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There are only a few more weeks to take action to limit your business and personal tax bills for the year. Here are some Web sites to help sort your credits and deductions. Options estimator. The SmartMoney tax guide has a couple of simple tax tools for us corporate titans - a couple of stock option tax estimators, for example. Of course, they are not much use while your company's stock is in the tank. But, hey, the year is not over yet. There is advice on how to deduct business travel, even if some of your business trip is for fun, and an explanation for when to engage in year-end dumping of loser stocks. www.smartmoney.com/tax/ Small business. Words of advice for small-business owners on ways to cut the tax bill in the final weeks of the year include opening retirement accounts, making charitable gifts, and even making small deductible gifts to "legitimate business associates." This is the Web site of the National Federation of Independent Business, a lobbyist group.
Tax issues' complexity grows
Many small-business owners meeting with their accountants this month and next may find that year-end tax planning and projections for 2008 are a little more complicated than usual because of the uneasy economy. "We're finding a lot of clients due to the economy aren't doing as well as they've done in previous years," said Jeffrey Berdahl, a certified public accountant with Berdahl & Co. in Center Valley, Pa. "We're not seeing as much of top-line revenue growth." For many business owners, that means cash flow isn't as healthy as they'd like. And so decisions typically made toward the end of the year -- for example, whether to buy new equipment or whether to set up a retirement plan -- need to be thought through even more carefully. As always, what businesses do for the balance of the old year needs to be considered in the context of projections for 2008.
Economy makes tax planning harder
NEW YORK: Many small-business owners meeting with their accountants this month and next might find that year-end tax planning and projections for 2008 are a little more complicated than usual because of the uneasy economy. ''We're finding a lot of clients due to the economy aren't doing as well as they've done in previous years,'' said Jeffrey Berdahl, a certified public accountant with Berdahl & Co. in Center Valley, Pa. ''We're not seeing as much of top-line revenue growth.'' For many business owners, that means cash flow isn't as healthy as they'd like. And so decisions typically made toward the end of the year for example, whether to buy new equipment or whether to set up a retirement plan need to be thought through even more carefully. As always, what businesses do for the balance of the old year needs to be considered in the context of projections for 2008.
A doughnut shop's mission: Help military families in need
EVERETT -- John and Dee McCall could be traveling in a motor home, watching Nascar races around the country.
That and other retirement plans will wait for now, as the McCalls instead decided to open a small business with a cause.
Riverside Donuts & Deli opened in October in the College Plaza strip mall in north Everett. The shop features locally baked and daily- delivered fresh doughnuts, packaged muffins and sandwiches, along with fountain drinks and other snack fare. There's also free Wi-Fi access.
But most doughnut shops don't offer the added benefit that a portion of what you pay could help a military family someday.
The McCalls' modest shop is registered as a nonprofit business, with proceeds -- when there are some -- destined for the Chaplain's Fund, which assists military families in crisis.
November 6, 2007
Last week, I commented that Stan ONeal, ex-CEO of Merrill Lynch, was paid for his performance when shown the exit door after Merrills $8.4-billion write-down. I received a number of emails commenting that I failed to address that he walked away with at least $159 million and was eligible for a severance package. The readers were incredulous that failure on the part of a CEO can translate into big paydays on the way out. This week, another shoe dropped with the retirement of Chuck Prince, Citibanks CEO, on the heels of an announcement that the bank will take an $11-billion write-down. He leaves with $105 million in cash and stock. By any measure, the losses revealed by Merrill and Citi are incomprehensible, but no more astounding than the payments to the guys on top who were, in fact, paid for their non- performance.
Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College helps lawyers get in touch with themselves
BOSTON, Mass. — A male lawyer sits across from a woman he does not know while she plays the role of his wife. He apologizes for the condescending tone he used in their last argument, and says: “I treasure you, and can't imagine living without you."
As he reaches for a tissue, his eyes brimming with tears, a dozen lawyers sitting in a circle around him applaud.
Role-playing exercises like this are standard fare at the Trial Lawyers College, a mecca for litigators searching for ways to shed their lawyerly facades and embrace their own pain so they can better represent their clients.
Founded 13 years ago by famed Wyoming trial lawyer Gerry Spence, the Trial Lawyers College uses psychodrama — a form of group therapy in which participants recreate scenes from their lives — to help lawyers get in touch with themselves, and win big verdicts while they're at it.
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