Phil Liberatore’s 5 Top Tips for Winning on Your Taxes!

Liberate yourself from tax woes with trusted CPA Phil Liberatore                               
His 5 Top Tips for WINNING on your taxes:                  

1)       Health insurance premiums help lower the self-employment tax: When a person is self-employed, s/he generally has to pay his/her own health insurance premiums as well as both the employer and employees’ portion of Social Security and Medicare Tax (AKA self-employment tax).  For 2010 and 2011, the self-employed are able to lower their self-employment tax by paying their health insurance premiums.  Basically, they premiums reduce the income that the s/e tax is calculated from. This saves BIG money!

 2)       Starting in 2012, every person, corporate or otherwise, engaged in a trade or business, must file 1099-misc to persons or corporations that they pay $600 or more in a calendar year.  So, if you own your own business (self-employed, S-corporation, LLC, etc.), you now need to issue anyone you pay $600 or more to a 1099-misc.  Got a utility company? You’ll have to 1099 them. Bulk store? You’ll have to 1099 them. Office supply store? You’ve got it! You’ll have to 1099 them.  On the plus side, if you pay with your credit cards, the credit card company will take care of this filing for you. On the down side, if you mix up paying cash and credit, you’ll be responsible for 1099-ing the company for the cash portion.  Confused yet?  3)       Do you have an online account where people can pay you (i.e. Paypal)?  Starting in 2012, they are going to start reporting your income to the IRS. Sell a bunch of items on e-Bay or Amazon? That’s going to get reported, too. 

 4)       Currently, not all tax preparers are required to be licensed.  That’s going to change. Soon.  Preparers who aren’t CPAs, EAs, or attorneys will eventually have to satisfy a competency test and continuing education requirements to attain and keep their PTIN (an annual user fee for online registration).

 5)       IRS Audits are on the rise. The IRS has hired 5,000 new auditors and are currently focusing on taxpayers with Schedules A, C, and E.

For more information click here. 

Shawn Achor Writes About “The Happiness Advantage” In Psychology Today

                                                                                                                                                                                     

Have you ever wondered how happiness fuels performance at work, home and school? Shawn Achor sure seems to have an idea.  In Shawn’s post he answers questions such as “Are you an irrational optimist?” or “Is happiness impossible?”  These are questions that intrigue us all, Shawn elaborates on his beliefs in “The Happiness Advantage.”  Shawn Achor, a best-selling author, is one of the world’s leading experts on human potential.

After spending a decade researching and teaching sections at Harvard University, Shawn began working with Fortune 500 companies and schools, lecturing in 42 different countries on how happiness affects performance. He is the founder of Good Think Inc., a consulting firm that uses research to enhance individual achievement and cultivate a more productive workplace. Achor’s lectures on the science of happiness have received attention in The New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, and on CNN and NPR.

If you would like to read more about Shawn and “The Happiness Advantage” click here.

LCO needs YOU!

Levine Communications is offering Entertainment PR Internships!

We are a top entertainment PR firm with well over two decades of experience and a client roster consisting of some of the most powerful names and brands in Hollywood. We are seeking bright, new administrative interns to join our hardworking team.

Interns participate in an intense program working closely with our publicists and CEO. We ask that you come in 2-3 times a week for 3-4 months, but hours are flexible to accommodate varying schedules.

Duties include:

– filing of documents
– supporting a team of publicists
– corresponding through phone and email with clients
– answering and screening incoming calls
– make outgoing calls
– scheduling meetings
– coordinating events
– acting as a liaison between clients and the publicists
– supervising or supporting groups of other interns on various assigned projects

Interns must be:

– highly organized, professional, hard-working, flexible, and responsible
– knowledgeable in Microsoft Word, Excel, social media, and Windows
– able to work well independently and in groups
– able to adapt to a high-paced, dynamic, and competitive work environment

We ask that all qualified and immediately available candidates send a cover letter and resume.

Please feel free to email us for more information on this posting. Please note that this internship is only open to candidates located in Los Angeles.

MUST be over the age of 18

Not limited to only students. This internship is available to anyone motivated to get started.
Hiring Organization: LCO PR

Levine Communications Office

1180 S. Beverly Dr., Suite 301

Los Angeles, CA 90035

(310) 300-0950 x230

Entertainmentprinternship@gmail.com