Archive for August, 2009

San Diego Income Tax Planning – Deduct That Office!

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Perhaps you work from home or own your own business.  You may have heard, just as many people are hearing these days, that you can deduct your home office!  You may or may not be able to, and I’m going to cover some of the basics.  San Diego Income Tax Planning helps you figure things like this out ahead of time so you know what you can deduct, how you need to document your expenses in order to successfully do so, and much more.

First and foremost, let’s define “home office”.  It can’t be your kitchen table or your laptop on your couch.  It does need to be a separate area in your home, a special room, where your business is conducted.  You need to differentiate this apart from your personal use as well.  Its primary use must be for business.  That’s the general gist of how the IRS defines a home office that could be eligible for a deduction.  You must regularly conduct your business there, and usually you can’t have any other permanent, regular location to conduct such business.  If you telecommute, you can also likely deduct the office.  San Diego Income Tax Planning helps you figure out the details.

Your next question is likely to be what exactly you can deduct.  You can deduct office-only deductions such as room improvements or a dedicated phone line.  There are also some indirect expenses that come as using your office and because it is part of your home, some of your home’s total expenses can be divided out and deducted.  Some examples are mortgage interest or rent.  Of course, any typical office supplies and such things you use for your business can be deducted.  It is a very complex matter, however, and you want to use someone in San Diego Income Tax Planning to make sure you do it right.

Do be careful when you decide to deduct your home office. This is exactly why I recommend using San Diego income tax planning, because you want to prevent an audit if at all possible.  Home office deductions used to be heavily analyzed by the IRS.  It’s not nearly as touchy today, but you want to make sure you are doing things by the book, so if your name gets picked out for a random audit, or yours looks suspicious for any reason, you’ll have nothing to fear.  Deducting your home office is a great business benefit, so make sure you consult someone and deduct what you can.

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San Diego Foreclosure Not Over Yet

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

If you’re living in the sunny state of California’s San Diego and are hopeful that the foreclosure deal is done, don’t count on it just yet.  I wish I could say it’s over.  We have seen enough people lose their jobs and subsequently their homes.  According to history, unemployment records can predict soon to follow foreclosure rates, and guess what just went up?  Unemployment.  Of course, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you couldn’t have avoided that bit of information.  Perhaps you’re worried about your job and home.  You’re not alone.  San Diego Foreclosure rates have not hit the bottom of the barrel.

There are countless homeowners out there in San Diego right now who are delinquent by ninety days or more, or who are already in the process of foreclosure.  They are saying that there are hundreds of thousands of homes at risk of foreclosure in the very immediate future.  There’s just too much gone wrong.  There are too many people who should not have gotten mortgages in the first place, or were given the wrong mortgage and the terms made it unaffordable.  In the meantime, people lost their jobs and struggled to pay down debts they incurred as a result of the ill fitted mortgage.  San Diego foreclosure statistics are only going to get worse.

If you are in the same boat as many San Diego residents and are struggling, contact your mortgage lender and talk to them about the efforts of the current administration and if there is anything you can do to prevent a foreclosure.  Initially in 2008, President Bush enacted some assistance to help people restructure their loans, but many of those loans are still in default – as high as thirty to forty percent of them!  I learned that President Obama is helping mortgage companies push to keep more mortgages out of the red by matching funds to lenders.  San Diego Foreclosure may have a light at the end of the tunnel.

With so many people finding themselves jobless, or their business tanking, it’s been tough for a lot of people to keep their heads above water.  I really hope this whole situation will be something we all grow and learn from.   I hope that, not only will many people in these tough situations come out on top, but that as a country we will learn to punish the greedy and stop allowing them to let the honest hang out to dry. I think there’s always hope, and San Diego foreclosure doesn’t have to be a reality for everyone.

Posted in Foreclosure | 12 Comments »

San Diego Credit Repair – You can do it!

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

If you are like many people living in San Diego today, you probably have some credit problems.  Here, I’m going to outline some of the best tips for anyone trying to fix their own credit!  Some of them seem really simple, yet people make these mistakes every day!  These tips will save you lots of time and effort.  The first thing you want to do in San Diego credit repair is to contact the credit bureaus to dispute your negative items.  Some of them will just fall off and you won’t have to worry about them.

The next tip I’m going to give you is to keep track of what you do in your efforts to fix your credit.  First, you can do this any way you want to, but find something and stick with it so you don’t lose your documentation.  Some people like to use a folder, some a notebook.  Credit bureaus have thirty days to respond to a negative item dispute or else they must remove it from your report!  Give them their 30 days, and see what they have to say about it.  When working on San Diego credit repair, be diligent, and don’t let them get away with anything – make sure you document!

The third tip I want to impart upon you is this: do not dispute your credit report via the internet.  I know it seems easy and simple and much faster than writing a letter with all the details, but trust me on this one.  You want to mail your disputes in writing, preferably via certified mail, return receipt requested.  If you use the internet, it will be diluted and simplified and sent through so many computers your head could spin.  San Diego credit repair is best done in a more personal fashion.

There are two more little bits of information I want to give you on San Diego credit repair.  First, don’t be unrealistic.  If you have had a rocky road, it might be rockier to fix it up and pay things down.  Second, don’t give up!  It is a slow process, but don’t overwhelm yourself.  Take it one tiny piece at a time.  It’s alright if it takes some time, but don’t bog yourself down by doing too much at once.  You can do this but send out just a letter or two at a time, and don’t spend more than an hour or two at a time working on this.  If you are diligent, careful, patient, and realistic, you can have success.

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Your San Diego Attorney

Friday, August 7th, 2009

So you need an Attorney, how do you begin? There are so many places to look, so many listings, and so many choices for your San Diego attorney. Here, I’m going to review the things you want to consider when you are choosing an attorney to handle whatever matter you need an attorney to work with. First and foremost for most everyone is a personal recommendation. If you have a family member or friend who can recommend an attorney who has done a fantastic job for them then that is a great place to start. Word of mouth is often the most dependable form of referral around today.

If you don’t have a San Diego attorney recommendation from a friend or family member, a good place to seek assistance is your local Bar Association. The local Bar Association will be able to provide you with a good recommendation and referral after speaking with them briefly. They will get a general idea of the case involved and then provide you with several suggestions. It’s never a bad idea to speak with a couple of attorneys before deciding who to hire for your specific case.

When you do meet with an attorney for the first time, you should first feel comfortable around that attorney. If you are uncomfortable, you may want to consider following your gut feeling. You should be comfortable with the level of expertise the attorney demonstrates in your meeting with them. Any San Diego attorney who is reputable and trustworthy should be able to also outline their schedule of fees for you when you meet with them. Most attorneys charge a retainer to take on your case, it is like a deposit. You should also find out if the attorney has an idea on how many hours will be required to handle your case.

One final way to acquire a San Diego Attorney is to look in the yellow pages, but keep in mind that people pay for certain advertising spots. That is why I recommend that you always start by looking for recommendations through a family member, friend, or your local Bar Association. If an attorney can’t make you feel comfortable, tell you his or her fees, or there’s anything else going on that makes you just wonder what’s going on, you may want to check with another attorney before you decide to hire that one. You should feel 100% comfortable with your choice.

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