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Flat Tax, It Could Work!
By Carl Hampton
With great expectations for the coming year, I have begun thinking about that great annual past time, the dreaded Tax Return!
Like so many other good citizens from this great country of ours, I will leave it to the very last moment to mail off this year’s tax return. Last year I promised myself that this year would be different. I would make a conscious effort to get them off before that last minute rush.
In this day and age, is this really the best system our great and wonderful leaders can come up with? After all, we now live in a world that allows a satellite, miles above us, to read a licence plate. We can get the worldwide web on our cell phone; download TV programs that we may have missed (or just want to save onto our iPods).
Our original tax laws were introduced in 1913; they were simple and very easy to understand. We had tax brackets ranging from 1 to 7 percent; a far cry from today’s levels. The IRS tax codes, regulations, and guidelines, now have well over 9 million words! It's no wonder there's so much confusion. Is there anyone out there who really understands this monster?
Let’s put this into some form of perspective:
The Declaration of Independence has a little more than 1300 words The Constitution, which has served us well for more than 200 years, comes
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in around 5000 words The Holy Bible makes do with less than 800,000 words. The Office of Management & Budget estimated in 2004, that as a nation we spent over $200 billion on compliance cost. At a time when the nations manufacturing industries, (the foundation of any good economy), are all struggling against cheaper imports, shouldn’t our leaders be using that money to create “Jobs” for their citizens? Most experts agree that $200 billion would create well over 3 million jobs, which of course creates sales of consumable goods, which creates more jobs, and sales taxes, at the state level. From the moment we wake up in the morning we are being hit by taxes. Everyone wants some of our hard-earned money. Turn on the lights (electricity taxes); run the shower (utility taxes); and my personal favorite, the telephone taxes, all 6 million of them, (that's what it seems to me every time I receive a telephone bill). We are so programmed to paying them that we really don't take any notice any more. Has the time come for a simple Flat Rate Tax, something we (the people) can ALL understand? There are many countries, all over the world, who have used this simple-to-understand, and cost effective way, of collecting taxes to revitalize their economies. Let's just imagine for a moment: what would it be like if we could complete our tax returns on one simple piece of paper? A Flat Rate Tax for individuals, and a Flat Rate Tax for businesses. The same rules applying to all, regardless of the size of income. All of us paying the same rate. Most of the successful countries have levied Flat Rate Taxes of less than 17%, with a starting level that protects the lower income groups. Could life ever be that simple again? The real question here is, would our leaders really want us to understand what they were up to? And then, there are the lobbyists’. Oh well, the daydream was nice while it lasted. Benjamin Franklin once said “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Have an opinion or a question you would like me to answer, then write to me! “Your” Money Matters by Carl Hampton From the Author of “From Credit Despair To Credit Millionaire.” Article Source: http://www.article-matrix.com “Your” Money Matters by Carl Hampton From the Author of “From Credit Despair To Credit Millionaire.”www.CarlHampton.com www.fcdtcm.com
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Starting an online business can seem overwhelming at first.Finding the right domain name, getting reliable hosting, webdesign, and figuring out credit card transactions are full-timeconcerns. One Read more...
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What Involvement Does Your Investment Advisor Receive?
Tax Planning, Taxes and Accounting Are About PoliticsThomas Jefferson argued added, "A [practical] democracy is nothing more than mob certainty, where fifty-one percent of the people may Read more...
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Establishing A Representative Office In China
By Hal Lightning
Among foreign investors, the most popular form of business establishment in China is the Representative Office. Its main attraction is that it is simpler and cheaper to establish than either a Joint Read more...
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Incorporation And Limited Liability Company Formation In The Uk
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| financial planning education news: |
Southern California drivers see price spikes
A week of price spikes brought Southern California pump prices back to the high levels paid in February, erasing the declines of March and April.
According to the Automobile Club of Southern California?s Weekend Gas Watch, the average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $4.405 per gallon, which is 17.2 cents more than last week, 17 cents higher than last month, and 19 cents higher than last year.
On the Central Coast, the average price is $4.420, up 16.7...<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=aWzjPIdXmRU:-9u3dqeQayQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=aWzjPIdXmRU:-9u3dqeQayQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?i=aWzjPIdXmRU:-9u3dqeQayQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=aWzjPIdXmRU:-9u3dqeQayQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?i=aWzjPIdXmRU:-9u3dqeQayQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=aWzjPIdXmRU:-9u3dqeQayQ:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a>
</div>California unemployment drops a sliver, but number of jobs drops, too
<img src='http://assets.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/California_state_flag*100.jpg?v=1'>California's unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a percent from March to April, falling to 10.9 percent. But the number of jobs in the Golden State also fell by 4,200.
Despite that drop, California's unemployment rate was considerably better in April than a year earlier, when it was 11.8 percent. And the number of jobs was also 175,600 higher than a year earlier.
The unemployment rate is a guess based on a survey of 5,500 households in the state.
California still had a higher rate than the U.S....<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=6damEfsKsEA:qB-GA9MjcW8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=6damEfsKsEA:qB-GA9MjcW8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?i=6damEfsKsEA:qB-GA9MjcW8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=6damEfsKsEA:qB-GA9MjcW8:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?i=6damEfsKsEA:qB-GA9MjcW8:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=6damEfsKsEA:qB-GA9MjcW8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a>
</div>United, Continental pilots union calls for strike vote
<img src='http://assets.bizjournals.com/austin/news/unitedairlines*100.jpg?v=1'>The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) International, which represents United and Continental Airlines? pilots, said late May 17 that those airline pilots have decided to call for a strike vote.
The pilots are calling for this action because they have been unable to come to an agreement on a new contract since the airlines merged into one entity, United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL). Negotiations have been ongoing since May 2010.
?There has been more than ample time to reach agreement...<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=a3DGwSZhl6U:WWNIw2a48T4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=a3DGwSZhl6U:WWNIw2a48T4:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?i=a3DGwSZhl6U:WWNIw2a48T4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=a3DGwSZhl6U:WWNIw2a48T4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?i=a3DGwSZhl6U:WWNIw2a48T4:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=a3DGwSZhl6U:WWNIw2a48T4:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a>
</div>Freedom Communications sells four papers
Freedom Communications Inc. has sold four papers in the Midwest to an affiliate of Philadelphia private equity firm Versa Capital Management LLC.
The four papers are:
The Telegraph in Alton, Ill.The Journal-Courier in Jacksonville, Ill.The Sedalia Democrat in Sedalia, Mo. The Lima News in Lima, Ohio
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The sale is expected to close within 30 days.
According to a release from Freedom, "(s)ubstantially all current employees will transition to the new company."
The...<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=aBb8ZvlZS_g:NrIvh2fKmiA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=aBb8ZvlZS_g:NrIvh2fKmiA:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?i=aBb8ZvlZS_g:NrIvh2fKmiA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=aBb8ZvlZS_g:NrIvh2fKmiA:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?i=aBb8ZvlZS_g:NrIvh2fKmiA:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?a=aBb8ZvlZS_g:NrIvh2fKmiA:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bizj_losangeles?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a>
</div>CalPERS ups contributions for state employee pensions
California will pay 5.7 percent more in the next fiscal year for state employee pensions, according to the California Public Employees? Retirement System.
The state of California will pay $3.7 billion in fiscal 2012-2013, which begins in July, up from $3.5 billion it is paying in the current fiscal year.
The CalPERS board of administration approved the new rates Wednesday. They will go into effect July 1.
The $213 million increase is needed because of the change in economic assumptions approved...<div class="feedflare">
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</div>California jobless claims rise by 1,600
<img src='http://assets.bizjournals.com/boston/jobsearch*100.jpg?v=3'>The number of people filing new jobless claims across the country was stagnant at 370,000, with no change from the previous week, according to a weekly report from the U.S. Department of Labor. California, however, saw an increase in new claims.
The four-week moving average was 375,000, or a drop of 4,750 from the previous week.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits was 6,273,624, a decrease of 149,759 from the previous week.
The Golden State reported an increase in claims of 1,613....<div class="feedflare">
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setting the level and drawing appropriate means of financing a real estate development project or acquisition.
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