my financial affairs for you - Finance Articles 98696

Homeowner Loans
Another bill has just landed through the letterbox and your still haven`t paid the monthly direct debt to the utility firm. You`ll have to sort out funds for your credit cards next week and then there are the catalogue payments to make. It`s the same story each and every month where you struggle to keep on top of your regular payments. Having taken out dribs and drabs of loads over the last few years you now have to pay a number of companies back. What if you could amalgamate all of your loans into one fixed monthly payment? Suppose you could reduce the amount that you pay each month by spreading the payments over a longer period of time. Look into the various Homeowner Loansthat are available at the moment and you could end up paying less in repayments each and every month. Price comparison sites are the places to look if you want one of the Homeowner Loans. They`ll scour the marketplace searching for Homeowner Loansthat will suit your individual needs. Combine all of your debts into one slightly larger loan amount and you should have more money each month that can be put away for a rainy day.

Article01.html
Many people in the UK, in fact as many as one in three UK taxpayers have paid too much tax! The Taxation People, are a forward thinking online accountancy service that specialise in helping people who might be eligible for a tax refund. They offer a online service, with a simple and easy to follow process that will get you the refund you are entitled to. I would urge you to check out The Taxation People, where if you have been or are currently employed The Taxation People can help you get a Tax Refund. The Taxation People are a trading name of Greer & Taylor LLP a respected and trusted accountancy service provider who offers a number of online services. Initially they are only offering the Tax Refund service that can be found at www.thetaxationpeople.com, but Greer & Taylor LLP are about to lauch a cost effective Self Assesment Service, keep an eye on www.greer-taylor.com for more information.

Instead of giving cash to charity at year-end you can donate stock or mutual fund shares that you have held for more than one year and which have increased in value, and save some money in the process.

You are able to claim a deduction as a charitable contribution on Schedule A for the full market price of the stock or mutual fund on the date you make the contribution. You do not have to report the increase in value as a capital gain on Schedule D.

Art Center pledged $5,000.00 to his church building fund. He also has 100 shares of Online Profits, Inc. which he purchased in 1998 for $2,000.00 and is now worth $5,000.00. He decides to give the stock to the church to satisfy his pledge. Art can deduct $5,000.00 on his Schedule A. He does not have to pay tax on the $3,000.00 appreciation in value of the stock.

If Art were to sell the Online Profits, Inc. stock and give $5,000.00 cash to the church he would have to report the sale of the stock on Schedule D and pay $450.00 in federal tax, as well as state income tax, on the gain. Plus, the $3,000.00 gain would increase his Adjusted Gross Income, which could reduce or altogether wipe out a multitude of deductions and credits that are affected by AGI.

As an added bonus, by donating the stock rather than selling it Art will save the broker`s commission and other expenses of sale.

You must be sure that any investment you donate to charity is long-term property - an investment you have held for more than one year. If you donate stock that you held for one year or less your tax deduction is limited to the cost basis, which in the above example would be $2,000.00.

Also, do not donate an investment that has gone down in value. It is better to sell the stock, claim the loss on Schedule D, and donate the cash to charity.

For more information about this article and/or the author visit http://rdftaxpro.tripod.com/weblog

For more information, news and articles see: