste” philosophy pays off.

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 try to unload their products on another platform like Craigslist as a result of this ruling and, of course, that could hurt their business and Ebay’s. If the items were personal use items, they might not have even been subject to tax, but the broad ruling made no such distinction (how could Ebay know for sure anyway?).

At 200 transactions a year, you’re selling about one item per business day on average. Unless y0u’re making $500 to $1,000 profit per item, it’s probably a nice little side income or part of a larger business mix. It may not be “net income” at all actually but the law made no distinction. Having to move from Ebay to Craigslist would have definitely reduced the odds of linking to customers in my opinion and hurt these businesses. Thankfully everyone got a reprieve!

Related Item (affiliate link): Want to sell your ebay items on Facebook? Here’s how….

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 rules that are designed to prevent oil spills. As part of the new Obama administration initiative, the EPA is moving to exempt the dairy industry from the federal Spill, Prevention, Control and Countermeasures regulations.

Did you know that spilling milk required “Countermeasures”? Amazingly stupid. The only “countermeasure” you need are thirsty kittens to lick up the spill!

But what this means is that only larger and larger businesses are able to financially comply with increasing loads of such regulatory manure.  While you may be saying “I  don’t care, I don’t run a dairy”, the reality is that rules like this are destroying family farms and the ability of small farmers to make a living.  What takes their place, large corporate “agribusiness”.

Just a few decades ago, a family in my county could operate a small dairy farm, have a small herd of 20 or 30 cows and make at least a plausible livelihood. Regulations like this, on top of everything else going on in farming, have made this impossible.

I’m not a fan of Newt Gingrich’s Presidential candidacy for mancy reasons. But one proposal of replacing the “Environmental Protection Agency” with an “Environmental Solutions Agency” makes sense, especially with idiotic regulations like this!

 
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 with no diet or exercise.

“Almost everything about these sites is fake,” David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “The weight loss results, the so-called investigations, the reporters, the consumer testimonials, and the attempt to portray an objective, journalistic endeavor.”

A newly instituted consumer alert cautions potential buyers, “As a rule, legitimate news organizations do not endorse products.”

See it all at Business Insider

You can see one of the “fake pages” below (if you haven’t seen them 100 times already)…

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 on mice and snakes

3. Bariatric (weight loss) surgery

4.  Swimming pool operating expenses

5.  Losses from failing to complete an assignment

6. Bodybuilding oil

7. Some bad personal loans

8. Drug Rehab

Check it out at  the Fiscal Times