Credit scores are a relatively new invention. As credit cards became popular in the 1960s, card issuers needed a way to determine whether an applicant was likely to pay his or her bill on time. Although lenders used various means to assess that risk, their methods tended to be inconsistent and sometimes inaccurate. Around the same time, Congress started cracking...
Tags: Credit Scores
Category: Taxes
If you haven’t checked your credit report lately, this may be the time. Wrong or old information on your report can affect your credit score – and not in a good way. Your credit score helps lenders determine your credit-worthiness and can impact the interest rate you pay on loans or even whether you can obtain a loan at all....
Tags: credit score
Category: Taxes
There’s never a good time to plan for a disaster. There’s never a better time either. So why wait? Instead of having to reconstruct personal and business records in the aftermath of an unexpected calamity, safeguarding documents before you suffer a loss will make it easier to claim casualty deductions and other tax breaks. Here’s an overview of some of...
Tags: disaster planning
Category: Taxes
Next year, taxpayers will get a few extra days to file their 2015 income tax returns. The District of Columbia will be observing Emancipation Day on April 15, 2016, the usual filing deadline. Because April 16 and 17 fall on a weekend, the 2016 filing deadline is moved to the next business day which is April 18. Taxpayers in Maine...
Tags: filing dates
Category: Taxes
After the recent breach of an IRS application that exposed the personal information of taxpayers to hackers, you may be wondering how to secure the data your business collects from customers. You’re probably already changing passwords and using security software such as encryption, virus protection, and anti-malware and spyware programs on your computers. Additional steps include running scans to determine...
Tags: safeguarding information
Category: Business
If you haven’t checked your credit report lately, this may be the time. Wrong or old information on your report can affect your credit score – and not in a good way. Your credit score helps lenders determine your credit-worthiness and can impact the interest rate you pay on loans or even whether you can obtain a loan at all....
Tags: Credit Scores
Category: Taxes
How you classify your workers – as “independent contractors” or “employees” – matters a great deal to the IRS. The IRS is aware that employers prefer to treat workers as independent contractors to avoid paying fringe benefits and payroll taxes. The IRS estimates that 80% of workers who are classified as independent contractors are actually employees. About 100 new auditors...
Tags: independent contractors
Category: Taxes
Don’t wait too long after the wedding to spend a little time on tax matters. Here’s a checklist of things to consider. * If you’ve taken your spouse’s last name or hyphenated your last name, you need to notify the Social Security Administration. The agency will link your new name to your social security number and issue a new social...
Tags: filing jointly
Category: Taxes