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Entry bubble National Consumer Protection Week (March 1-7)

By: Colleen | February 25, 2009 | Category: Money

CAHNext week is National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW). This year's theme, "Nuts and Bolts: Tools for Today's Economy," was chosen to help people get the most for their money—whether you are trying to improve your credit history, tell the difference between a real deal or a rip-off, or protect your mortgage from foreclosure or foreclosure rescue scams.

The NCPW website includes pages on a range of consumer topics like banking, credit, consumer rights, identity theft & fraud, investments, money, and mortgages.

For a consumer reference guide, pre-order the 2009 Consumer Action Handbook. This free publication, available in April, includes tips on how to handle consumer issues, as well as a sample complaint letter to help you express consumer problems via mail, fax, or e-mail.

Check out all the sponsors of NCPW to learn how to protect yourself and your money!

| Post a Comment | View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: colleen   consumer_action_handbook   money   national_consumer_protection_week  

 

Entry bubble The American Recovery and Investment Act and You

By: Jake | February 23, 2009 | Category: Money

MoneyPresident Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law last Tuesday and shortly after he signed it the National Contact Center had people calling and emailing about getting a check because of the new law.

The law the President signed last week doesn't give anyone a stimulus payment or tax rebate check and it probably won't affect your 2008 income tax return. Even before the law was passed some people were already eligible for more 2008 stimulus payment money, specifically those who made less income in 2008 than in 2007. If this is your circumstance, you should check to see if you are eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit.

About $288 billion of the $787 billion from the new law will be for tax relief. According to the Internal Revenue Service, there are two tax provisions in the law that could bring you some extra cash this year.

The "Making Work Pay" tax credit will give a refundable tax credit to individuals with an adjusted gross income up to $75,000 or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly. The credit will be applied to paychecks with tax withholdings, and you can calculate the amount for you here. Some people who receive benefits from the Social Security Administration, Veteran's Affairs and Railroad Retirement Board will receive an Economic Recovery Payment from the agency that grants their benefits.

Recovery.gov is where you can find out about where the other $499 billion will go. The White House has created a website to get your feedback on the law. What do you think of it? 

| Post a Comment | View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: economic_stimulus_payments   jake   rebate_check  

 

Entry bubble Stamp Price Increase

By: Colleen | February 11, 2009 | Category: Money

Last week, Jake discussed the idea of the U.S. Postal Service cutting back its delivery services to five days a week.stamps

While that idea is still being tossed around, the USPS has announced that as of May 11th, 2009, the price of postage stamps will increase by 2 cents. That means, it will now set you back 44 cents to send a standard letter.

Since rising costs are the norm right now, the postal service increases rates annually in May and the change is tied to the rate of inflation from the year before. The increase is estimated to cost the average household an additional $3 per year.

Other changes include:

  • A postcard stamp increases one cent to 28 cents.
  • The first ounce of a large envelope increases 5 cents to 88 cents.
  • The first ounce of a parcel increases 5 cents to $1.22.
  • International postcard and letter prices, for one ounce, are 75 cents to Canada, 79 cents to Mexico, and 98 cents elsewhere.

Before May 11th, you might want to stock up on Forever Stamps, which still sell at the 42-cent rate until the increase occurs.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [5] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: colleen   stamps   us_postal_service   usps  

 

Entry bubble Answering Income Tax "What Ifs"

By: Jake | February 09, 2009 | Category: Money

Tax prep photoAs Jess's post last week demonstrated, people are busy preparing for the 2009 tax filing season. Unfortunately with the economic downturn, a lot of people have fallen into "what if?" situations as they tackle their Internal Revenue Service forms. A "what if?" would include situations where you dipped into your IRA or lost your job.

Last week a colleague forwarded me an email from the IRS explaining people can answer many of these "what ifs" by searching the IRS homepage. I went ahead and did the searching for you and created the list of links below to help answer your "what ifs?" If by chance you have more "what ifs," contact the IRS or leave me a comment and I'll see if I can answer it for you.

Job Related

What if I lose my job?
What if my income declines?
What if I withdraw money from my IRA?
What if my 401(k) drops in value?

Debt Related

What if I lose my home through foreclosure?
What if I sell my home for a loss?
What if my debt is forgiven?

Tax Related

What if I can’t pay my taxes?
What if I can’t pay my installment agreement?
What if I can’t resolve my tax problem with the IRS?
What if I need legal representation to help with my tax problem but can’t afford it? 

| Post a Comment | View Comments [7] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: economic_downturn   income_tax   jake   job_loss   taxes   unemployment  

 

Entry bubble Filing taxes in two states

By: Jess | February 05, 2009 | Category: Money

taxesMoving from Pennsylvania to Maryland a few months ago was a little bit stressful because of the distance and the date my previous lease ended and my new one started. I had thought that after I finished sleeping on a friend’s sofa and was in my own place, my moving stresses were over.

But I hadn’t thought about taxes and how the move would affect that.

Like many other people who moved this year, I have to file tax returns in two different states. I’ve never filed a single tax return before, so I’m a little bit nervous and had lots of questions.

Though my parents offered to help me with the Pennsylvania taxes, I was responsible for finding all the necessary forms.

It was a lot easier than I thought to find what I needed. The Federal Tax Administrators have a map linking to each state's tax information. The only form that was a little tricky was the municipality tax form for Manchester Township in York, Pa., but a lady at the tax office gave me the exact number of the form that I could print right from the Web site.

Maryland’s tax forms were even simpler because the county tax is included right on the state tax form, which meant I only needed to track down one.

Now it’s just a matter of filling the forms out, sending them in and figuring out what to do with my return check.

I’m thinking a mini-vacation may be in order.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: jess   maryland   pennsylvania   pueblo   taxes   usa.gov  

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