The Tax Goddess Blog

SWC Travel World

 Each Edition we will be introducing a new member of the SWC Network - This is a way for each member to get to know other members who are interested in participating.  This network is made up of our clients, trusted vendors, and SWC tested services and products.

This Edition's New Member is:

SWC's Travel World

Website:

SWC's World Travel

For those of you waiting, preparing, traveling, flying, driving, and wanting that vacation, SWC has just the way!

SWC has joined up with YTB travel as a Travel Agent (see above article on ways you can save money on your vacations!).

Our website is another way to search for tickets, cars, hotels, cruises, vacations, even golf pacakges and hunting!  Shauna has personally compared over 15 trips using our website as compared to travelocity and orbitz and 94% of the time, our travel was the cheapest price listed!  SWC's World Travel uses the same database as the big guys but finds those few bucks off here and there so you can spend them on activites or those fancy drinks on the beach!

Contact us if you have any questions about the site, or if you are interested in becoming an agent yourself!

Ways for a W-2 Wage Earner to Lower their Tax Bill

Do you Know???

I get asked a lot for new ways, and new strategies, to lower your taxes when you are a W-2 wage earner. 

As we all know, when you have a job you are at the mercy of whatever amount of income you make multiplied by whatever tax bracket that puts you in, right?

WRONG!!!!

There are many ways that you can lower your overall taxes, and some of them are really FUN!!! (Yes, I know, Fun and Taxes in the same sentence?  No Way!)

Here are some of the ways that you can lower your overall tax bill:

1.  Open up a business on the side

The main things to watch out on this is that you are actually TRYING to make a profit.  There had better be some advertising expenses, some office supplies, some income.  And note, your business MUST show income at least once every three (3) years otherwise the IRS may classify your business as a hobby and disallow the expenses / losses.

The best two parts about this going into business thing are:

A) the business can be doing something that is FUN for you (like traveling around the world so that you can tell your clients what the best hotel in Kyoto or Madrid is), and

B) the business losses can write off against your W-2 income.  So, for example, if you make $75,000 a year in W-2 wages, and your business loses $10,000 (i.e., you wrote off your travel around the world to see the hotels), your total net taxable income is only $65,000!

2. Are you paying attention to the things that you do all year?  There are some ways to lower your taxes that apply to activites you are already doing!

- What and to Whom are you donating?

For Example, in Arizona, if you donate cash to a charity that helps the working poor you can take a credit of up to $200 for a single person!

You can also take off up to $500 per person is you donate cash to a Private School Tuition Organization.

- Energy Efficient Items

Did you purchase a new water heater?  What about energy efficient windows? Both of these items apply to various federal level credits that can save you upwards of $500

- What about that Hybrid car?

Did you doublecheck to see what model you are buying?  Does it qualify for up to a $5000 credit off your federal taxes?



There are a lot of potential ways to lower you taxes, and it shoudl be par of course to talk to your CPA about planning for your final year end for 2007 as well as what things you might do to help you out with this years taxes!

If you have any questions about an email that you have received, or some advice, please contact your CPA and ask some questions!  PLEASE NOTE: Planning sessions with SWC begin Nov 1st, 2007 and end December 21st, 2007 - so call in and setup your appointment today!

Fish For Dish

Fish for Dish is Live!!!

This is a newly launched website that is also aiding in the Hunger Project. 

Fish for Dish is a place for the Online Video Chef!  Kind of Like UTube but for cooking Shows! 

Check it out and add your own recipes!

San Carlo Michael Olive Oil -

 

Michael DiLeo of San Carlo Michael Olive Oil

One of the Vendors at the
SWC Wine Tasting Event of 9/21/7

Website:

Olive Oil Del Sol

About San Carlo Michael Olive Oil

For those of you that were at the SWC wine tasting event on September 21st, 2007 you know already how delicious this Olive Oil is!  Shauna highly recommends it and uses it herself! 

 

When olive oil companies sell their olive oil to their customers they advise them that their oil is "Extra Virgin" olive oil.  These companies sometimes advise the customers that the olives are hand picked, yet the price is under $10 for a liter.  We would like to point out that under Italian law that many olive oil companies import cheaper olive oil from other countries and mix it with their olive oil and they label it as a product of Italy.  They then sell the olive oil as an Italian olive oil and fool the public and of course charge a lower amount.

 

Our Extra Virgin Olive Oil is truly a product of Sicily/Italy.

 

 We do not mix any olive oil that we get from our farms with anyone else's olive oil.  We can visually see that the price is cheap, but you have to be conscious that the olive oil you are buying is not of the best quality.  Like everything else in life, you get what you pay for.  By buying our Extra Virgin olive Oils, you  are getting a premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil, making the food that you cook for your family and friend taste better and is much healthier for them.

 

Remember our Extra Virgin Olive Oil was judged by the Italian Sommeliers as an Extra Virgin Olive Oil that was recognized to be put into the "L'OLIO book 2006" with 4 out of 5 stars.

 

How many olive oil companies can state that?

For More information please contact Michael DiLeo at: 480-704-3255 or email him at: Michael DiLeo

Tax Scams! What to Watch Out For!

Do you Know???

There are a lot of Tax Scams floating around the internet these days.  Some of them ask you to respond with your bank account information for a refund that the IRS "forgot" to send you, and some are as simple as asking for your telephone # so they can call you and discuss items on your return! 

Some scams deal with you and what you can and can not do on your tax return while others deal with the IRS trying to "find" you!

BE WARY!!!!!

Things to note that are and are not true relating to TAX SCAMS and the IRS!

1)  Email Refunds!

The IRS does NOT communicate via email with taxpayers.  If you EVER get an email from someone claiming to be an IRS agent or a representative for the IRS - DELETE THE EMAIL IMMEDIATELY!!!!  These people are out to get your bank account #'s or Social Security #'s!

2) Bogus Government Grants for Taxpayers

This telemarketing tax scam involves scammers posing as IRS agents calling potential victims and saying that their "good credit and timely filing of tax returns qualifies them for no-obligation government grants."  The pitch is that because the taxpayer is such a good citizen, they are going to receive a $10,000 grant from the government that they don't need to repay.

Naturally, the scammer only needs your bank account info to electronically deposit the money. And of course, the grants are for a limited time only, so the taxpayer must act quickly. Yeah right!  And the government moves that fast, when?  to GIVE us $$$? - HANG UP ON THESE PEOPLE!  Even when you call in to the IRS, they won't let you give private information until you've reached the right department; so they would be asking you for private information why???

There are also "fraud schemes" that the IRS has a top 12 list of here:

IRS "Dirty Dozen"

PLEASE BE CAREFUL when dealing with the IRS and anyone that claims to represent them!  It's a dangerous world out there, your identity and good standing with the IRS should not be taken lightly! 

If you have any questions about an email that you have received, or some advice, please contact your CPA and ask some questions!