Mediaboss Marketing

By Richard Rubin - Tue May 08 04:01:00 GMT 2012

Lisa Watters via Bloomberg

Benny Watters, 5, died in September 2010 from a brain tumor. A thief stole his identity on the Internet after his death.

Benny Watters, 5, died in September 2010 from a brain tumor. A thief stole his identity on the Internet after his death. Source: Lisa Watters via Bloomberg

May 8 (Bloomberg) -- Megan Hughes reports on fraudulent tax returns related to identity theft. More than 460,000 people have been the victims of tax-related identity theft since 2008, according to the IRS. The agency has been trying to flag deceased taxpayers final returns and prevent anyone else from using those Social Security numbers. As of mid-March, the agency had stopped 66,000 returns this year for that reason.(Source: Bloomberg)

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, has sonspored legislation that would limit access to the Death Master File.

Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, has sonspored legislation that would limit access to the Death Master File. Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Benny Watters, 5, died of a brain tumor in September 2010. Ten months later, when his parents sought to file their taxes and claim him as a dependent, they found that an identity thief already had done so, using government data about Bennys death on a fraudulent return.

Continued here:
Tax Cheats Troll Public List for Dead Kids’ Identities

(PR NewsChannel) / May 8, 2012 / DALLAS

"Creative Tax Strategies for Creating Financial Freedom" by Kara Krystina Ostroski-Francis, Esq.

In Creative Tax Strategies for Creating Financial Freedom (ISBN 1470085658), Kara Krystina Ostroski-Francis, Esq. shows families how they can save thousands of dollars each year through the tax deductions offered to small business owners.

Her latest release is part of Ostroski-Francis simply stated series that breaks down complicated tax laws in an easy-to-read format that the readers can quickly absorb and put into practice daily. Her guide explains how being classified as a sole proprietor, self-employed or small business owner reduces your taxes each year and saves you money.

Beyond the tax savings, Ostroski-Francis seeks to show the reader how they can augment their income and increase their freedom through owning and operating their own business. By having multiple streams of revenue, readers can better protect themselves against downturns in the market and household emergencies that pop up. As tax, corporate and business attorney, Ostroski-Francis doesnt advocate leaving your current employment. Instead, she encourages you to establish a small business apart from your job to secure yourself financially and partake in one of the lucrative tax breaks that IRS code affords to even the smallest and most novice of business owners.

Readers will learn how as a business owner, they can transform their personal expenses into business ones and lower their taxes each year indefinitely. Ostroski-Francis also explains how business owners enjoy the additional advantage of being able to fund their retirement with large tax-free contributions.

Beyond the money savings, Ostroski-Francis also shows how personal businesses can allow readers to have more fun with life through entertaining clients and giving gifts that are tax deductible.

Ultimately, owning your own business, trade or profession can be one of the most beneficial means to help create financial freedom for my readers and their families, says Ostroski-Francis.

Creative Tax Strategies for Creating Financial Freedom is available for sale online at Amazon.com and other channels.

About the Author: Kara Krystina Ostroski-Francis is a corporate tax attorney as well as an entrepreneur and small business owner. She has given many public presentations on owning a business and deploying creative tax deduction strategies. Ostroski-Francis earned a bachelors degree in communications and history from the University of Scranton and a law degree from Roger Williams University School of Law. She lives outside of Dallas with her husband and business partner, Dunton Francis.

Continued here:
New book helps individuals find freedom through lucrative tax advantages of owning business

SINGAPORE: Four expatriates working in Singapore claimed they were assaulted by bodyguards of a royal family in Rawa island off Johor on Friday.

The four men were on holiday for the weekend at Alang's Rawa resort. The attack left one of the them, a German, critically injured and warded at a hospital in Singapore.

According to the Straits Times of Singapore, one of them, a Briton, 28, said the assailants had grabbed his arm and started kicking him.

The man said the royal entourage came in a large group with many security personnel.

Two of them were invited for drinks with a member of the entourage but things took a turn midway through their conversation.

Straits Times quoted the Briton as saying that he saw the German being slapped and assaulted by a group of men from the entourage.

At about 10am on Saturday morning, the group were asked to leave the island. A boat was arranged for them to leave.

Back in Singapore, the German man was placed in intensive care due to bleeding in his brain. He was moved to a normal ward on Tuesday.

The Straits Times said the British High Commission and German embassy were following up on the matter.

See original here:
Expats claim assault by bodyguards of royalty off Johor island

SINGAPORE: Four expatriates working in Singapore claimed they were assaulted by bodyguards of a royal family in Rawa island off Johor on Friday.

The four men were on holiday for the weekend at Alang's Rawa resort. The attack left one of the them, a German, critically injured and warded at a hospital in Singapore.

According to the Straits Times of Singapore, one of them, a Briton, 28, said the assailants had grabbed his arm and started kicking him.

The man said the royal entourage came in a large group with many security personnel.

Two of them were invited for drinks with a member of the entourage but things took a turn midway through their conversation.

Straits Times quoted the Briton as saying that he saw the German being slapped and assaulted by a group of men from the entourage.

At about 10am on Saturday morning, the group were asked to leave the island. A boat was arranged for them to leave.

Back in Singapore, the German man was placed in intensive care due to bleeding in his brain. He was moved to a normal ward on Tuesday.

The Straits Times said the British High Commission and German embassy were following up on the matter.

Go here to read the rest:
12. Expats claim assault by bodyguards of royalty off Johor island

British expats wrongly charged inheritance tax on their Spanish properties are gearing up for a legal battle to reclaim the charges.

It is estimated that around 60,000 British families have been hit with Inheritance tax (IHT) bills for properties or assets they inherited in Spain. Charges are believed to be in the region of 400 million (490 million).

The Spanish government levied IHT of up to 35 per cent on non-residents, while Spanish residents paid close to zero per cent IHT.

The European Commission believes this is an unfair tax treatment with regard to EU citizens. It brought a legal case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in March arguing that Spain was infringing EU treaty freedoms. A verdict is expected from the ECJ which could open the floodgate to thousands of Brits reclaiming their tax, and force Spain to amend its IHT tax laws.

While 60,000 Brits are believed to have wrongly paid IHT, only 40,000 are still able to make a claim due to the Spanish legal time limits, which stop claimants attempting to make a claim after four years from the tax payment date.

An action group, Spanish Legal Reclaims , has been set up to represent those caught out by the policy. It is led by the same lawyer who won a Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reclaim against the Spanish government. More than 280 million was returned to 90,000 British families after the European court case.

Luis Cuervo, CEO at Spanish Legal Reclaims, said: They may have believed they were fortunate to inherit a property in Spain, but in the process they have been scammed out of a lot of money.

The group is confident the verdict will go their way, given that the EU doesnt bring cases to the ECJ unless it believes they are legally sound.

British expat Peter Jackson, 62, inherited a Spanish property from his mother and paid more than 10,000 (8,000) in IHT.

He said: When we inherited the property in Moraira and paid the inheritance tax we knew no different, and so simply just paid it as we were told to. When we found that we had probably been overcharged by quite a large amount, we thought we had nothing to lose by trying to reclaim it.

Read the rest here:
Expats in Spain 'owed £400 million in overpaid inheritance tax'