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UPDATE: The Senate passed the bill 39-1. It now heads to Gov. Rick Scott.

Tax changes designed to help Verizon Communications and other telecom companies suddenly seem poised to pass on the final day of session, just two weeks after the measure appeared to stall.

At 7:42 p.m. last night, an amendment was filed to SB 1060 that would restore a controversial provision to the legislation, which deals with the states communications services tax.

Specifically, the language would give telecom companies more freedom to bundle together items that are subject to the CST (such as phone service) with items that they are not (such as home-security monitoring) into a combined package with one price for consumers. But they would only have to calculate taxes based on the hidden prices of the items that are subject to the tax.

Telecom companies say the legislation would ensure that they and their customers dont wind up being unfairly taxed on products that were never meant to be included under communications services and they say allowing them to package it all for a single price is a convenience for customers. But some tax-policy experts say the legislation creates a loophole through which companies will be able to deflate their tax bills, by minimizing the price of anything that is subject to the CST and maximizing the price of anything that is not.

State economists have struggled to understand the magnitude of the bundling provision, estimating it would cost the state and local governments a minimum of $35 million a year. A separate analysis by the Department of Revenue estimated the hit could be more than $300 million a year. The telecom industry disputes the estimates.

In addition to Verizon, Comcast Corp., AT&T and CenturyLink, among others, have been lobbying for the bill.

Two weeks ago, Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, a Fort Lauderdale Republican who is sponsoring the bill, rewrote the legislation to take out all substantive changes and instead order only a study committee to evaluate the CST and recommend ways to modernize it before next years session. The amendment she filed last night would keep that committee, but also restore the bundling language.

The House bill (HB 809) is sponsored by Rep. Jamie Grant, a Tampa Republican, and it passed that chamber last month. The telecom industry has also worked on the issue with Rep. Chris Dorworth, the Lake Mary Republican tentatively in line to become House speaker after the 2014 elections.

More:
UPDATED: Tax changes for telecoms look pass Senate, head to governor

By G.E. Miller, Guest Columnist

If you're in your twenties, every financial action you take -- from accumulating debt, to saving for retirement, minimizing your expenses, or even negotiating a lower rate on your mortgage -- is compounded over time.

No pressure.

DOWNLOAD: The Kip Tips iPad App

But really, it's not time for excuses or to claim ignorance. Decades later, all of those woulda, coulda, shoulda thoughts won't add up to a dime.

Here are three ways you can start to optimize your finances.

1. Get your employer's 401(k) match and max out for the win! There is no better time to stockpile savings for retirement than in your twenties, particularly if you do not have children or a mortgage to balance yet. The power of compound interest is something you can't cram for like a final exam when you're in your fifties or sixties. Once you lose time, the power of compound interest is gone forever (see the Kiplinger.com tool The Power of Boosting 401(k) Contributions).

Maxing out your 401(k) contribution is encouraged but not easy to do for most. At the very least, take full advantage of the 401(k) match that your employer is offering you. Most employers who match employee contributions do so at the rate of 50% or 100% up to a given amount. You could invest in the stock market for the next 70 years and never get a 50% or 100% return on your investment in a given year, but that is what you are effectively getting with your employer's match. Free money!

This year ratchet up your 401(k) contribution as much as you can comfortably stomach. For the first time in four years, the IRS will increase the maximum 401(k) contribution allowed by employees. The 2012 maximum 401(k) contributionincreases to $17,000, up $500 over the 2011 401(k) maximum contribution. The increase also extends to 403(b) and 457(b) plans. See Retirement Account Contribution Limits for more information

2. Grab the saver's credit (while you still can). The unsung hero of tax credits has to be the Saver's Credit (aka the Retirement Savings Contribution Credit). If you qualify, you're turning your back on free money if you don't contribute to an IRA. The government will pay you in the form of a tax credit of up to $1,000 for a retirement account contribution of $2,000. This credit, which lowers your tax bill dollar for dollar, is available to lower-income taxpayers (highly correlated to younger folks), so grab it while you can.

Continued here:
3 Ways for Twentysomethings to Get Ahead Financially

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) A new state law will offer a tax break to encourage businesses to hire veterans who recently left the military and New Mexico also will give an advantage to veteran-owned businesses bidding on government contracts.

Gov. Susana Martinez signed the measures on Wednesday, as she met a deadline for acting on bills that passed the Legislature during its 30-day session.

Businesses can receive a $1,000 tax credit for hiring veterans within two years of their discharge from the military, which the governor says will help personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The tax incentive will be available starting this year and end in 2016.

"Our men and women in uniform make tremendous sacrifices to protect our safety and freedom," Martinez said in a statement. "It is unacceptable that these heroes might come home from Iraq and Afghanistan only to stand in the unemployment line.

Starting in July, businesses owned by veterans in New Mexico will receive a bidding preference on state and local government contracts. House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, sponsored the proposal. The governor said it will "boost job growth in New Mexico's veteran community."

Also signed was a bill to require legislators to contribute more into their pensions, boosting it from $500 a year to $600 a year. The governor said in a statement that the contributions by legislators "are woefully inadequate in comparison to the taxpayer-funded benefits they generate."

"Given the generosity of these legislative pensions, and the significant expansion of these benefits throughout the years, I believe that voters should have the chance to weigh in on this important issue and evaluate the appropriateness of these pension benefits," Martinez said.

Martinez vetoed several proposals, including ones to:

Create three additional judgeships in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties. The governor said lawmakers didn't fully finance the positions, but Arthur Pepin, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, disagreed. He said there was enough money in the bill and a state budget measure to pay for the judges and support staff during half of the next fiscal year. The judgeships wouldn't be created until January 2013, which meant that they initially needed money for only six months of the budget year.

Allow counties to increase the salaries of their elected officials by as much as 15 percent. The measure would have raised the cap in state law on salaries of county officials, including sheriff, treasurer and assessor. However, it would be up to county commissioners to decide whether to provide a pay increase. The governor objected to the potential increase in taxpayer spending, saying government finances remain uncertain.

Originally posted here:
Governor approves tax break for hiring veterans

The decision caused outrage among Liberal Democrat supporters, many of whom are students. A call to increase the cost of being a student by hundreds of pounds through the introduction of council tax is likely to prove deeply unpopular.

It is understood that the Conservatives are strongly opposed to ending the student exemption on council tax.

The Liberal Democrats have been broadly criticised over the issue of tuition fees, after reneging on pre-election promises not to raise university charges.

While in opposition, leader Nick Clegg pledged to abandon the fees altogether and won the support of thousands of students across Britain.

Before the election, he signed a promise not to raise tuition fees, saying unequivocally: We want to abolish tuition fees. We think they're wrong.

But after joining the coalition government, he claimed the economic situation forced him to accept the rise.

His party signed up to government policy allowing institutions to charge up to 9,000 pounds a year, a change which saw student fees rocket.

Tens of thousands of students took to the streets to protest against the rise, wielding effigies and placards accusing the Lib Dem leader of conning them.

He later admitted he had not been able to deliver the policy that we held in opposition and blamed the financial situation for the change.

At the time, Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman ridiculed Mr Clegg, claiming he had hawked his way around university campuses seeking student votes ahead of the general election.

Go here to see the original:
Students should face paying council tax, Lib Dems say

By Colm Heatley - Wed Mar 07 00:00:01 GMT 2012

Peter Muhly/AFP/Getty Images

Stormont Parliament buildings in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Stormont Parliament buildings in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Photographer: Peter Muhly/AFP/Getty Images

Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

A ferris wheel is seen by City Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

A ferris wheel is seen by City Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Photographer: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

For Belfast clothing retailer Michael Hamilton, power is money.

The owner of the Bureau, a store in downtown Belfast selling handcrafted Alden leather shoes at 600 pounds ($952) and designer jeans for 300 pounds, wants Northern Ireland to wrest control from the U.K. over taxes levied on companies and align them with Ireland to the south. The 46-year-old reckons it would attract employers and enrich the local population.

Trading is brutal, Hamilton said at his shop on Howard Street in the Northern Irish capital. Getting corporation tax cut and attracting high-end jobs would be brilliant for us. It would be great if those people were living in Belfast.

See the rest here:
Northern Irish Freedom Fight Turns Into Taxing Battle for U.K. Government