Offshore investment is an expression heard often, but not necessarily understood by the masses. Here is a breakdown of the definition of the phrase and some generalizations concerning it. First of all, the term ?offshore? indicates something being foreign or outside of the domestic territory of one of the G8. The G8 (Group of Eight) refers to the annual summit of the government heads of the eight most prominent nations in the world. These eight nations are Canada, France,...

Overview of the Subchapter S Corporation Designation Although the term Subchapter S Corporation sounds as if it applies to a certain type of company, in actuality, it is merely a term used by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) to designate a particular tax status. Almost any company that is comprised of 75 or less shareholders can apply for the Subchapter S Corporation tax status designation. Being approved for a Subchapter S Corporation status allows the company to be tax...

The International Organization for Standardization, or ISO, is a non-governmental organization that develops technical standards, contributing to making...

Sorry to crash your party, but as we bring in the New Year, it's also time to bring in a New Tax Season. As a small business owner or self-employed person, one of the easiest ways to keep Uncle Sam off your back and out of your life is to file your forms, payments and other paperwork on time. Over the next four months there are several key dates that you dare not forget! Here they are -- all in one place, along with links to the IRS website PDF file for that particular for...

Unfortunately to many of us the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is one branch of government that can never be our friend and is often feared by some less reputable business owners. When the IRS is owed money, they will get it whether you like it or not. For those individuals who owe back taxes, the state or IRS may attempt to collect those owed taxes by wage garnishment through your employer. Once the wage garnishment is filed, the employer is obligated to deduct a certain per...

I've gotten quite a few emails recently from ebusiness owners who seem to think that just because their business is conducted online or from the comfort of home that the rules and regulations that govern brick and mortar businesses do not apply to them. The ebusiness questions I get most often do not involve building websites or conducting ecommerce. They are more what I call the "Do I Really Have To" line of questions, such as: "Do I really have to get a business li...

There are 2 sides to the changes in bankruptcy rules. It will be a lot harder to file bankruptcy under chapter 7 and get a totally clean slate. For businesses, relying on issuing credit, the new personal bankruptcy law is doing great, reducing personal bankruptcy claims from the thousands to double digits.(In the short run). However, lawyers working with the actual people filing for bankruptcy say that the new law is seriously flawed because it puts more financial burd...

Q: I use PayPal to accept credit cards for my online collectibles business. I recently received an email that my PayPal account was going to expire in five days if I didn't click a link in the email and give them my PayPal account information. Being naturally paranoid I decided not to give this information and I'm happy to say that my PayPal account did not expire. Was this a scam? -- Brenda A. A: Be thankful that your paranoia kicked in, Brenda, because you were about to ...

In the last article we looked at a few of the things you should consider before leasing that first office or storefront for your business. To recap, you should not only consider the old standard "location, location, location," but also consider things like sufficient parking, the number of employees who will be working onsite, and future growth projections. I stressed that it was important not to get caught up in the moment. You should take your time to find the space best su...

Q: I was contacted by the city tax collector to say that my business is scheduled to be audited to see if I owe sales tax on items purchased on the Internet. Can they really make me pay sales tax on internet purchase? I thought you could buy things online tax free? -- Charlie B. A: Sorry, but your local municipality is well within its rights to audit your business to identify items purchased online. The city can also demand payment of sales tax on those items if sales tax ...