From the German campaigning group Campact, very loosely translated and with our own interpretations added:
A moment of danger has arrived for transparency in Europe. Several German states governed by the SPD and the Green party are threatening to reverse their previous opposition to a scandalous tax amnesty agreement with Switzerland, which provides impunity (and numerous escape loopholes) for wealthy criminal tax evaders. We have written about often this before. If this agreement goes ahead, it will have the political effect of undermining many years of work to build transparency in Europe through the Savings Tax Directive and its forthcoming amendments.
The state governors will meet tonight to discuss whether or not to approve the deal, and the governors of Berlin, Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Wuerttemberg have been giving worrying signals that they might capitulate on this deal. The Read more…
At first glance, using credit cards to pay taxes does not appear to be wise. The IRS does not simply accept credit cards the way most merchants do, it requires taxpayers to use an intermediary service. Each of the companies that accept credit cards on the IRS’s behalf charge a “convenience fee” that ranges from 1.89% – 3.93%. At these rates, no credit card will offer a higher rate of cash back than the convenience fee charged. Nevertheless, credit cards rewards can be used to reduce the additional cost of using them to paying taxes.
The lowest convenience fee charged for accepting tax payments is the 1.89% fee charged by WorldPay. Unfortunately, this rate only applies to payments made with a MasterCard or a Discover card. At this time, there simply are no cards from either network that offer cash back rates that high. Nevertheless, several of these cards offer 1% cash back or even higher. For exam
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How you handle your finances as a couple is a very personal decision. Having learnt the hard way that both marriage and divorce can have a harsh financial impact, my personal opinion is that keeping separate banks accounts is a good idea. That’s despite my feeling that pooling your money and working towards common financial goals is good for your bank account and team building.
Ultimately, the decision is going to be a private one. If I have any advice, and technically I can’t give it, it would be for individuals and couples to think this decision through very carefully, to communicate on the subject of money as openly and honestly as possible and to be realistic about scenarios that might make you uncomfortable.
For example, what would be the consequences of separate or joint finances in the event of one party dying prematurely, or the relationship fizzing, or one party becoming unable to work. I t
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Remember when the conventional wisdom was that buying a house was a cornerstone in a solid financial plan? Well Yahoo begs to differ and says that renting a house is now the path to wealth. Their thoughts:
Examining 250 properties around the U.S., and going through close to 40 client files to project the financial impact of owning real estate versus liquidating it, Arzaga, an adjunct professor in personal finance at the University of California at Berkeley, found that, “100 percent of the time it was better to rent, rather than own.”
But not everyone is on board with the analysis:
“To state that owning a home is or isnt a good investment is too simplistic,” says Jeffrey Rogers, president and COO of Integra Realty Resources. “It depends. In times of relatively higher rents, low home values, and low interest rates, it makes sense to own a home. But in a reverse market, it wouldnt be economically feasible.
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