Author : Ramapati SinghaniaWhen you incorporate an offshore company in Seychelles, there is no such thing as a Seychelles Tax!

Information Seychelles:

Located in the stunning waters of the Indian Ocean, northeast of Madagascar and 1,600 from Kenya, the Republic of Seychelles is a paradise in many ways There are 115 small islands that make up Seychelles, and these islands are unknown to many people today

Seychelles offers a wealth of prospects in terms of investment opportunities, recreational activities and overall quality of life It is now one of the worlds most recognized tax havens, because there is no Seychelles tax, offering strong competition to those well known tax havens located in the Caribbean

That is right It is a tropical haven, and because of no Seychelles tax, a tax haven as well, one that offers a world of opportunities This country might look tiny on the map, but it is fully equipped with excellent communication systems, well developed infrastructure and exceptionally appealing investment opportunities that many business people are beginning to capitalize on

Zero Seychelles Tax Companies:

It has some of the most enticing and appealing offers making it a first choice destination a zero Seychelles tax It is an increasingly popular tax haven, so much so that in July 2004 the Seychelles International Business Authority (SIBA) was established, to help and this authority regulates all offshore company activity

There are two types of tax haven companies in Seychelles:

1) The zero Seychelles tax International Business Company (IBC) and

2) Low tax Special License Company

The different between the two is that the first pays no Seychelles tax on income generated overseas, while the second pays 1 5% on income generated overseas The Special License company is a tax resident company in Seychelles, which can sometimes lead to easier business undertaken overseas, and can take advantage of the Double Tax Treaties that Seychelles has with several other countries

However in terms of competitiveness, a tax free International Business Company in Seychelles is considered one of the best Not only is the Seychelles International Business Company [IBC] easy to form, but there are also other perks associated with it

Investors benefit from:

* Fast services

* Low cost of incorporation seychelles

* Strict confidentially protected by law

* No information sharing agreements

To set up a tax haven company is straight forward and simple at Seychelles Companies can be registered in English or French, and the name of the company can be in any language so long as it has a subsequent translation

Other advantages of seychelles offshore company formation:

* There is no minimum capital requirement for a zero Seychelles tax company

* This company is extremely flexible in many ways, for example an IBC can choose whether it wishes to hold annual meetings Directors meetings are not a requirement However they can be held in Seychelles if desired

* IBCs only need one director, more if desired, however this is not a requirement

* IBCs can have directors and shareholders of any nationality and be residents of any country

* The IBC can engage in business which is legal in any country and in whatever currency, however business can not be undertaken with residents of Seychelles

And the tax benefits:

One of the best thing about having a seychelles offshore company formation is the no tax policy IBCs are completely exempt from all taxes on income derived outside of the Seychelles

Investing in Seychelles offers so many advantages Enjoy stringent privacy, see your wealth increase, open bank accounts in your companies name Everything is possible, and it is easy to implement! Let us not forget that Seychelles is not only a tax haven, but it’s also a tropical haven offering the ideal lifestyle

The Republic of Seychelles:

Capital: Victoria

Currency: Rupee

Language: There are three official languages in Seychelles Creole, French and English

Total land occupancy: 455 3 square kilometers

Population: 81,000

Government: Seychelles is a Republic, and it is members of the Commonwealth, La Francophonie, the United Nations, the African Union The President is the head of state

Brief History: Seychelles was initially colonized by the French, however in 1814 it became territory of Britain In 1976 Seychelles achieved its independence from Britain Today Seychelles enjoys her independence while being a republic in the commonwealth The Republic of Seychelles offers everything from attractive investment opportunities to fun recreational activities!Ramapati Singhania specializes in creating and managing web businesses. His latest website http://www.incorporation-offshore-saves-wealth.com focuses on helping you to incorporate offshore companies in Seychelles, Mauritius and BVI. You can also visit his blog, http://www.ramapatisinghania.com

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Author : Ann Knapp2009 promises to be a year for change A new Presidential administration, a new political direction for the country, a new Facebook layout, a new guy playing Jason in the Friday the 13th movies

Cigar smokers are bracing for change too A recent bill designed to increase funding for child health insurance will also increase federal tobacco taxes by a big margin: a sixty-two cent increase on cigarette packs, a whole dollar on little cigars, and thirty-five cents on cigarillos

Tobacco taxes on large cigars will be capped at just over forty cents per stogie Those who hope to hide out from the new increases by rolling their own smokes won’t be exempt, either: roll-your-own tobacco products also face a commensurate increase

This is the first major increase in federal excise taxes on tobacco in over ten years A 1997 excise tax was phased in via a two-stage process: a ten-cent increase in 2000 and another five-cent increase in 2002 This new tax will hit all at once

The SCHIP increase has public-health advocates in a good mood, but some cigar smokers are, understandably, less excited, and a few are already screaming for President Obama’s head There’s at least one cigar company that disagrees, though

A California-based company (briefly) made a killing during the Inauguration fever of January 2009 with a Nicaragua-made cigar named after the hugely-popular President Cigar lovers say this special model will probably be more in demand among political-memorabilia collectors than cigar smokers themselves, however

Alongside this federal SCHIP-related increase, several cash-strapped states (nearly all the states are cash-strapped these days) are contemplating their own, independent tobacco tax increases, including Pennsylvania (where the measure enjoys Governor Ed Rendell’s warm advocacy), Arkansas and Kentucky

New smoking restrictions have been enacted in Virginia, typically among the strongest pro-smoking states in the Union But this ban is criticized by anti-smoking groups for not going far enough in restricting public smoking, which brings us to the other noticeable trend among smoke-banning states–one considerably more encouraging for cigar smokers

There’s other news for cigar fans–some of it doesn’t even involve higher tobacco taxes or smoking bans, either While the popularity of smoking bans seems to be increasing nation-wide, so is the trend of writing special exemptions into such bans, allowing some smoking in designated locations–a compromise that cigar lovers, cigar-lounge owners, and the rest of the world can live with

The Laguna Beach, California, City Council has pioneered this fair-minded approach, recently voting to allow smoking of all kinds at tobacco shops and lounges in the otherwise smoke-free city This is the same city council that pioneered harsh anti-smoking legislation in the early 1990s, passing one of the country’s first bans on smoking in all public places in 1993 (This ballot measure enjoyed a heavy endorsement from voters in the 1994 state elections ) Good news for smokers–especially those who live in Laguna Beach, if there still are any!

Cigars also made early-2009 headlines thanks to the Michael Phelps case Summer Olympics hero Michael Phelps found himself the object of unwanted attention from newspapers–not to mention South Carolina police–when a photo was published showing him taking bong hits during a December 2008 party South Carolina police have since arrested several of Phelps’s friends shown in the photo, and have announced their attention to arrest the world’s greatest swimmer as well, should the opportunity present itself, despite a groundswell of pro-Phelps public sentiment

In all the controversy, Gurkha Cigars offered Phelps a fairly large chunk of money to serve as its “smokesperson”–figuring, very reasonably, that premium cigars are one form of smoking that won’t get Phelps in trouble with South Carolina police No word yet on whether the world’s strongest pair of lungs will add Gurkhas to the list of smokeable substances that he’s on record as enjoying CigarFox provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Partagas, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1200 different cigars! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.

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Author : Shawn WilsonIt comes around every year like clockwork Springtime And with the arrival of the sun comes the arrival of tax time You’ve spent a whole year making and spending money Now it’s time to pay up

For most people, tax time is one of their most dreaded seasons Not just because you’ve got to pony up to the government but also because of the bureaucracy and the paperwork and the fear of getting something wrong and paying for it for years to come They don’t make it easy, they don’t make it pleasant And for most of us, they don’t make it cheap

Depending on what country you live in, there are different policies and tricks to use to save money –and time– on your taxes But while every place is different, there are some universal things that can help most people lower their taxes no matter where they live All they have to do is plan ahead and plan smart

In today’s difficult financial climate, we all want to lower our taxes as much as possible Looking to see a lower number in your “amount owed” box? Read of for a few smart tips for saving money on your taxes

Know the System

In every country, calculating and paying taxes is an incredibly complicated system Each year new rules are put into place, with new breaks or new taxes for different classes of incomes Unless you work as a tax accountant, chances are you don’t know about everything you need to allow you to pay the smallest amount possible on your taxes Well, it’s time to learn! If you want to save on your taxes, take the time to bone up on your country’s tax laws, and learn what is new during your filing year and how those new policies affect you

The best way to do this? If you can’t pay for a personal tax accountant, look for some great tax software The best tax software takes changes in tax law into account when calculating your taxes, and will help you get the best deal you can

Search for Tax Breaks

Tax time usually hits the self-employed harder than any other group Not only do small business owners tend to pay higher taxes than many individuals, they also have a lot more paperwork to worry about And the last thing they want to do is add more work to the pile

But if you’re self employed or own your own business, adding more work to the pile might just save you thousands on your taxes If you look into all of the tax breaks, write offs, etc , available to you, chances are there are quite a few you’re not using When calculating your taxes, you should always look at the following business expenses if they apply to your business:

- Mileage and gas
- Travel expenses (business only, of course!)
- Per diem
- Business-specific purchases (if, say, your business is a blog about internet dating websites, a paid membership to an internet dating site may be a business expense)
- Costs of running the office

Invest your Money

If you have money sitting around as taxable income (and you don’t plan on spending it) you may want to look at investing it in order to avoid paying taxes on it during that year (Of course, this depends on what country you live in ) If you’re a resident of the United States, you can invest as much as $5,000 into your IRA or 401k before your taxes are due to be paid This will come out of your taxable income and help pay for your future retirement

Claim Your Losses

If you invest in the stock market, chances are you haven’t had a very good year The economy is suffering, the stock market has plummeted, and investors are reporting losses all around Fortunately, when it comes to tax time you can use this to your advantage When your losses exceed your gains for the year, you can generally write them off While U S residents can’t write off more than $1,500 in losses at a time individually, they can keep writing off up to $1,500 year after year until those losses have all been written off

It’s no fun losing money on your investments If you make money, paying taxes on your earnings probably doesn’t feel like so much of a burden But if you lose money, that “tax pain” at the end of the year doesn’t have to be as great Most countries’ tax laws give investment losses a bit of a silver lining, providing some tax breaks for those who have made bad investments If you’ve had a bad year, research you’re countries policies on losses and use those policies to your best advantage This article was written by Shawn Wilson, a member of the customer support team at Datepad, where we always offer free internet dating. Datepad has a massive directory of informative free dating articles along with a great list of dating site reviews on our dating blog.

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Author : Jordan McPeltEvery citizen of any country is required by law to pay the taxes of that country and so it would be a good idea to understand the tax laws well and find out for yourself if you genuinely are a law-abiding citizen But again, you should understand that the taxes you pay are not unnecessary and you should also understand all the tax laws so that you are able to save up on your hard earned money Taxes can be either Federal or State taxes and in both the categories, there are a number of taxes that every citizen needs to pay

Every country has its own tax laws and the states within every country too have laws that differ from one state to another, so as a taxpayer, it is your duty to find out the taxes that you come under and the ones that you are liable to pay Of course, the best thing is to contact the local tax authority to get more information on the tax laws

Conducting a tax research for exact information is a good idea to know more about tax paying and saving money on taxes Tax research can help you find out exactly how much you need to pay as tax and at the same time, what you can save up by not paying the unnecessary taxes So, getting a good tax information research done will not only provide good advice but also help you to get your refunds and also help you to pay less IRS, so that you may achieve your monetary objectives

There are two options that a taxpayer can opt for when filing tax returns Whether it is the federal or the state income tax, the taxpayer can opt to prepare the tax returns on their own or they can get it done by a tax professional

The advantage of opting for a tax professional to file your returns is that since they know the laws inside out, they are in a better position to help you fill in the forms for your benefit But there is a disadvantage too If the tax professional isn’t quite an expert, then there are chances that you might end up paying more than necessary

The advantage of filing your own returns is that since you know your exact amount of income, it becomes easy to assess it and file your returns, but the disadvantage again is that you need to do plenty of tax information research and base your information while filling up the forms on the tax research that you have done

Moreover, the IRS, which is the Internal Revenue Service, is the main governmental body that is in charge of taxes and they tax the individuals and businesses around the country; so they are in a better position to provide any kind of information regarding taxes and filing returns Whether it is taxes to be paid for a property or your income, whether it is federal or state tax, all the information is available on the Internet and on the website of the IRS Jordan Mcpelt is a professional author who specializes in tax filing and tax information. For more information on tax filing please visit http://www.taxworksinstitute.com

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Author : David de SouzaCouncil tax is a yearly charge made on households within the UK Any property that may be considered a dwelling is liable for this tax, including flats, houses, bungalows and maisonettes Houseboats and mobile homes are also liable for council tax if the owners use them as their main home The income raised from council tax payments goes toward local services, such as police, schools, libraries and street cleansing

The amount of council tax paid by each household will vary depending on the value of the dwelling and whereabouts in the UK you reside, as each local council sets its own rate of council tax There are eight bands ranging from A to H and each household will be placed into a particular band, with the lowest property values in band A and the highest values in band H

With the current recession, many householders are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the annual cost of council tax, which has more than doubled in the last ten years The average bill runs into hundreds of pounds and continues to increase at an alarming rate so it’s wise to check if you are entitled to any discounts

Are you exempt?

It’s only necessary to pay the full amount of council tax if there are two or more adults living in your household A 25% discount is available for those living on their own or for those who are the sole adult in the family

Homes used as student accommodation are exempt from having to pay any council tax However, if there is a non-student adult living in the home, only a 25% discount will apply You must fill out a student registration certificate to avail of this reduction otherwise a bill will be sent Forms can be picked up from universities If there is more than one person living in the home who is in full-time employment, the council tax bill must be paid in full

Council tax discounts are also available to those with severe mental illness and to full-time carers If your house has undergone renovations, such as a downstairs bathroom or bedroom due to an occupant having a disability, you may be eligible for a council tax rebate

If you are a pensioner who lives alone, is on a low income or has a disability you may be entitled to a discount on council tax However, this discount will not be automatically applied so it’s important to get in touch with your local council and explain your circumstances to find out if you are indeed eligible

Council Tax Benefit may be an option for some people This is a means tested benefit and will therefore depend on your age, your income and any savings you have Those on a very low income may be entitled to a 100% discount, meaning they don’t need to pay any council tax at all If you have savings of above ?16,000 you normally won’t be eligible to claim unless your income is less than 105 GBP per week for single people and 160 GBP for married couples

Anyone owning a second home will be charged 90% of the amount due in council tax, no matter how much or how little time they spend in the property Get Tax Back Find out if you are due a refund by using Tax Fix’s ‘No Rebate, No Fee’ service.Claim Tax Back UK.

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Author : Wayne DaviesDo you own a corporation but don’t think you’ll complete the 2008 corporate income tax return by the March 16 deadline? This article explains how to file an extension without a hitch, giving you until September 15 to file the return

If your small business is a corporation, your 2008 corporate income tax return is due on Monday, March 16, 2009 Normally the due date is March 15, but since that day is a Sunday, the due date is changed to the next business day

If you don’t think you’re going to have the return done on time, do not despair As long as you file Form 7004 on or before March 16, you’ll be given an automatic no-questions-asked 6-month extension of time to file the return

Here are ten of the most critical rules for filing Form 7004:
1 Be sure to input the corporation’s full name, employer identification number (EIN), and address at the top of the form

2 Form 7004 works for both regular C corporations filing Form 1120 as well as S corporations filing Form 1120S In fact, Form 7004 is the extension form for a plethora of business returns, including both C and S corporations There’s a list of all the possible returns in Part II, along with a corresponding code that must be entered on Line 1b For C corporations, use code 12 If you are an S corporation, use Code 25

3 Don’t miss Line 5a That’s where you tell the IRS what tax year this extension is for Simply put “08″ right after the words, “The application is for calendar year 20″

4 If you are an S corporation, you are probably not required to pay any tax with Form 7004 because S corporations typically don’t pay corporate income tax with Form 1120S If that’s the case, you can skip Line 6, 7 and 8

5 If you are a C corporation that may owe tax with Form 1120, don’t forget that filing Form 7004 only extends the time to file the corporate income tax return Form 7004 does not extend the time to pay any tax due with the return So if you think you might owe, it is in your best interest to calculate an estimate of the balance due and pay that amount with the extension form This is done on Lines 6, 7 and 8 Failure to pay the balance due by March 16 may result in late payment penalties and interest, even if you pay the tax by the extended due date of September 15

6 Check the instructions for the proper address to send the form There is more than one possible address, depending on your state and the size of your corporation

7 Believe it or not, no signature is required on Form 7004

8 Use some type of mailing service that provides proof of mailing, such as the U S Postal Service Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation, which costs less than $5 Why risk the possibility that the IRS loses your form and then penalizes you for not having proof of mailing?

9 For a tax form, this one is pretty easy to complete It only has eight lines But if you prefer not to risk a mistake and the rejection of your extension application, seek out your local tax professional who should be able to handle this task for you in minutes

10 Assuming your tax pro is an authorized IRS e-file provider, he should be able to e-file Form 7004, saving you a trip to the post office Looking for more small business tax tips? For a free copy of the Special Report ‘How To Instantly Double Your Deductions’, visit www.YouSaveOnTaxes.com. Wayne M. Davies is author of 3 ebooks on small business tax reduction strategies.

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