Today’s question: Is there a current business tax amnesty program available?:
Bottom Line: Today’s question comes from a gentleman who was wondering if there is a business tax amnesty program he might be able to utilize.
There are two parts to this question (Federal & state):
Federal:
I’ve been working on an answer to this gentleman’s question for over a week. I was having trouble gaining confirmation on details that were rumored to have been part of the fiscal cliff deal. While I couldn’t find any information suggesting there may have been an amnesty program at the Federal level; I still wanted confirmation from the
State:
The state of
If you’re in need of tax assistance I’d look into hiring a professional (perhaps tax attorney) to try to work with the taxing authorities on a resolution to your issue.
If you’d like me to address a question or topics on-air and on-line – email me: brianmudd@clearchannel.com
Four year streak may soon be broken – small investors coming back to stocks:
Bottom Line: So for four consecutive years we’ve been taking money out of the stock market. But you ask – how is that possible as the stock market has been on a three year winning streak? Well the stock market has been powered by new money from:
- Companies themselves. Stock buybacks have been a popular way for companies to deploy profits as they wait out the economic and political uncertainty
- International investors who view the
- Retirement accounts (even if you’ve pulled money out of your individual investment accounts, if you have a 401k plan or pension, you likely have been adding retirement money into the stock market
So what’s changing? Well after four consecutive years of net withdrawals of money totaling more than $400 billion by individuals, we’ve actually seen individual investors add more than $20 billion into the stock market thus far in 2012. It’s a strong indication that the tide may have turned and perhaps individuals feel comfortable coming back into the stock market.
Soros – interest rates could spike this year:
Bottom Line: George Soros. Love him or hate him (and I’m no fan), he’s a billionaire for a reason. He knows a thing or two about the financial world. What he just said, if correct, would be a game changer when you obtain a loan in the future.
I’ve been warning about the possibility of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates later in 2013, which is about 2 years earlier than the Fed has indicated. My advice is to have a plan in place to move quickly to obtain financing incase of rising interest rates (if you are considering a big ticket item you’d finance). Soros went much further than I have.
George Soros stated he thinks there is a strong that interest rates will rise in 2013. He went even further though stating that interest rates could actually spike to normal levels. So what would that mean?
The historic average Federal Reserve interest rate is about 5%. Currently it stands at 0%. Imagine a 30 year fixed rate mortgage rising from 3.5% to possibly 8.5%. A car loan from 4.5% to 9.5%. Those scenarios would be possible if Soros were to be right. I don’t think that’s going to happen this year but increasingly the chance that rates will begin to rise this year is rising.
