3/26/2013

Google Glass- http://www.google.com/glass/start/what-it-does/

Roth IRA

Qualified Distributions - http://www.fool.com/money/allaboutiras/allaboutiras07.htm

Any qualified distribution from a Roth IRA is NOT included in gross income for individual tax purposes. Simple as that. In effect, a qualified distribution from a Roth IRA is tax-free... no taxes due on the principal... no taxes due on the earnings... no taxes due, period.

To be qualified, the distribution MUST be:

1. Made on or after the date you become age 59 1/2; OR
2. Made to your beneficiary, or to your estate, after you die; OR
3. Made to you after you become disabled within the definition of the IRS code; OR
4. Used to pay for qualified first-time homebuyer expenses.

But -- and this is a very big but -- even if one of the qualifications above is met, the distribution is STILL not qualified if it is made within a five-tax-year period. We'll see how to compute the five-tax-year holding period a bit later. Just know that five tax-years are NOT necessarily the same as five calendar years.

So, in effect, there are two sets of rules that must be met before a Roth IRA distribution becomes qualified, and therefore tax-free: The distribution rules and the five-tax-year rules. Unless both sets of rules are met, the distribution will NOT be qualified, and the earnings will be subject to tax, and possibly penalties. We'll discuss penalties in detail in the next article.

Penalties on Earnings from Contributions

Unless an exception applies, most distributions from a Roth IRA before the owner reaches age 59 1/2 will be subject to an "early withdrawal penalty" of 10% on the amount of the distribution. Be very careful NOT to confuse the early withdrawal penalty with the taxes imposed on a non-qualified distribution (discussed in Part III). A non-qualified distribution imposes an ordinary income tax on the distribution, but the early withdrawal penalty will be imposed in addition to that tax.

Example #1

Jim, age 30, made a Roth IRA contribution of $2,000 in 1998. In 2005, Jim's Roth IRA has a balance of $3,500. Jim decides to close his Roth IRA in a non-qualified distribution that year. Since the distribution is non-qualified, Jim will owe taxes on his Roth earnings of $1,500, and will pay tax on this amount at his marginal tax rate. In addition, since the distribution took place before Jim reached age 59 1/2, and since Jim did not meet any of the exceptions, Jim will also be assessed a 10% early withdrawal penalty on the earnings. If we assume that Jim is in the 28% marginal tax bracket, he will pay $420 in tax on the earnings, and will pay a penalty in the amount of $150 on the early distribution. This is a very steep price to pay.

I have a company pension plan and contribute as much as I can to a 401(k) plan. Can I still make a full annual contribution to a Roth IRA?

You sure can, as long as your adjusted gross income (AGI) doesn't exceed the limits allowed for a Roth contribution for the year. Your participation in an employer-sponsored retirement plan has no effect on your ability to contribute to a Roth IRA. Therefore, if your AGI is less than $95, 000 (single filer) or $150,000 (joint filer), you may make a full contribution to a Roth IRA.

I'm retired and drawing Social Security. Can I contribute part of my Social Security benefits to a Roth IRA account?

Nope. Sorry. In order to make a Roth IRA contribution, you must have earned compensation. Earned compensation is generally income that you receive through work as payment for your labor in one form or another. It's reported to you on a W-2 form, or you file Schedule C (Business Income) with your normal tax return. Earned compensation generally does not include Social Security benefits, pensions, interest, dividends, rental income, or capital gains.

I intend to retire at age 50. When I do, I'll need income. Can I take money from my Roth IRA without paying any taxes or penalties?

Potentially, yes. Under the IRS ordering rules, you are allowed to remove your original contributions at any time without tax or penalty. In addition, after you have waited at least five tax years, you are able to withdraw your original conversion amounts without taxes or penalties. It's only when you get to the earnings generated by the original contributions and conversions that you will have a tax and/or penalty problem.

And, even if you DO determine that you'll have to break into the earnings prior to age 59 1/2, you may still avoid the penalty (but not necessarily the tax). If you remove the funds from your Roth IRA account using a distribution method that is part of a scheduled series of substantially equal periodic payments made over your life expectancy (or the joint life expectancy of you and your beneficiary), you may still be penalty-free.

For First-Time Home Buyers

It's not often that you can take money from your traditional IRA or from your earnings in a Roth IRA before age 59 1/2 and avoid the dreaded 10% early withdrawal penalty. But, surprisingly enough, this is one of the tax benefits enacted as part of the 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act to help people become homeowners.

Now the law allows individuals to receive distributions from their traditional IRAs to pay up to $10,000 of first-time homebuyer expenses without incurring the 10% early withdrawal penalty that usually applies to withdrawals from a traditional IRA before age 59 1/2. But, even though the penalty is waived, you will still be required to pay taxes (as applicable) on the traditional IRA withdrawal itself.

Harvest Tax Losses Inside A Roth IRA - http://www.rothira.com/blog/can-you-harvest-tax-losses-inside-a-roth-ira

What Does It Mean To Harvest Tax Losses?

With traditional taxable investments, you can offset your losses on your current year’s tax return with any capital gains that you earn. This can dramatically lower the amount of tax you pay on your capital gains. For example, if you own shares in a company’s common stock that have tanked along with the market giving you a paper loss of $3,000 for instance, you can sell those securities and use that loss to offset any profits in other investments that you would earn during that year. That loss could essentially wipe out any other $3,000 taxable gain from other investments in the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) eyes. Remember though that you actually have to sell the investments in question and actually realize both the loss and the capital gains to harvest tax losses this way. If you don't sell any investments that are capital gains, you can still harvest your losses for tax purposes. You can also simply accept a $3,000 loss and have no capital gains to offset the loss against. In this case you simply deduct the loss on your taxes.

Does Harvesting Tax Loss Apply To Roth IRAs?

Because a Roth IRA allows investors to withdraw their investments, profits, interest, dividends, and capital gains tax-free in retirement, losses occurring in a Roth IRA do not quality for tax harvesting in the traditional sense. There have to be tax losses for you to be able to benefit from the tax harvesting rules. One way that you may be able to still claim tax harvesting on your tax losses would be to undo a Roth IRA conversation. Traditional IRA investors have the option to convert their Traditional IRAs into a Roth IRA, and more people have been choosing this option with recent changes to tax laws that did away with previous income limits. With a conversion, you would pay federal income taxes at your current rate based on the amount of your conversion. This can be a great tax advantage if you are moving from a lower tax bracket to ultimately a higher tax bracket when you will withdraw the money during your retirement. You pay the taxes at that moment based on what your investment is worth at that time. If your new Roth IRA investment sinks to a very low account balance, reverting back to a Traditional IRA can provide you with a refund of the taxes that you originally paid. This is called a recharacterization of  your contribution. Of course, eventually you will owe taxes on the amount of money your withdraw from a Traditional IRA, but undoing a Roth IRA conversation may be a way for you to go back and harvest some of those tax losses. A Roth IRA’s tax-free withdraws make tax harvesting a very difficult proposition even if your account balance has declined quite considerably. One way that you may be able to participate in loss harvesting is to undo a Roth IRA conversion if you have converted a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

 

Member of Household or Relationship Test 

Note that:

• A person is still considered to live with the taxpayer as a member of the household during periods when that person, or the taxpayer, is temporarily absent due to special circumstances such as illness, education, business, vacation, military service, or placement in a nursing home.
• Cousins can meet the relationship test for qualifying relative only if they live with the taxpayer for the entire year.
• Qualifying relatives can be unrelated, as long as they lived with the taxpayer all year.

3/25/2013

Calculate Estimate Shipping Charge.

Shipping engine can retrieve actual shipping weight with the following parameters.

Box Size

Zip Code (To and From)

Weight

For the purpose of phase 1, we will use an avg box size, and later an algorithm may be written to calculate the volume of all items in an order to determine a box size.

To calculate estimate shipping, since we do not have accurate weights in our system, the following approach was used past shipping weights to derive weights.

Note: Shipping charge by packages is capture with the shipping system.

For example, A package going out the door weights 2lb that contains 5 keyboards, going to xxxxx zip code in a box 2.

2lb/5 keyboard = .4lb per keyboard will be stored in the product table.

This will only work for single item packages.

In second phase of the project, the algorithm will calculate the unknown weight of a multi item shipment.

For example: a shipment of 3 keyboards and 3 mice weights 2lbs, we can derive the weight of the mices.

3x.4lb = 1.2.

2-1.2 = .8 non keyboard weight

.8/3 = .266lb per mouse.

In phase 3, all products that crosses with a product with a known weight will be spread across the other unknown products.

For example, a Logitech mouse with the derived weight of .266lb will populated to an unknown weight of a Microsoft mouse.

All the outliers will use a default weight of .75lb per item.

Since the weight clearly derived, the shipping system can provide the estimated shipping charge, based off of an average box size.

 

You must have enough tax withheld from your paycheck to cover most of your tax liability when you file your return.

If you don't withhold enough, you'll pay penalties and interest on what you should have paid in estimated taxes.

 

High-income bonds, as well as real estate investment trusts Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY  ) and American Capital Agency (NASDAQ: AGNC  ) produce income that's typically taxed at high ordinary-income rates, and so they often do best in IRAs rather than taxable accounts.

 

 

3/24/2013

Dependents

There are 5 test that will qualify a child as a dependent as follows:

• Relationship – Must be your child, adopted child, foster-child, brother or sister, or a descendant of one of these(grand or nephew).
• Residence – Must have the same residence for more than half the year.
• Age – Must be under age 19 or under 24 and a full-time student for at least 5 months. They can be any age if they are totally and permanently disabled.
• Support – Must not have provided more than half of their own support during the year.
• Joint Support – The child cannot file a joint return for the year.

There are 4 tests that will qualify a relative as a dependent as follows:

• They are not the “qualifying child” of another taxpayer or your “qualifying child”.
• Gross Income – Dependent earns less than $3,700 TY 2011 and $3,650 TY 2010.
• Total Support – You provide more than half of the total support for the year.
• Member of Household or Relationship – The person must live with you all year as a member of your household or be one of the relatives that doesn’t have to live with you see IRS Publication 501 for a list of qualifying relatives.

Many taxpayers are surprised to find they may be able to claim a boyfriend, girlfriend, domestic partner, or friend as a qualifying relative if:

• They are a member of your household the entire year.
• The relationship between you and the dependent does not violate the law (you can’t still be married to someone else.  Also check your individual state law.  Some states do not allow you to claim a boyfriend or girlfriend as a dependent even if your relationship doesn’t violate the law).
• You meet all the other criteria for “qualifying relatives” (gross income and support).

http://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/2011/11/07/who-can-i-claim-as-a-dependent/

3/22/2013

If person is not a qualifying person, you may add as a dependent but don't qualify you as head of household.

select prod_sku,count(*)#ofSKU,count(PROD_S_Weight)#ofWeights  from prod group by prod_sku
count(PROD_S_Weight) ignores all nulls

33md.com - Online Streaming TV

3/21/2013

To claim a personal exemption, the taxpayer must be able to answer "no" to the question, "Can anyone claim you or your spouse on their tax return?"

This applies even if another person does not actually claim the taxpayer as a dependent. Taxpayers who could be claimed as a dependent must claim "0" exemptions. This means they will not be able to subtract the exemption amount from their gross income, and they may have to use a smaller standard deduction amount.

 

What is the penalty on an unused 529 plan?

Only earnings are subject to a withdrawal penalty

Federal law imposes a 10% penalty on earnings for non-qualified distributions beginning in 2002. The penalty is not assessed on principal. (Distributions are allocated between principal and earnings on a pro-rata basis.) An exception to the penalty can be claimed if you terminate the account because the beneficiary has died or is disabled, or if you withdraw funds not needed for college because the beneficiary has received a scholarship.

.NET Loggers

http://www.dotnetlogging.com/comparison/

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/9545/Get-Logging-with-the-Enterprise-Library

Decision to making an investment (mainly in real estate)
1) Partners
2) Financing
3) Management

 

3/19/2013

'Contingent Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC)'

A fee (sales charge or load) that mutual fund investors pay when selling Class-B fund shares within a specified number of years of the date on which they were originally purchased.

Also known as a "back-end load" or "sales charge".

For mutual funds with share classes that determine when investors pay the fund's load or sales charge, Class-B shares carry a contingent deferred sales charge during a five- to 10-year holding period calculated from the time of the initial investment.

The fee amounts to a percentage of the value of the shares being sold. It is highest in the first year of the specified period and decreases annually until the period ends, at which time it drops to zero. As a mutual fund investor, if you were to buy and hold Class-B fund shares until the end of the specified period, you could avoid paying this type of fund's sales charge, thereby enhancing your investment return. Unfortunately, fund research indicates that mutual fund investors are holding their funds, on average, for less than five years, which often triggers the application of a back-end sales charge in a Class-B share fund investment.

 

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Up to 5Mbps download, 1Mbps upload speed • No data caps • Free service guaranteed for at least 7 years • Includes Network Box
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3/18/2013

New Opportunities with Mini-Options. Instead of traditional 100 share per contract, it's only 10 share per contract.

Mini-Options only offer to the following tickers:

SPY SPDR S&P 500 AAPL Apple, Inc. GLD SPDR Gold Trust

GOOG Google, Inc. AMZN Amazon.com, Inc.

 

PARIS — People with bank accounts in Cyprus were shocked Saturday to learn that as part of an agreement reached with international creditors the government has imposed a tax on all deposits to help bail out the nation and its banks. Here’s a look at the tax, which can be as high as 9.9 percent, and the problems it may pose.

3/14/2013

IRS 1040 forms - http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/which_form_to_file_4012.pdf

Lottery Payment of prizes

Winnings (in the U.S.) are not necessarily paid out in a lump sum, contrary to the expectation of many lottery participants. In certain countries, mainly the U.S., the winner gets to choose between an annuity payment and a one-time payment. The one-time payment (cash or lump sum) is a "smaller" amount than the advertised (annuity) jackpot, even before applying any withholdings to which the prize is subject to. While withholdings vary by jurisdiction and how winnings are invested, it is suggested that a winner who chooses lump sum expects to pocket 1/3 of the advertised jackpot at the end of the tax year. Therefore, a winner of a $100,000,000 jackpot who chooses cash can expect $33,333,333 net after filing income tax document(s) for the year in which the jackpot was won.

3/13/2013

How do I qualify for the student loan interest deduction?

You are eligible to take the student loan deduction if you meet the following qualifications:

• Your modified adjusted gross income* is less than $75,000($155,000 if filing joint return).
• The loan was taken out solely to pay qualified education expenses.
• The student must be you, your spouse, or your dependent.
• The student must have been enrolled at least half-time in a degree program.
• Your qualified education expenses must have been paid or incurred within a reasonable period of time before or after the loan is taken out using a federal post secondary education loan program.
• Your loan was for you to attend an eligible educational institution such as a college, university, vocational school,or other post secondary educational institution eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the U.S. Department of Education.

*Modified Adjusted Gross Income is your adjusted gross income plus items such as student loan deductions, higher education deductions, IRA contribution deductions, foreign income and foreign housing deductions.

Parent or student: Who claims student loan interest?

Generally the right to claim student loan interest deduction goes to the person who is legally obligated to pay interest on the qualified student loan.

If you are the person legally obligated to make interest payments and someone makes a payment of interest on your behalf, you are treated as receiving the payment from the other person and paying the interest.

For example, a student is legally obligated to make payments on their qualified student loan. As a gift, the parents made the first monthly payment. No one is claiming an exemption for the student.

The student, not the parents is allowed to deduct the payment of interest on his or her return.

If a parent claims a student as a dependent and the student is legally obligated to make payments on his or her loan, then neither the student nor the parent may deduct the student loan interest.

As a planning tool, if the parent does not claim the student as an exemption in the following year, then the student may be able to take the student loan interest deduction as long as the student is legally obligated to pay the loan.

Is student loan interest a deduction or credit?

The student loan interest is a deduction to income, which can reduce your income subject to tax up to $2,500.00. The benefit of this deduction is it can be taken even if you do not itemize deductions. 

http://turbotax.intuit.com/support/iq/Education/Can-I-Claim-the-Student-Loan-Interest-Deduction-/GEN80353.html

 

Reporting Student Loan Interest

Your lender will send you a Form 1098-E. The amount of interest you paid on your student loans for the year will be reported on Form 1098-E, box 1.

Limits

The maximum amount of student loan interest you can claim as a tax deduction is limited to $2,500.

The deduction is also limited by your total income. If your income is under $60,000 (or $120,000 for married couples filing a joint return), then you can deduct up to $2,500 in student loan interest.

If your income is over $60,000 but under $75,000 ($120,000 to $150,000 for married people filing jointly), then your deduction for student loan interest will be prorated.

If your income is over $75,000 ($150,000 MFJ), then your student loan interest is not deductible at all.

 

 

3/12/2013

Free Online Income Tax Course! - http://www.thetaxcollege.com/  

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Link-&-Learn-Taxes

NR301 - Canadian Tax Treaty Reduced rate is 15%.

3/11/2013

CRA Foreign Tax Withholding --- NR301

 

Who should complete the Canadian tax form(s)?

 

You should complete the form(s) if you are a non-Canadian taxpayer, reside in a country Canada has a

tax treaty with, and are eligible to receive the reduced tax rate provided for by the treaty. Please contact the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) directly, or go to its website at www.cra-arc.gc.ca, for moreinformation about specific eligibility requirements for receiving the reduced withholding rate.

 

Why do I need to complete the tax form(s)?

 

If you are not a resident of Canada but receive Canadian-sourced income payments, we are required to withhold tax from those payments and remit those taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). If we have the  appropriate tax forms on file for your account(s), we may be able to apply a reduced withholding rate to those payments. Otherwise, we will need to withhold taxes at the full statutory tax rate of 25%.

 

Why are these forms needed now?

 

Previously, your name and address information in our files allowed us to apply a reduced withholding rate to your Canadian-sourced income payments. Under new regulations, we need to have the appropriate form on file in order for you to be eligible for the reduced rate. 

 

How long is the form valid?

 

For tax withholding purposes, the NR forms expire when there is a change in your eligibility for treaty benefits or three years from the end of the calendar year in which the form is signed and dated, whichever is earlier.

 

Definition of 'Back-End Load'

A fee (sales charge or load) that investors pay when selling mutual fund shares within a specified number of years, usually five to 10 years. The fee amounts to a percentage of the value of the share being sold. The fee percentage is highest in the first year and decreases yearly until the specified holding period ends, at which time it drops to zero. 

The back-end load is a type of sales charge that is used with mutual funds that have share classes, which in this case are identified as Class-B shares. Class-A shares charge a front-end load, which is taken from an investor's initial investment. Class-C shares are considered to be a type of level-load fund - no front-end and low back-end loads, but the fund's operating expenses are high. In all cases, the load is paid to a financial intermediary, and is not included in a fund's operating expenses.

 

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles is currently issuing stickers for these vehicles.

Clean Pass is an innovative program that will allow eligible low-emission, energy-efficient vehicles to use the 40-mile Long Island Expressway High Occupancy Vehicle (LIE/HOV) lanes beginning March 1, 2006, regardless of the number of occupants in the vehicle. The program will result in an estimated reduction of 6,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions and savings in excess of 500,000 gallons of gasoline.

To Apply for a Clean Pass:

Applications will be taken over the phone, by calling the State Department of Motor Vehicles at 1 (518) 486-9786, menu option 7, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. 

Federal Tax Credit.

Electric vehicles (EVs) purchased in or after 2010 may be eligible for a federal income tax credit of up to $7,500. The credit amount will vary based on the capacity of the battery used to fuel the vehicle. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/taxevb.shtml

 

Preview of 2013 Tax Year

Earned Income and adjusted gross income (AGI) must each be less than:

• $46,227 ($51,567 married filing jointly) with three or more qualifying children
• $43,038 ($48.378 married filing jointly) with two qualifying children
• $37,870 ($43,210 married filing jointly) with one qualifying child
• $14,340 ($19,680 married filing jointly) with no qualifying children

Tax Year 2013 maximum credit:

• $6,044 with three or more qualifying children
• $5,372 with two qualifying children
• $3,250 with one qualifying child
• $487 with no qualifying children

Investment income must be $3,300 or less for the year.

 

 

3/8/2013

*Turbo Tax. Foreign Tax Withholding sum is display in 1099-Div. The total withholding per tax payer cannot be more than $300 else taxpayer needs to fill out 1116 with is confusing and only a portion of the withheld money is recovered. Any amount less than $300 or $600 joint filing are recovered $1 for $1 on your Federal Refund.

 

An investor needs to be aware of the impact of such withholding taxes on the effective dividend yield of the foreign stock.

Foreign Tax Credit

Luckily, the U.S. tax laws provide for a credit for foreign taxes paid that help mitigate the impact of withholding taxes on foreign dividends. Some key points related to foreign tax credit are:

• An individual investor can file for tax credit on Form 1040 if the shares are held in a regular brokerage account and the investor received a Form 1099-Div form which lists the foreign taxes paid.
• An individual claims a dollar-for-dollar credit (and not an income deduction) for the foreign taxes paid.
• The amount is a credit against any U.S. taxes paid. Thus, even if foreign taxes were withheld but no U.S. taxes are owed then a refund cannot be claimed. This may not be important for most investors with active employment and salary but could be serious for retired investors living, for example, on social security income.
• An individual can claim foreign tax credit of up to $300 ($600 for married filing jointly) directly on Form 1040.
• Amounts greater than $300 (or $600) require use of Form 1116. This form is also required if the investor is carrying forward/backward any foreign taxes.
• Foreign tax credit cannot be more than the total U.S. tax liability multiplied by a fraction. The fraction is = (income from foreign sources) / (total taxable income from U.S. and foreign sources).
• There is a rather simple and easy to read topic about Foreign Tax Credit on the IRS website. Further detailed information is available on the IRS page for Foreign Tax Credit.

I must remind the reader that I am an individual investor, not qualified nor skilled to impart income tax knowledge or give advice on filing returns. Each investor must do their own due diligence and consult a qualified tax accountant for all tax matters. I just introduce the reader to various aspects of foreign investing.

Tax-Advantaged Accounts

The impact of foreign withholding taxes on tax-advantaged accounts like Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, 401(k), etc. is different. There is no income tax return to be filed every year so any foreign taxes withheld on shares held in a tax-advantaged account is lost forever. This can substantially reduce the effective dividend yield of foreign stock held in a tax-advantaged account. However, there are a few countries that either do not withhold any taxes on dividends or do not withhold taxes on dividends paid to shares held in tax-advantaged accounts of U.S. resident investors. An investor should only buy stocks of companies from such countries in the tax-advantaged accounts to avoid losing taxes to the foreign country.

Other Aspects of foreign taxes

Some other aspects of foreign withholding taxes are discussed below:

• Each country has a rate at which taxes are withheld on dividends distributed by a domicile company. However, most countries have a tax-treaty with the U.S. as well. Some of these treaties have a provision that brings down the rate at which taxes are withheld for U.S. resident investors. Unfortunately, this isn't as straightforward as it should be. It appears that the reduced rate of foreign taxes requires the broker or the depository receipt bank to file appropriate paperwork with the foreign authorities to get a lower rate of return. This means that withholding rate may differ for different investors depending on who their broker is.
• In some cases, the individual investor may be able to file paperwork independently with the foreign tax authorities and claim the difference between the typical withholding rate and the reduced rate for U.S. investors. However, I have personally never tried it and do not know of any fellow investor who has used it so am not sure how easy or effective it is.
• The tax rate in the table below is for general equities and excluded instruments like preferred stock or REITs. I have not yet looked at these

Table of Withholding Tax Rates

As I started investing in foreign equities, I started creating a table of withholding tax rates by the country. This has helped me reconcile the dividend amounts that I receive as well as figure out if I can buy certain stocks in my Roth IRA account. I do not have any Traditional IRA or 401(k) accounts but I do have funds in Roth IRA and I want to ensure that I only buy stocks that do not have foreign withholding taxes. Please remember the following points as you refer to the table:

• The tax rates in the following table are not cast in stone. I have collected the data in the table from company websites, IRS.gov, TopForeignStocks.com, Deloitte.com, and from personal experience having been invested in some stocks.
• I have heard from fellow investors that more or less taxes have been deducted than one would "normally" expect; e.g., Brazil should be 0% tax rate but there have been cases where withholding taxes have been deducted for Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR).
• Some countries charge lower withholding tax rate than typical non-resident rate based upon tax treaties with U.S. However, an investor may not always benefit from this because the broker/depository receipt manager may not file the required paperwork or because the investor needs to file the paperwork himself/herself or for some other unknown reason.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/582341-foreign-tax-credit-and-withholding-tax-rates

3/7/2013

Drip Cap Gains are taxed at the year of the distribution/purchase.

Declaration of Eligibility for Benefits under a Tax Treaty for a Non-Resident Taxpayer

FOREIGN TAX WITHHELD - Each person on the brokerage account has to fill out this form.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/nr301/nr301-fill-10e.pdf

At TD Ameritrade, it's important to us that we keep you informed of any new
regulations that may impact your account. We want you to know that effective
January 1, 2013, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) implemented new requirements
for receiving reduced tax withholding on Canadian-sourced income payments.

Our records of your holdings indicate that you may be affected by this change,
so we want you to know what to do to avoid possible additional tax withholding
on those payments.

About the new requirement:

- Previously, your name and address information in our files allowed us to
apply a reduced withholding rate to your Canadian-sourced income payments.

- Under the new regulations, however, we will need to have a Canadian
non-resident tax form(s) on file in order for you to be eligible for the reduced
rate.

 

According to the CRA, Canadian dividend-payers are required to have

…recent and sufficient information to establish the identity of the beneficial owner for the purpose of the application of treaty benefits, whether they are resident in a particular country with which Canada has a tax treaty and whether they are eligible for treaty benefits under the tax treaty on the income being paid.

CRA Form NR301, “Declaration of Eligibility for Benefits under a Tax Treaty for a Non-Resident Taxpayer,” details the information the CRA is seeking. Form NR301 is available here. The new rule does not specifically require use or submission of the form in all cases. It simply requires the Canadian dividend payer to have sufficient information, based on the criteria set forth in Form NR301, to support eligibility.

The information requested on Form NR301 includes:

• Legal name of non-resident taxpayer;
• Mailing address;
• Foreign tax identification number (for US residents this is your Social Security number);
• Recipient type and Canadian tax number if you have one (you simply indicate whether you or the entity upon whose behalf your providing certification is an “Individual” or “Corporation” or a “Trust” along with the relevant Canadian identification number);
• Country of residence for treaty purposes;
• Type of income for which the non-resident taxpayer is making the declaration (“Interest, dividends, and/or royalties,” the relevant selection for our purposes, or “Trust income” or “Other,” with instructions to specify “income type”).
• A signature by the non-resident taxpayer or an authorized person of “certification and undertaking.”

According to the CRA, if the verification it seeks hadn’t been received by Jan. 1, 2013, it will withhold from dividends paid to US owners of shares in Canada-based companies at a rate of 25 percent rather than 15 percent, as is contemplated by the Convention Between the United States of America and Canada with Respect to Taxes on Income and Capital, or the US-Canada tax treaty, and accompanying conventions and explanatory notes.

You may have been asked by your brokerage to fill out and submit CRA Form NR301. On the other hand, many brokerages likely provided certification based on information they already possessed through your existing account information.

“Registered shareholders”–the stock you own is registered in your name on the underlying company’s books, which is kept by the company’s transfer agent, and you’re in physical possession of a certificate that represents your ownership interest–will likely have to complete forms for submission to your respective underlying companies’ transfer agent.

By now you should have received forms directly from transfer agents for all the underlying companies you own requesting information to confirm your tax treaty eligibility. If you haven’t already done so, registered shareholders should complete and remit these forms as soon as possible.

If you’re a registered shareholder of any Canada-based dividend-paying corporation, whether it was ever a trust or not, complete any such forms if they’ve already been forwarded to you.

If you are a registered shareholder of a dividend-paying Canadian corporation and haven’t received notification from it, it might be a good idea to send an e-mail or phone an investor relations representative at the relevant company.

- Please note: Unless we receive the appropriate documentation, we will need to
withhold the full statutory tax rate of 25% on your Canadian-sourced income.
To ensure you receive the appropriate tax withholding, we urge you to act
promptly.

- Note: If you have an account with more than one account holder, such as a
Joint Account, each account holder must complete a separate form.

What you need to do to avoid additional tax withholding:

1. Choose the appropriate form for your particular circumstances, as
different forms apply to different situations. Please consult with your tax
advisor to determine which form to use. The forms include:

- NR301 – Declaration of Eligibility for Benefits under a Tax Treaty for a
Non-resident Taxpayer.

- NR302 – Declaration of Eligibility for Benefits under a Tax Treaty for a
Partnership with Non-Resident Partners.

- NR303 – Declaration of Eligibility for Benefits under a Tax Treaty for a
Hybrid Entity.

You can also find these forms, along with the answers to frequently asked
questions, on the CRA's website.

2. Complete the applicable form in full and return it to us as soon as
possible in order to begin receiving beneficial tax treatment.

IMPORTANT: To ensure that we apply the form to the correct account, please be
sure to enclose a completed copy of our cover sheet with
the form.

Please mail the form and the cover sheet to us at:

TD Ameritrade
Attention: Corporate Actions
1005 North Ameritrade Place
Bellevue, NE 68005-4245

Or fax it to us at: 866-468-6268

 

Foreign-stock-dividend - http://seekingalpha.com/article/1029261-your-foreign-stock-dividend-yield-may-be-less-than-you-think

From Blogger: If you claim the foreign tax withheld
as a tax credit on your 1040 by filing form 1116, each dollar of foreign tax
withheld reduces your US federal income tax liability by one dollar. So, in
effect, each tax withholding payment amounts to a partial payment on your income
tax liability. It's really no different from the estimated tax payments many of
us are required to pay quarterly.

 

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p514.pdf

3/6/2013

IT Salaries - http://www.networkworld.com/slideshow/89498/how-different-tech-degrees-measure-up.html?source=NWWNLE_nlt_afterdark_2013-03-05#slide1

 

Advanced Process killer - http://processhacker.sourceforge.net/

Linux on a Flash drive - http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

 

Manual Billing: Fixed Tax bug. Computed Tax not same as invoice Tax.

Manual Billing: Bug with deleting object and datagridrow.

Dim NumOfRows As Integer = DataGridView1.Rows.Count - 1
For i As Integer = 0 To DataGridView1.Rows.Count - 1
If DataGridView1.Rows.Count - 1 < i Then Continue For
DataGridView1.Rows.RemoveAt(i)
mShellOrder.CartItems.RemoveAt(i)
i -= 1
isCartCleared = True
InvTax = txtTax.Text
Next

3/5/2013

Catching a falling knife - Keep buying an oversold stock.

CAN SLIM System - A system for selecting stocks created by Investor's Business Daily founder William J. O'Neil. Each letter in the acronym stands for a key factor to look for in a company. 
Also referred to as "C-A-N-S-L-I-M" or "CANSLIM".

Investopedia explains 'CAN SLIM'

The seven-part criteria is as follows:

C - Current quarterly earnings per share has increased sharply from the same quarters' earnings reported in the prior year. (Beware of items in financial statements that can cause earnings distortions.)

A - Annual earnings increases over the last five years.

N - New products, management, and other new events. In addition, the company's stock has reached new highs.

S - Small supply and large demand for a stock creates excess demand, and an environment in which stock prices can soar. Companies acquiring their own stock reduces market supply and can indicate their expectation of future profitability. Look for low debt-equity ratios.

L - Choose leaders over laggard stocks within the same industry. Use the relative strength index as a guide.

I - Pick stocks who have institutional sponsorship by a few institutions with recent above average performance. Be cautious of stocks that are over owned by institutions.

M - Determining market direction by reviewing market averages daily.

Not Buy Low Sell High But - *Buy High and Buy Higher*

When Stock is going up, no one sells. Therefore a higher demand/higher stock price.

Stock making new price highs tend to go higher.

Stock making new price lows tend to go lower.

IBD - Investment Business Daily

Did my stock close below 50/200 day moving avg?

     50 day avg volume for buying.

Buy and Hold? When you choose to buy and hold, you miss out on today's winners. when my stock is falling in price is my stock gaping low?

Gaping - huge spread between closing and opening.

Is stock selling in high volume (50 day moving average volume)

Has the market trend change? Market trend directs 75% of all the stocks.

 

 

 

3/4/2013

http://www.meetup.com/find/

Life with Choices.

Sim vs life as a game - Both a game, but Sims provides a road map on how to win, and gauges to monitor.

Climbers vs Relaxers - In context of climbing a mountain, and the worry of a coastal flooding. There are two type of personalities, those who are compeitive and wants to reach the top of the mountain and there are those who rather stay near the beach. The problem is we live in a coastal flooding area, there are many uncertainties. But at the same time, the climbers strive to reach the top, but there are no end to the climb. Where is the safe spot? are there any? They will keep climbing till they cant climb anymore. Probably at a point where they forgotten why they are climbing. And for those who dont prepare, and rather enjoy the view of the clear water beach. During High Tides, their savings gets washed away and left with nothing. But that will keep those to continue to strive to rebuild and wait for the next high tide, or do they convert to a climber. There are those who have a mix of both personalities. Those with a goal, who climbs to reach a fine spot and stay still and enjoy the view. Where they are comfortable and know that high tides wont reach them. but little did they know, they also live in a world of tsunamis. Is there an escape? Yes, what impresses me are those who work with others to create an elevator/stairs to reach as high as they want, without burning every muscle climbing. Leverage is Great, but also increase dependency.

Reverse Stock split - implement a 1 for 4 reverse stock split. A reduction in the number of a corporation's shares outstanding that increases the par value of its stock or its earnings per share. The market value of the total number of shares (market capitalization) remains the same.

Options benefits

 Leverage

Another advantage with options is leverage. You can get started in options with only a fraction of the money you would normally need to get into the actual stock. And many option strategies come with a guaranteed limited risk.

It's these advantages, and more, that can make options a perfect addition to someone's portfolio.

What's interesting, however, is that even though the popularity of options has soared, they are still not as well known or understood as much as stocks. But they should be.


Bullish

If you're bullish on a stock, you can buy a call option on it and make money as it goes up.

Momentum stocks and Aggressive Growth stocks are probably the best kinds of stocks to use for this. These are stocks that are on the move with some of the most explosive upside potential.

Bearish

If you're bearish, you can buy a put option and make money as the price goes down.

Look for stocks trading at excessive valuations. Focus in on the ones with downward earnings estimate revisions. And if they are below their major moving averages like the 50-day and 200-day moving average, even better.

Big Move in Either Direction

If you believe a big move could occur in either direction, but you're not sure which way, you can make money with a straddle or a strangle. This entails buying both a call and a put at the same time.

One of the best times to use this strategy is before an earnings announcement, or an important event. Some of the best stocks for this option strategy are high beta stocks. These are stocks that can move big, and that's exactly what you want to see happen with this kind of strategy.

Once again, in order for a stock to make a big move, there usually needs to be a catalyst. One of the most reliable catalysts out there for big moves (up or down) is earnings reports. But lately, there have been plenty of political events, not just in the US, but around the world, that have sent stocks sharply in one direction or another. This can create the kind of potential volatility to really make a strategy like this work.


Slower, Moderate Move

If you're expecting a stock to go up or down, but you expect the move to be moderate or slower, then spreads are a great strategy for this.

For example, a bull call spread involves buying a nearby strike and selling a farther out one. If the stock goes up, but slowly, the nearby call you bought should increase in value, in spite of some time decay loss. But the call option you wrote will benefit from time decay, thus making the spread more profitable than had you only purchased a call. You can do this with a put spread as well. It works the same way, but instead, you make money as the market goes down.

This is a great strategy for stocks you expect to see move, but not necessarily with a big splash that you would see with the top rated or bottom rated stocks.


Sideways

How about making money if the market goes sideways? You cannot make money in a stock if it goes sideways. But you absolutely can in an option.

Calendar spreads are one such strategy. Iron condors are another. (These are simply called 'combinations'.) These are strategies used by many professional traders to consistently make money. It's great seeing stocks go up. It can also be great seeing stocks go down, if you're properly positioned. But more often than not, stocks trade sideways, within a range.

With these types of strategies, a stock can go up from where you got in, or down from where you got in, or just sit still - and you can still make money. As long as it stays within that range, you profit. With such a low risk and high probability, every investor should have these in their portfolio.