Archive for March, 2010
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
Legal And Tax Strategies For The Online Retailer – Protecting Yourself And Your Assets
When you open an eBiz, its important you remember that it really is a business and approach it as you would any other business. Dont just jump in and start selling. Consider all the legal issuesyour responsibilities and the risks youre assumingin order to safe-guard your investments.
Do I Need to Charge Taxes Online?
If youre running an internet company, its your responsibility to keep current on tax laws that affect you. As a retailer, youre obligated to know the laws regarding both the collection and payment of state sales taxes.
According to CPA Jim Reed, of Teton Tax (http://www.tetontax.com), The collection of sales tax for items sold over the internet is only required if the business has a physical presence in that state. In other words, if you run a home-based candle business in Oregon and you sell a box of votive candle holders to a customer in Portland, youll need to charge them sales tax.
If, however, you sell a candelabrum to a customer in Texas, where your business has no physical presence, you dont need to charge sales tax, so youre able to provide your customer with a lower price. This can add up to substantial savings on high-end purchases and give your eBiz a competitive advantage over out-of-state brick-and-mortar stores.
In addition to charging sales tax, youre also responsible for passing that money on to the government. In most states, youll need to fill out a tax return, usually once a month. Says Reed, Youre required to fill that out, whether you have sales or not, once you obtain a sales tax license. Each state has its own sales tax form to be completed, signed, and filed, and the tax remitted, based on what taxes have been collected during that period.
Whats the Best Way to Structure My Business?
Another legal aspect of starting a eBiz is choosing how you want to structure it. The way you structure your business can afford you legal protection, or leave your assets exposed:
Sole ProprietorshipsMany e-business owners set themselves up as sole proprietorships to avoid the costs of incorporating. However, this type of structure leaves your personal property vulnerable in a lawsuit. A plaintiff can go after everythingyour home, your personal bank accounts, your car.
A Corporation or an LLCIncorporating your business is like getting an insurance policy for your personal assets. If your company is sued, only what belongs to the corporation is at risk. The fees associated with setting up a corporation or an LLC are fairly minimal.
No matter how you decide to set up your business, its always a good idea to consult a CPA and an attorney to make sure youre legally squared away and set up in the manner that most benefits you.
Tags: Brick And Mortar, Brick And Mortar Stores, Candelabrum, Candle Business, Competitive Advantage, Cpa, Ebiz, Internet Company, Jim Reed, Legal Aspect, Online Retailer, Physical Presence, Safe Guard, Sales Tax, Sales Taxes, Substantial Savings, Tax Form, Tax Return, Tax Strategies, Votive Candle Holders
Posted in Asset Management | No Comments »
Sunday, March 28th, 2010
Banking and savings customer service and reputation forefront in decision-making.
52% of us have moved our savings because we were unhappy with customer service, according to the latest moneyfacts.co.uk user polls. 42% of us have avoided a particular account provider due to a friends bad experience.
With bank account providers, 46% of us have moved current account because of bad customer service and 45% have avoided a certain bank because of a friends bad experience.
Accessing our banking and savings via the internet is becoming increasingly popular but still many of us prefer to pick up the phone or visit a branch. Our finances are something that we need to take seriously and can cause a lot of stress. This means when we want to discuss them or need help, we need to be treated fairly and receive a good service.
Banks are continually being slated in the press for unfair charges and for things such as going overdrawn. This, along with hearing about people close to us having had a bad experience, would be enough to put many of us off choosing a certain account provider. However important good service is to us, we should still be aware of interest rates being offered by different providers.
The average rate of interest paid on current accounts is 1% gross on a balance of 1. However, current account best buy charts on moneyfacts.co.uk show that rates of over 4% can be earned on these accounts. Banking facilities should also be looked at when choosing your current account. For instance, is it important to have a branch near to you? Do you want to use internet banking?
As well as these things, if you use an overdraft on your current account it is wise to compare rates of interest on these. Moneyfacts research of overdrafts shows that some providers are charging EARs (Effective Annual Rates) on authorised overdrafts of over 20% and for unauthorised overdrafts over 30%. Again, best buy charts on moneyfacts.co.uk show that better deals are available with rates on authorised overdrafts as low as 0% (introductory) and unauthorised at under 6%.
Rates on savings accounts also vary greatly. On no notice accounts at 1,000 the average rate of interest is around 2%. The savings best buys charts show that rates of over 4.5% can be found. Again, account facilities should be considered.
Tags: Account Provider, Account Providers, Bad Customer Service, Bad Experience, Banking Internet, Best Buy, Current Account, Current Accounts, Ears, Forefront, Interest Rates, Internet Banking, Moneyfacts, Overdraft, Polls, Rate Of Interest, Reputation, Service Banks, Stress
Posted in Banking Finance | No Comments »
Friday, March 26th, 2010
How To Prepare Surfaces For Asset Tags And Asset Labels On Computers & It Equipment
In past articles we have talked about what asset labels or asset tags are and who should be using them. This article is designed to show people the best method of applying asset labels or asset tags.
Failure to follow these instructions could mean that the labels will not work as expected.
The most important element of applying any kind of security adhesive based identification device is the cleanliness of the surface. The surface needs to be free of dirt and especially any oils or grease as this will prevent a good bond ever being achieved.
I have found that the best method of doing this is simply to clean the surface with an alcohol wipe. You can buy sachets quite cheaply. You simply open the sachet by tearing the top open and take the alcohol cloth out. Then, gently rub the area of the equipment where you intend to apply the label.
You will find that the alcohol may take 30 seconds to evaporate, however when this has completed the surface should be free of any contaminants.
Now, as these labels are highly tacky you need to make sure you get the label on straight because, in some grades of materials – especially the void material and the destructible, it is impossible to reposition them without damaging them.
Sometimes I recommend you mark out the corners with a little marker pen so you have a rough idea of it being on square – note, only do this before you wipe with alcohol as the ink in the pen itself may prevent the adhesive from grabbing.
The next stage is to wait. With vinyl destructible Id recommend 2 hours for 40% strength, 1 day for 60% strength and 3 days for 100% strength. It really does take that long for the adhesive to cure.
I hope this has helped.
Tags: Alcohol, Asset Labels, Asset Tags, Cleanliness, Computers, Contaminants, Dirt, Element, Failure, Grease, Marker, Marker Pen, Rough Idea, Sachet, Surfaces
Posted in Asset Management | No Comments »
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
Bank of America online banking is available to any customer who currently does business with the bank. Participation in the Bank of America online banking program is free and easy to set up.
One feature that sets the Bank of America online banking program apart from its competitors is the way it handles bill payments. Youd think a lot of data entry would be required, but thats not the case. The program already knows the billing addresses of the most commonly used payees.
To set up a payee such as your electric company, start by accessing the built-in list of payees that the Bank of America online banking program maintains. The program already knows the names of the major players in the community and maintains the names and billing addresses that most customers are likely to use such as electric, cable, and utility companies, area department stores and local major financial institutions. Pick the payee from the list, enter your loan or account number and in seconds, that payee is set up.
If the payee does not exist in the list, you enter payee details one time, and you never have to deal with a payee again until theres a change in address or other account details. When you have all your payees entered, they appear listed in alphabetical order. Next time you open the Bank of America online banking program to pay bills, you select the payee, enter the amount due and the day you want the payment to show up at the payee address.
Now heres the cool part about the Bank of America online banking bill paying option. The money for the payment is not debited from your account until the payment arrives at the payee billing address. Most other bill paying options debit the money the day the payment is mailed not delivered, meaning the bank has 4 7 days to earn interest on your money! So in effect, you actually earn money by using the Bank of America online banking option.
Tags: Account Details, Alphabetical Order, America Online, Bank America, Bank Of America, Bank Of America Online Banking, Bank Participation, Banking Online, Bill Paying, Bill Payments, Billing Address, Billing Addresses, Data Entry, Department Stores, Electric Cable, Financial Institutions, Lot, Money, Names, Online Banking Bank Of America
Posted in Banking Finance | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Do I Buy The Assets Or The Shares In The Company I Want To Buy (The Target)
When you are looking at a company or business purchase, for a buyer the answer will usually be that it will be simpler quicker and more cost effective to buy the assets of a business rather than the shares itself. For the seller it will usually be more tax effective to sell the shares in the business. The reasons for this view are outlined below. In our opinion, selling the business assets rather than the shares (i.e. a business sale) will usually result in quicker more cost-effective deals because the rules on financial assistance do not apply to asset sales (see below) and the buyer can be more selective about which assets (and liabilities) the buyer takes on.
Legal Effect
Where a buyer acquires shares in the Target, the accrued liabilities of the Target remain in those shares, hence extensive warranties and disclosures are sought by the buyer to ensure as far as possible the legal position of the buyer. With asset purchases, the liability of the Target remains in the hands of the seller and the buyer has greater scope to cherry pick which assets she or he wishes to acquire. In practice, a clean break from the business is never generally available for the seller, as the buyer will very often want some post completion warranties from the seller, regardless of which structure is used to acquire the business.
Consideration
With company sales (share sales), the purchase monies go into the hands of the individual shareholders. Where an asset sale takes place the sale proceeds go into the hands of the Target. Clearly different tax considerations apply depending on which scenario is adopted.
Title
Where a share sale takes place then all the assets owned by the company remain with the company, and transfer of ownership in the assets is not an issue. Where the deal is structured as an asset sale, the transfer of assets can be more complicated, particularly where third party consents are required (typically for transfers of leases) and where there are employees (due to the complex rules (Transfer of Undertaking Protection of Employment Regulations the TUPE rules) where there is a sale of a going concern. Where delays arise, solutions can be put in place to ensure the ownership of the asset is ultimately transferred to the buyer. The extent to which this is a workable solution will depend on how fundamental the relevant asset is to the business and the extent to which buyer and seller are willing to work together to develop a workable solution.
Employees
If the buyer wishes to carry on the business in succession to the seller, then as a matter of practicality it makes little difference whether a share sale or asset sale takes place. In both cases, the buyer inherits the employees and their accrued rights (under the TUPE rules).
If an asset sale is taking place with no intention to carry on the business then this situation would need to be covered by warranties to protect both buyer and seller from potential employee claims.
Tax
Stamp duty
Duty payable on share transfers is currently 0.5%. Duty payable on the transfer of certain assets including freehold or leasehold property can currently go up to 4%.
Capital Gains Tax Share Sale By Individual Shareholders
The issue to bear in mind here is that the seller receives the consideration directly for her or his shares.
For sellers the biggest tax benefit they have is likely to be the dramatic effect of taper relief. This can reduce capital gains tax liability to under 25% after two years ownership of a qualifying asset, the most important of these being certain shareholdings in unquoted companies, and assets owned by an individual and used in the individuals company (provided the shares in that company meet certain restricted ownership requirements).
Corporation Tax Asset Sale By Company
There are two tax points where the company sells its assets. Firstly the company may suffer a capital gains tax charge when disposing of the relevant asset to the buyer. Secondly the remaining consideration held the company needs to get to the shareholders. If the net proceeds are distributed by winding up the company the shareholders are treated as disposing of their shares for capital gains tax purposes. If the proceeds are distributed as a dividend involves further tax liability both for the company and the individual receiving the dividend.
Financial Assistance
A company may not give direct or indirect financial assistance to a person acquiring the shares in that company. Typically this arises where a buyer wants to acquire the shares in a company and the buyer finances the acquisition by arranging for the company to charge its assets to a bank fund the share purchase. There is a mechanism for allowing a company to give this assistance but it can be costly and time consuming.
The rules on financial assistance do not apply to asset sales.
http://www.kaltons.co.uk
Tags: Accrued Liabilities, Asset Purchases, Asset Sales, Assets And Liabilities, Business Assets, Business Purchase, Cherry Pick, Clean Break, Consents, Disclosures, Financial Assistance, Legal Position, Monies, Share Sales, Shareholders, Target, Tax Considerations, Transfer Of Assets, Transfer Of Ownership, Warranties
Posted in Asset Management | No Comments »
Friday, March 12th, 2010
Beta in the Context of the Capital Asset Pricing Model
The economic model used for securities valuation and stocks are a part of the Capital Asset Pricing Model in terms of the expected return and comparative risk. According to the login which is fundamental for CAPM, shareholders are willing to take on extra risk only in case of additional expected return. As a result, the price for stock is negotiated of the free of risk security added to the risk premium which results from additional risk.
Formula of CAPM is Probable Security Return = Free of Risk Return + Beta * Probable Promote Risk Premium, Beta in this formula is the general risk which results from savings in a large market, for example, New York Stock Exchange.
In case of CAPM, Beta can receive a definition of the stock instability of a certain investment selection in relation to the economy. According to the definition, Beta of a market is 1.0, where separate stocks are assessed against the Betas market value. Risks which are associated with savings rise with Beta and, the other way, reduce if investment is not as risky. Beta, as the significant element of CAPM, expands proportionately with the price of funds discount rate, while the reduction rate is depressingly related with the current value of upcoming cash flows. Thats why, Beta is the main element in valuation of the company.
Beta coefficient is resulting from the analysis of linear regression. Beta coefficient is estimated from the income of a portfolio during a specific period of time and the profits from distinct asset during a particular period of time. The drop line consequent is referred to like the Security Characteristic Line. Betas are usually calculated by deep-rooted brokerage companies that are later published in a book of beta. It must be noted, that admission to such book if oftentimes limited to usual investors. Nevertheless, other online sources like Yahoo Finance as well have beta coefficients published and calculated. The value of Beta of 0.00 means that the stock is fresh and has no historic performance.
Tags: Asset Pricing, Beta Coefficient, Beta Coefficients, Betas, Brokerage Companies, Capital Asset Pricing Model, Comparative Risk, Current Value, Economic Model, Investment Selection, Linear Regression, Model Beta, New York Stock, New York Stock Exchange, Return Beta, Risk Premium, Risk Return, Risk Security, Security Characteristic Line, York Stock Exchange
Posted in Asset Management | No Comments »
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
In the UK, many banks and building societies are attempting to capture a sizeable percentage of the online banking market share. And it seems that the UK consumers are benefiting from this competition most. Online banking in the UK is getting big; there is no doubt about it: 6.5 million consumers are online banking customers. And that figure is projected to rise every year–not because of bank closures–because of the ease that online banking offers. Everyone can say that it is easy and some people may still be dubious about that. But to anyone who is an online banking customer, they will know just how easy and simple it is.
Before choosing an online bank to open an account study carefully what services the bank allows you to do online. Also check the accessibility of talking to a live person. Make sure the banks internet site allow you send secure emails.
The UK, like any other country, has banks on every street corner. And these banks try to lure new customers in with big bright signs: “apply now and get a 6.9% APR rate on your card!” When you are on the Internet, these banks take the same approach. On their websites, there are banners that banks use for advertising space because they recognize that so many people are using online banking; and that they need to emphasize their competitive advantages to draw customers over the Internet.
Some major U.K. banks have opened independent online banks such as Abbey National with www.cahoot.com. There is also www.smile.co.uk the online bank of The Co-operative Bank.
Despite all of the advantages to online banking in the UK, not everything is perfect.
One in twenty consumers will fall victim to online fraud; and when they do, it will cost them big time. The UK’s fraud cost last year was 58 million ($101 million), which is quite scary for consumers looking to join an online bank. To be honest, it is safer to use a brick-and-mortar bank; however, in order to keep this safety net, you must sacrifice convenience and flexibility.
If you decide to open an online banking account but are apprehensive about the security issues, you should spend a considerable amount of time selecting a unique and hard-to-crack password; and in addition to this, you should also use other values for your optional information that is hard to determine.
Other Online Internet Banking Security Tips:
- Make sure your operating systems OS and browsers is updated with the latest upgrades (patches).
- Use an anti-virus and anti-spyware programs update them and scan your pc at least once a week.
- Install a personal firewall and learn to use it
- Always close your browser window after online banking and delete cookies.
- Change your passwords once a month.
- Never reply to emails asking for you to update your password or give your password. The online banks will never ask for your password.
- Always type in the browser address bar the online banking url. Do not click on a link especially in an email as this may take you to a scammers page.
- Never bank online from an internet caf.
Tags: 5 Million, Abbey National, Bank Closures, Big Time, Brick And Mortar, Building Societies, Co Operative Bank, Competitive Advantages, Internet Banks, Internet Site, Live Person, Market Share, Mortar Bank, No Doubt, Online Banks, Safety Net, Sizeable Percentage, Smile Co Uk, Uk Banks, Uk Consumers
Posted in Banking Finance | No Comments »
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
Banking online can be a fantastic way to save you time and even money. Most large banks now offer online banking or online account access, and for the most daring: some banks are only available online. With the latest in web safety, these sites are heavily encrypted and designed to be hack-proof. The largest cause of accounts being hacked into actually falls upon the account holders. There are several simple steps that can be taken to avoid your account, money, and personal information being put at risk. Some may seem simple, but it is better to be safe!
1) Never give out your username or password. Your bank will not ask you for your password or even username. They already have it. They will not lose it, and only a very select group of employees can even access it. If you think you need to address this issue, call them at the number your normally call, do not take the phone number off an email or a website, look in the phone book or just stop in at your local branch.
2) If you access your accounts from more than one computer, be sure that computers used by others have up-to-date antivirus software. You should also make sure that the machine is running an up to date browser that can support the standard 128-bit encryption used by most secure websites. When you are done, always be sure to log off and even clear the Auto complete bar also, it can make it too easy for someone to log in and guess your password.
3) A good password in very important, also, using more than one password can be just as valuable. If a hacker, worm, or virus is to get into your computer and find a password, they will try that same password in all of your cached login areas. It also helps drastically to use letters and numbers. Birthdays, pet names, and nicknames also tend to be easiest to guess.
4) Never trust any email sent to you that links directly to your login page. This is the number one trick for hackers to cloak or phish you out of your own private information. Even though the site looks like the site you are familiar with, it may not be. These thieves have become experts at copying the look of real sites with their own copies designed to extrapolate victims bank numbers and more!
By following these steps, you can be confident that your identity and information is still yours and still protected. There are thousands of people and programs trying to steal your information, but you have plenty of tools, people and strategies on your side also! Go ahead save yourself some time and gas money!
Tags: Banks Online, Birthdays, Cloak, Complete Bar, Email, Encryption, Hack, Hacker, Hackers, Letters And Numbers, Login Areas, Nicknames, Pet Names, Phish, Phone Book, Phone Number, Select Group, Simple Steps, Web Safety, Worm
Posted in Banking Finance | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
First of all, Bullet proof Asset protection strategy started with a privacy oriented tax haven jurisdiction. Private oriented tax haven jurisdiction prevents no tax to be paid for offshore capital gains or derived income.
With the offshore banking, it is easy to set up asset protection and bank secrecy. Bank secrecy also prevents its own employees, director or officer to divulge any personal information or files, bank statements connected to any bank account holder. With Panama offshore bank there are strong secrecy laws that allows the victim to file a lawsuit if any kind of misuse of subject of use is done by violating terms and conditions against not only the persons responsible for the privacy violation but it is also done with the employees of the bank or the bank itself if they are part of the violation. With strong terms and conditions of Panama bank it is hard to release any information or leak of personal information is hard to take place.
Panama bank secrecy law releases the secrecy of records in some case where the victim cannot file a law suit and that is within the criminal interventions of the victim themselves than in USA, EU most private detectives have no trouble tracing any record from the bank, without the information to the bank employees, and in that case, the detectives are not in trouble or have never been heard of getting persecuted.
Well, there is one other asset protection named Piercing asset protection structures and for that court order is required to get the asset protection corporate veil pierced. The court order regarding a trust, a corporation, a bank account or foundation is required or must for that. Such court orders are usually reserved for the serious criminal offences or matters like terrorism or narcotics etc. Civil matters from countries outside of the jurisdiction do not have to go through a court order for information.
The offshore privacy taxes have the best terms and make sure that they do not lose their customers and so they often avoid the foreign creditors to collect any assets in the banks of their customers country.
Asset protection and taxes of offshore Panama bank are well structured and definitely are in favor of their customers. Panama offshore bank makes all that is possible to eliminate any unwanted problems or thefts for its customers. They are also in terms of having jurisdiction that does not charge taxation of income at all; this eliminated filing requirements within the country where the offshore bank is located. A good example of that is of individuals or companies that do not carry activities outside Panamanian territory and do not obtain any income from the Panamanian source, are only subjected to the payment of fixed annual tax of 300 US dollars.
Foundations are an approach to wrap on the layer of privacy laws over the ownership of the corporation. As the trust or foundation is in one country and the corporation is in a different country while the bank account is in the third country. The use of foundation with S.A Panama Corporation is a powerful asset protection strategy.
Tags: Asset Protection, Bank Secrecy Law, Bank Statements, Bullet Proof, Capital Gains, Civil Matters, Corporate Veil, Criminal Offences, Interventions, Law Suit, Narcotics, Offshore Bank, Offshore Banking, Offshore Privacy, Privacy Violation, Private Detectives, Protection Strategy, Protection Structures, Secrecy Laws, Tax Haven Jurisdiction
Posted in Asset Management | No Comments »