Financial Freedom Tips

Archive for July 27th, 2010

The Working Capital Journal is one of several commercial financing resources which should be reviewed regularly by small business owners to assist in keeping up with the imposing difficulties posed by rapid changes in the business finance funding climate. As noted below, there have been some surprising actions taken by lenders as a direct result of current financial uncertainties. The increasingly complex and confusing environment for working capital finance is likely to produce several unexpected challenges for commercial borrowers.

The working capital finance industry has primarily been operating on a regional and local basis for many years. In response to cost-cutting that has permeated many industries, there has been a consolidation that has resulted in fewer effective commercial lenders throughout the United States. Most business owners have been understandably confused about what this might mean for the future of their commercial financing efforts, especially because this has happened in a relatively short period of time.

Of course, for some time there have been ongoing complex problems for commercial borrowers to refrain when seeking commercial loans. But what has produced a new set of business finance funding problems is that we appear to be entering a period which will be characterized by even more uncertainties in the economy. With tiny advance notice by lenders, previous standards and rules for working capital finance and commercial financing are likely to increasingly change.

With the current realization that substantial changes are likely in the near future for commercial finance funding throughout the United States, business owners should make an extended effort to comprehend what is happening and what to do about it. At the forefront of these efforts should be a review of what actions commercial lenders have already taken in current months. The Working Capital Journal is one prominent example of a free public resource that will assist a superior understanding of the responses by business lenders to current economic circumstances.

By publicizing actions taken by commercial lenders, this will contribute to these two goals, both of which are likely to be helpful to typical business owners: (1) To assist in eliminating or reducing questionable lending practices by highlighting controversial lending tactics. (2) To help business owners prepare for commercial finance funding changes. Sources that currently include The Working Capital Journal are actively encouraging business owners to describe and report their financing experiences so that they can be shared with a broader audience to assist in this effort. Some of the most significant commercial financing changes reported so far by commercial borrowers involve working capital loans, commercial construction financing and credit card financing. A notable situation of concern is that predatory lending practices by credit card issuers have been reported by many business owners. Because they have been excluded from obtaining any new business financing by many banks, some specific businesses such as restaurants are having an especially difficult time recently.

One of the few current bright spots in business finance funding, as noted in The Working Capital Journal, has been the continuing capability of business owners to obtain working capital swiftly by business cash advance programs. For most businesses accepting credit cards, this commercial financing approach should be actively considered. Business cash advances are literally saving the day for many small business owners because most banks appear to be doing a terrible job of providing commercial loans and other working capital finance help in the midst of current financial and economic uncertainties. For example, as noted above, restaurants are virtually unable to currently obtain commercial finance funding from most banks. Fortunately, restaurants accepting credit cards are in a good position to obtain needed cash from credit card receivables financing and merchant cash advances.

Miscellaneous tax deductions might not save you a bundle of money on their own, but you should be interested in the totality of your tax liability.  For this reason, you want to save all that you can.  Some of these deductions might apply to you at the time you file your income tax return.

For instance, there is a deduction for expenses not reimbursed to employees.  There could be deductions for things like gasoline and mileage for travel on behalf of your employer, meals taken on the road, clothing, and even entertainment.  Any expense that could be considered ordinary and necessary for doing business on behalf of an employer could remember for this deduction, as long as you were not reimbursed for the expense.  These expenses must be in excess of 2% of your adjusted gross income in order to qualify.

If you paid someone to prepare you taxes, you can deduct those fees as long as they are in excess of 2% of your adjusted gross income.  This can include tax publications, personal software, and electronic filing fees.  Taxpayers often overlook this particular miscellaneous deduction.

You can deduct gambling losses on schedule A of your income tax return.  This deduction is limited to the amount of gambling winnings you took in at the casinos.  In other words you can't report that you lost more than you won.  I know that sounds unrealistic to any of us who have ever gambled, but there it is.

Although there is a particular deduction for theft and casualty on schedule A, there is an allowable miscellaneous deduction for casualty and theft of income producing property.  The causes of loss could be fire, theft, storm, or vandalism.  Income producing property can be art work stored for investment, stocks, bonds, coin collections, etc.

There are lots of doable miscellaneous deductions, like impairment related work expenses.  Impairment related work expenses are any special expenses you incur to aid you to be healthy to work if you are disabled.

You can even claim a deduction for an unrecovered investment in an annuity.

There are so many of these miscellaneous deductions that might apply to you that it is a good intent to speak them over with an income tax expert in the course of filing your return.  Such an expert should be thoroughly equipped to help you determine which miscellaneous deductions you can find in order to help lower your tax liability as much as possible.

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