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by Mariel Norton

The Isle of Man Government’s Treasury Minister has provided an in-depth presentation of the 2012 Manx budget to representatives of the Island’s financial services industry, at a packed breakfast briefing hosted by Lloyds TSB Offshore.

The event was held at the Claremont Hotel on the morning of Friday 24th February and was extremely well attended, building upon the significant reputation that the Lloyds breakfast briefings have developed as a valuable source of information and access to decision makers.  The Hon Eddie Teare MHK, Minister for the Treasury, walked attendees through the state of the Manx economy and expanded upon some of the changes made in the latest budget and the reasoning behind them, before taking questions from the audience.

The Minister’s view of the economy was cautiously positive.  He made it clear that the plan to balance the budget by the 2015/16 tax year was based upon forecasts of Government revenue which he felt were very reliable, and which were in turn based upon an economic growth forecast of around 3% per annum.  Mr Teare also emphasised the fact that the renegotiation of the VAT agreement had now left the Island with an appropriate and steady income, which actually had the benefit of making forward planning easier than it had been under the previous arrangement.  He concluded by saying: “The easiest thing for any government to do is to put taxes up, rather than to address its own spending.  We want to do the hard work; we want to get our costs down.”

When questions were put to the audience, the mood was generally positive, with many congratulating the Minister on a sensible budget before asking their question.  One area of contention related to figures shown by the Minister which suggested that public sector pay was on average 14% higher that pay in the private sector.  This was addressed by one attendee, alongside the issue of ‘gold plated’ final salary pension schemes.  The Minister’s response was that immediate change to the pension scheme to funded arrangements was not feasible, but that a further review would be necessary in the medium term, and that the public sector pay figures were distorted by the number of high-end professionals on the Government’s payroll compared to the private sector.

Questions were also asked regarding the continued ‘subsidy’ of the construction industry from the capital expenditure fund.  To this the Minister replied that construction was one of the first to be hit by the recession but was also likely to be one of the first to recover, with a number of large private developments currently in planning.  As such, the current Government investment in bricks and mortar was a ‘bridging’ operation, intended to ensure that skilled staff were not lost to the UK in the interim.

Trevor Kirk, Head of Corporate Banking at Lloyds TSB Isle of Man, represented the hosts of the event.  He commented: “I am very thankful for the Minister taking time out of what must be a really hectic schedule in budget week to present to all of our clients and introducers.  I am also very pleased that so many were able to make it along, and hope that they found it as informative as I did.  It is certainly encouraging, and a great benefit of our jurisdiction, that we can have access to such a key decision maker – even to the extent of being able to ask questions and provide direct feedback.  As a bank dedicated to keeping our clients informed as part of our service offering, we are proud that we are able to facilitate these opportunities.”
 
-ENDS-

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Treasury Minister Briefs Business Leaders

Douglas, Isle of Man (PRWEB UK) 28 February 2012

Expatriate savers have a new best buy notice savings account to choose from thanks to offshore savings expert, AIB International Savings based on the Isle of Man.

The new 32 Day Saver account has been launched as part of a comprehensive review of the Company’s product range and a dedication to provide consistently competitive award winning savings accounts.

In exchange for 32 days notice on withdrawals, savers can enjoy a rewarding interest rate on their offshore savings account. The sterling 32 Day Saver pays 2.55% gross % p.a. and is a Moneyfacts best buy* when compared against the interest rates from other notice savings accounts available offshore. The 32 Day Saver is also available in US Dollars (USD) @ 1.85% and Euros (EUR) @ 2.55%.

Gary Quaggan, Head of Retail Service & Operations at AIB International Savings commented, “We have a strong history of developing award winning offshore savings accounts for expatriates and are focused on continuing to deliver consistently competitive best buy accounts.”

He went on to say, “The 32 Day Saver account provides our customers with another best buy savings account, in a choice of currencies, backed by our commitment to deliver outstanding value and service.”

For more information on AIB International Savings Limited and the 32 Day Saver account visit http://www.aibinternational.co.im.

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Isle of Man based AIB International Savings Limited Launch 32 Day Notice Offshore Savings Account

Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the national Faith & Freedom Coalition, will be the featured speaker at the Texas Faith and Freedom Coalition on Saturday, March 10, in Sugar Land. Also addressing the meeting will be Faith and Freedom Coalition Executive director Gary Marks and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

The event will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. in the West Campus building at Sugar Creek Baptist Church, 13303 SW Freeway in Sugar Land and is free to the public.

The Faith and Freedom Coalition’s goal is to educate, equip and mobilize people of faith and like-minded individuals to be responsible, effective citizens. The coalition aims to influence public policy and legislation that strengthens families, promotes time-honored values, protects the dignity of life and marriage and lowers the tax burden on families and small businesses.

In addition to his Faith and Freedom leadership, Ralph Reed is also chairman and CEO of Century Strategies, LLC, a public relations and public affairs firm. Reed is former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party and former executive director of the Christian Coalition from 1989-1997, where he built one of the most effective public policy organizations in recent political history.

Prior to his current position , Gary Marks spent the last six years as the Executive Director for the Judicial Crisis Network during which he led that organization’s effective participation in the successful confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts.

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Ralph Reed to speak at Texas Rally for Faith and Freedom

Michigan's primary election next Tuesday is about jobs and the economy and Mitt Romney is losing in his own backyard.

The Republican presidential hopeful unveiled his tax plan on Wednesday and then geared his debate message that night towards jobs and the economy -- issues that have driven the statewide conversation in Michigan since the 2008 financial crisis.

"America is not seeing robust economic growth because such growth is impossible in the policy environment created by President Obama," Romney said Wednesday in a statement on his tax plan.

Romney's "bold, pro-growth tax cut proposal" seems like a presidential step for a presumed nominee, but he finds himself in a bitter battle to win the state where his father was governor and where he grew up.

Rick Santorum's campaign officially dropped into Michigan last week and stormed to the top of the polls. He has since cooled down, but this is a state Romney was firmly winning before Feb. 7 by 15 percentage points.

"I realize that Michigan is a big deal right now for Romney, and, quite frankly it should have been a slam dunk," said Barbara VanSyckel, Macomb County GOP chairwoman. Part of the reason Romney has struggled, VanSyckel said, could be down to Santorum's momentum out of his Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri victories.

Santorum's campaign decided to push a hybrid message of social issues and the economy ahead of Super Tuesday, March 6, and it seems to have resonated with voters in Michigan.

In Macomb County, for instance, Santorum spoke to a crowd of about 1,000 people -- only 300 were expected. VanSyckel said a large number of attendees happened to be part of the two tea party groups from the area, and that most of them came to hear Santorum's message on religious freedom.

Part of Santorum's surge could be circumstantial. President Obama's contraceptive mandate sparked outrage among conservatives, First Amendment hawks and persons of faith. Critics have hit the former Pennsylvania senator in the past for his opposition to contraceptives as archaic, but he has used the platform to directly say that Obama is someone who has challenged freedom of speech and religion.

Santorum's wheelhouse often comes back to social issues as he has constantly referenced a relatively conservative congressional voting record to connect with evangelicals. But Santorum has expanded his reach in recent weeks to more tea party supporters by arguing the freedom of speech and freedom of religion angle. Continued...

Which leads one to wonder if Santorum has ridden a temporary pivot of voter interest to Obama's controversial mandate.

"He's dropped back a little bit in the polls the last couple days because of the ads that Romney's playing now," said Dennis Pittman, Oakland County GOP executive director. "Santorum's being characterized for his 16 years as a representative and a senator raising taxes multiple times, raising the debt ceiling multiple times -- if you spend 16 years in Congress you're going to take some votes that are going to come back to haunt you, and Romney's being very effective at making sure everybody knows what his record is."

Indeed, since the weekend Santorum and Romney have fallen within the margin of error in most of the major Michigan polls.

Romney's campaign launched a two-pronged effort against Obama and his Republican opponents when he announced the new tax proposal. First, Obama unveiled his own tax proposal on the same day, which Romney saw as an opportunity to be the single Republican with a contrasting option. Second, he went back to economic fundamentals in an effort to shift the focus to employment and voters' bank accounts during difficult times.

Though many Republican Party officials in Michigan acknowledge Santorum is winning the state, despite a thinner ground presence, they also point out that there's a whole week for Romney to scramble back to the top.

"My observation is that it's a Romney-type electorate and in talking with the people ... is that he will probably succeed in getting Michigan," said Al Heilman, Kalamazoo County GOP chairman. "Remember what happened with each of the other candidates, they all came to the top and then they all went by the wayside; so we're back to two people and Rick is up there very strongly, but on the other hand the last 72 hours makes a difference.

Michigan voters, according to Michigan Republican Party officials, are concerned about beating Obama and about jobs and the economy, but another reason Santorum spiked and Romney lulled could be as basic as how familiar state voters are with the candidates.

"There's another whole group of people who say, 'Look, I'm not really going to pay too much attention until it's our turn,'" said John Clark, chairman of the political science department at Western Michigan University. "For one thing, they don't know who the candidates are going to be by the time you get to that particular state; and for another thing, the candidates aren't paying attention to a state like Michigan until it's our turn."

Beat reporters, political junkies, academics and active voters who have followed the Republican primaries since May 2011 likely know the final four candidates' platforms and voting records, but it's unlikely that all working-class Americans have spent time fretting about Romney's tax returns, Newt Gingrich's ex-wife, Ron Paul's foreign policy or Santorum's legislative history on earmarks.

"The spots that get magnified: one of those spots is on some of the social issue stuff," Clark said. "That's not speaking to the concerns of Michigan voters and yet that's where we've seen the campaign go nationally; Michigan is just the next stop on that campaign." Continued...

If that's the case, Romney can hope to connect in the next week with the broad number of Michiganders who are concerned more about their paychecks than anything else.

Excerpt from:
Romney's struggle to make Michigan about the economy

Carl Specht’s wife recently asked him what he thought about taking a summer vacation this year.

Specht, an accountant in the midst of tax season, was as polite as he could be, considering the circumstances.

"I said, ‘Don’t ask me about that ‘till after tax season — I can’t focus on that right now,’" he recalled.

It’s a good thing Specht, a partner with Costantino, Specht, Templeton & Co. in Secaucus, enjoys the nature of his work. Otherwise, getting to work at 6:30 a.m. would be a rough four months before taxes are due. Those quiet, early morning hours are when he does his volunteer work: filing returns for three dozen seniors from Kearny, where he lives.

"This was just the thing to do," he said. "I felt the CPA path and my CPA license was something I was very appreciative of, and I wanted to give something back to the profession that was providing me with my livelihood."

The early wake-up also means he can focus on his own projects, and save the rest of the day for paying clients who come in and, Specht said, "keep the practice going."

Accountants spend the long days between Jan. 1 and the tax deadline, April 17 this year, meeting with clients and plugging away at tax software on the computer. It is not uncommon for accountants to work 60-hour weeks, with the expectation employees will come in on Saturdays, said Ralph Albert Thomas, executive director of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants. Specht said he tries to leave the office by 7 so he can go home to his wife and have a bite to eat, but then he retreats to his home office for a few more hours of work.

Last year, the IRS received 145.3 million tax returns, more than three-fourths of which were filed electronically nationwide. Of that number, 72.4 million returns came in from private tax preparers or companies like Parsippany-based Jackson Hewitt or H&R Block, and 39.8 million taxpayers filed their own returns, said IRS spokeswoman Dianne Besunder.

"We really go full out from January through April," Specht said. "And then you kind of hit the wall — at that point, you crash for a couple of days, and then come back to life because you have people who have gone on extensions or who have been late."

This year, accountants are rejoicing for an extra three days — it’s a Leap Year, and taxes aren’t due until April 17 because the 15th is a Sunday and the 16th is a Washington D.C. holiday. But the freedom is short-lived. People who file for an extension have until Oct. 15, giving accountants a second busy rush in the fall.

Tax season, Specht said, "seems like it starts earlier and it ends later."

To help during crunch time, accounting firms try to lighten the mood. Some companies will host an ice cream bar, with the partners serving up the treats, while others offer on-site masseuses and healthy, catered meals, Thomas said. The society itself sends out goodie bags, full of popcorn, pretzels and sweets that are devoured within minutes.

Some accounting firms actually force their employees to take time off during tax season by banning work on one Saturday a month, and fine anyone who tries to sneak in anyway. (The money is then used to throw a party, Thomas said.)

"They’re actually trying to make life a little better, and achieve a balance," Thomas said.

Tax season at the Traphagen Financial Group in Oradell means one thing — it’s time to stop shaving. The firm’s founder, Peter Traphagen, started the tradition 42 years ago as a way to save time in the morning, but it has grown into an annual event that builds cameraderie. Every year, the men in the office put down their razors around Jan. 1, and gather on the afternoon of the tax deadline to have their beards cut off.

"Some clients have suggested over the years that we send our shorn hairs to the Internal Revenue Service," said managing partner Robert Traphagen, Peter’s brother. "We have yet to pursue that."

Specht has his own routine, and for the better part of two decades he has spent each spring volunteering his time to help low-income and senior taxpayers with their returns. Most of his career was in private industry, and only recently — in 2006 — did Specht start his own public accounting firm with two close friends. But he has always found time between January and April to help those less fortunate. The additional work has never really bothered him, he said, and at age 62, he hasn’t considered retirement.

"If you didn’t love what you did, it would be a big problem," Specht said. "But those of us who have been doing this for a long time and really enjoy our work and the people we work with, you don’t even think of it as work."

Sarah Portlock: (973) 392- 5994 or sportlock@starledger.com

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Crunch time for CPAs as tax season ramps up