All Posts Tagged With: "paying taxes"
Umbrella companies in the United Kingdom
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Mon, Dec 14 2009 | 1 Comment
In the United Kingdom, there are things called umbrella companies. What exactly is an umbrella company and why does anyone need them? Well, an umbrella company is a company that serves as an employer to people who are working as independent contractors that work under a temporary contract. This is necessary in the United Kingdom because of legislation that was passed in 2007. The IR35 legislation created tests that would determine one’s employment status and therefore, their tax benefits.
Umbrella companies offer payroll solutions for these types of employees. The way I understand it, the contracts are drawn up for the umbrella company and the “independent contractors” are then sent to work with the employer.
Umbrella payroll services are typically used when an umbrella company is used to handle an independent contractor. So in a sense you are employed but mostly have the costs associated with self employment such as health care and no paid vacation time.
I don’t think that I like the idea of an independent contractor being taken care of by an umbrella company. I believe, as a temporary worker myself, that the umbrella company just is another company that finds itself paying taxes and typically a independent worker must now pay something to this company or their contract is otherwise effected by the need for an umbrella company.
I find this situation similar to a union in which sometimes a person might be able to find a job on his own but instead is placed into a job that she/she might not be qualified for and every two weeks must give a percentage of their check to the union to help support it. However, unlike a union a umbrella company can usually terminate the employ more easily than a union based worker could be removed by the company that he is working for.
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Tags: umbrella company, umbrella companies, independent worker
Do You Really Need to Open a Swiss Bank Account Online?
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Thu, Oct 22 2009 | 1 Comment
How does one open a Swiss bank account online and what advantages does this provide? The process of opening a foreign account may not be as complicated as it seems. Some banks may actually let consumers open an account with out a minimum initial deposit and even without any monthly maintenance charge or service fees. What are the advantages of when you open a Swiss bank account online?
Advantages include a worldwide account; one that you exercise full control over. An international or worldwide account is protected from economic troubles because it is not located in America, thus not subject to American law. Even if the American dollar should continue to sink in value you have the ability to store money in various currencies, including USD, EUR or CHF. This can also be seen as a way of diversifying your income and assets. For instance, many people believe that the U.S. government has the right to seize your assets at any time. Some predict that if the current economic crisis continues that the government will start applying more pressure on the wealthier class. This is debatable, but one thing is for sure: the U.S. government certainly does have the right to access your bank accounts at any time.
Furthermore, you as an American citizen are also subject the bank’s policies, not to mention your own country. That means that if a banking institution files for bankruptcy you could lose all of your funds, depending on the bank’s policies of insurance. The freedom to be a “multinational” businessperson, not one dependent upon a single country, is quite a privilege.
If you desire to open a Swiss bank account online then you are not under obligation to fly to Switzerland, nor do you have to be rich. The practice is not illegal, and there are no laws against opening such an account. It is very possible that the government doesn’t like the idea of not having access to your account, and this is why many American citizens are seeking out this international opportunity. Banks provide full privacy from all prying eyes. When you open a Swiss bank account online you can choose between different types of accounts like a high yield savings account, student bank account, current bank account, and business bank accounts
While it is legal to open a Swiss bank account online, it is not legal to use such an account for tax evasion purposes. The Swiss bank account will not investigate you, but the U.S. can catch up to a trail of deceit. Therefore, remember that it’s always illegal to avoid paying taxes that you earn from using American currency.
What does the choice to open a Swiss bank account online have to do with a payday loan? It’s possible that some individuals may try and open a Swiss bank account online as a means to guarantee a savings account. This is a wise move, especially considering the instability of the United States’ economy. However, withdrawing money from a savings account, even an international account, may not always be the best course of action.
The idea of a savings account is to save money—not to withdraw it if at all possible. Most people assume that they have no other options but to reach into their savings account (or even to open a Swiss bank account online) to take the money they currently need. Consider another option: payday loans. These loans are not typical bank loans. They do not require credit checks or lots of paperwork and waiting processes. Rather, they are approved online and can give borrowers up to a couple thousand dollars via instant transfer.
Borrowers can use this money to catch up on personal bills, to purchase personal expenses or to use as capital for their business. These loans are short-term loans and are usually repaid within a paycheck’s amount of time—usually 30 days or less. This minimizes on the interest and eliminates most of the long, drawn out paperwork process involved with a traditional loan or in the choice to open a Swiss bank account online.
When you open a Swiss bank account online or take money from your savings, you may affect your interest rate or incur other bank charges. Taking a payday loan is easy, fast, and doesn’t carry a great deal of risk. Don’t assume that you are all out of options whenever you meet with financial adversity. Everyone is feeling the effects of the economic crisis. Loan companies can provide fast loans without scrutinizing creditworthiness. If you can manage to use on-hand funds (even short-term loan companies) to pay for imminent expenses, and avoid dipping into your savings account or trying to open a Swiss bank account online, then you can create a more stable financial future for your retirement.
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Tags: savings account, Money, loans
Mistakes that can cause your investments to falter
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Thu, Sep 10 2009 | 1 Comment
When you first start out investing or even in life, you don’t always make the best choices. After all, you usually have to make mistakes to learn from them. However, not learning before hand when it comes to your financials could prove to be costly and damaging to your long term wealth.
Here are a few mistakes that are often made:
1) Procrastination. College is over, and now it’s time to get out there are really make something of yourself…tomorrow. I know this one well. In college, when you procrastinate you may not lose out on anything at all, I often put papers off until the last minute and still did well because I wrote the best papers under pressure. However, when it comes to your finances, again, you can’t procrastinate or you will damage your long term financial goals. Here are some of the consequences:
Fail to start investing soon and you’ll miss out on years of compound interest.
Don’t keep a budget and you could sacrifice control of your spending.
Buy now with the intent to pay off later and you’ll dig a debt hole that’s tough to climb out of.
Pay your bills late and you could damage your credit score.
Put off saving money in a rainy day fund and you could be caught unprepared in a personal
emergency.
2) Not diversifying your portfolio. When people start out, they don’t always know how to diversify out risk from their portfolio. While you can’t completely hedge yourself against something like the current recession, you can help your portfolio out a little. Investing in a wide array of save investments can lead to steady returns. While you may not get the “super returns” that some stocks give, some mutual funds simply track the market and you may earn a fairly steady rate every year.
3) Over paying taxes. A Roth IRA grows tax-free and a 401 (k) is money taken out of your employment check before taxes. Both are ways to avoid and save money on taxes.
The idea of saving on your taxes may seem a tad obscure, but it really can pay off big. Say a 25-year-old contributes $5,000 each year for 40 years to an investment account, making an average annual return of 8%. If she used a taxable account, she’d have more than one-fourth less money than if she’d gone with the Roth. (Use this calculator to see how far your savings can take you. Enter “0″ in the tax-rate boxes to simulate the tax-exempt status of a Roth IRA.)
4) Going into debt is another big problem and mistake. Eventually, with the right investment moves and job, you will be able to have a fancy car and a big house full of “stuff” but right now, you don’t want to start out your life in debt. Any money you put toward interest is money that you won’t have later and you’re basically just throwing it out the window.
Related posts:Minimize your Investing Costs
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Tags: saving money, financial goals, mutual funds
Financial oopsies most new investors make
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Wed, Jul 08 2009 | 0 Comments
When you first start out investing or even in life, you don’t always make the best choices. After all, you usually have to make mistakes to learn from them. However, not learning before hand when it comes to your financials could prove to be costly and damaging to your long term wealth.
Here are a few mistakes that are often made:
1) Procrastination. College is over, and now it’s time to get out there are really make something of yourself…tomorrow. I know this one well. In college, when you procrastinate you may not lose out on anything at all, I often put papers off until the last minute and still did well because I wrote the best papers under pressure. However, when it comes to your finances, again, you can’t procrastinate or you will damage your long term financial goals. Here are some of the consequences:
Fail to start investing soon and you’ll miss out on years of compound interest.
Don’t keep a budget and you could sacrifice control of your spending.
Buy now with the intent to pay off later and you’ll dig a debt hole that’s tough to climb out of.
Pay your bills late and you could damage your credit score.
Put off saving money in a rainy day fund and you could be caught unprepared in a personal
emergency.
2) Not diversifying your portfolio. When people start out, they don’t always know how to diversify out risk from their portfolio. While you can’t completely hedge yourself against something like the current recession, you can help your portfolio out a little. Investing in a wide array of save investments can lead to steady returns. While you may not get the “super returns” that some stocks give, some mutual funds simply track the market and you may earn a fairly steady rate every year.
3) Over paying taxes. A Roth IRA grows tax-free and a 401 (k) is money taken out of your employment check before taxes. Both are ways to avoid and save money on taxes.
The idea of saving on your taxes may seem a tad obscure, but it really can pay off big. Say a 25-year-old contributes $5,000 each year for 40 years to an investment account, making an average annual return of 8%. If she used a taxable account, she’d have more than one-fourth less money than if she’d gone with the Roth. (Use this calculator to see how far your savings can take you. Enter “0″ in the tax-rate boxes to simulate the tax-exempt status of a Roth IRA.)
4) Going into debt is another big problem and mistake. Eventually, with the right investment moves and job, you will be able to have a fancy car and a big house full of “stuff” but right now, you don’t want to start out your life in debt. Any money you put toward interest is money that you won’t have later and you’re basically just throwing it out the window.
Related posts:Minimize your Investing Costs
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Tags: saving money, paying taxes, procrastination
UBS to hand over names of U.S. customers
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Thu, Feb 19 2009 | 0 CommentsIn the movies you always hear about a “secret Swiss bank account.” That’s usually where a lot of money is hidden for “a rainy day” or to be hidden from the U.S. government. Well, that bank actually exists (to my surprise). UBS is a Swiss bank that has admitted to Federal officials that they were helping customers defraud the U.S. government by holding money from U.S. citizens that wanted to avoid paying taxes.
Well now it’s known that this is where the “Swiss bank accounts” are, UBS is giving up the names of those U.S. citizens that were trying to pull one over on the IRS.
Related posts:It is unclear how many of its clients’ names UBS will divulge. Federal prosecutors have been examining about 19,000 accounts at the bank, but UBS ultimately may disclose the identities of only a few hundred customers.
But to some, turning over any names at all heralds the end of the secret Swiss bank account, whose traditions date to the Middle Ages.
“The Swiss are saying that this is the end of Swiss banking as they knew it,” said Jack Blum, an offshore tax specialist. “Nobody will trust the security of the Swiss bank account.”
Do You Really Need to Open a Swiss Bank Account Online?
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Tags: swiss bank account, offshore tax, tax specialist

