Author Archives: Steven R Patterson

H & R Block Stock Turn Around Opportunity

Last month’s 21% drop in the shares of H And R Block stock should not be viewed as a reason to abandon your investment. Instead, the departure of investors that brought about the drop has the potential to provide the wise investor, with the insight to look to the future, with considerable gains from income in the upcoming quarter.

h and r block photo

Photo by JeepersMedia

H And R Block admits that there has been a trend in the past four years of decreased third quarter earnings.  In keeping with the established pattern, a decrease was expected this year. A drop to $502 million was projected, but revenue actually dropped to $475 million. This dramatic loss of $79 million far exceeded the loss of 2015’s third quarter, which bottomed out at $37 million.

We feel that this turn of events provides greater earning potential for the fourth quarter than what was originally projected. In past years, individuals have dealt with financial struggles, simply to survive.  More recently, many have enjoyed an increase in their disposable, or superfluous, income.  This financial shift removes some of the unseen pressure to complete tax returns without delay. Without this pressure, many returns will be completed later.  Later returns greater earnings in the fourth quarter. This calls for serious consideration of H And R Block as an investment that could provide significant income opportunities in this quarter.

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H&R Block Giveaway $32 Million For Tax Season

Tax Brand to Promote Sweepstakes in New TV Ads on H&R Block Giveaway

H&R Block

People who failed to win the Powerball should not be worried. H&R Block, Kansas City, Mo, based company, is planning to promote its services by giving away $1, 000 to 1, 000 consumers beginning with a lottery drawing on Saturday for 32 consecutive days. Since the price tag is $32, many people consider the H&R Block Giveaway a historical sweepstake. Kathy Collins, the tax firm’s chief marketing officer, says the sweepstakes might be the biggest one of all time.
In 2014, H&R Block prepared over 24 million global tax returns and previously offered 50 percent discounts on tax preparation services and other related promotions. It is encouraging timely filings of taxes, according to Ms. Collins. Consumers who file their taxes early have better chances of winning the lottery price.

The firm is airing two 30-second commercial ads to boost awareness of its lottery. In one spot, it features several men dressed as George Washington dance in well-designed moves. Social media and local marketing at the company will support the effort to air the commercials.

Moreover, H&R Block is running three ads to inspire people to do their taxes on their own. It promotes a $9.9 cost for DIY returns, a similar strategy to 2015. Besides, the company will begin airing two 15-second spots and two 30-second spots featuring Mr. Gartland and NBA player Anthony Davis between February 15 and March 15 for late season tax filers.

H&R Block worked with Minneapolis-based Fallon on the current initiatives. Ms. Collins provides that the company has spent an amount close to the one they spent on last year’s campaign.

Throughout the last 12 months, the tax firm has been phasing out its popular H&R Block Premium band. It has converted those locations to Block Advisers, a new retail brand with 300 regional sites. Block advisers now focus on winning consumers with highly complicated tax returns and will have a unique logo.

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8 Tips For Making And Saving Money

In just a few days, it will be 2016 and we are eager for its arrival. We have some big projects planned for this coming year and we are working hard now to prepare for success. Some of our time is being spent looking for ways to increase our income and reduce our expenses as a family, saving money In 2016.

Increasing your Income in 2016
Who would not want to have more money left over for their budget? If you want to increase your 2016 income a little, now is the best time to plan.

Look over your TurboTax 2015 W-4. Recently, my husband had Human Resources send an email to all the employees to remind them there were some withholding changes in North Carolina. It was good for us to be reminded as well, since we have not really looked over our withholding in a while. If you haven’t looked at your Turbo Tax 2013 return in a couple of years, you might want to take a few minutes to look at it. Make sure your retirement benefits, flexible spending plan and health insurance are all correct. Make sure you are are taking advantage of the opportunities available to you to decrease the amount you pay in taxes. It might be time to find a health plan that is more affordable and accommodates your family better. If your employer offers a 401(k) match, make sure you are getting the max amount.

Saving Money In 2016Make some extra money with a hobby. Do you play a musical instrument, handcraft something or enjoy number crunching? Talk to your friends, neighbors and extended family and see if you can teach them a skill or assist them for a little extra money on the side. We have a neighbor that is a very good builder and we bought a cat box from him. It was better than what we found for sale in stores and it was better-built and he got a little extra money from doing something he liked. Everybody won.

Sell your things. As we are tidying up our home in preparation for putting it on the market, we have been downsizing and getting rid of things that we do not really want or have not used in a long time. It really is crazy how much stuff you can accumulate without realizing it. If you sell some of your extra stuff, you can increase the space in your home and accumulate a little extra money. Craigslist and other similar sites make it free and easy to unload your extra stuff.

Saving Money in the New Year

You can make more room in your budget by streamlining your month to month bills and doing some things yourself. Weatherproof your house. You do not need to spend a lot of money on this to make a dent. Make sure there are no drafts or leaks so that you do not drain your wallet dry.

Check out your phone plan. Cell phone bills have gotten expensive for some people. Lots of people just sign a two year contract so they can get the newest iPhone model and do not count up the true cost. Some cell phone companies offer great plans that offer unlimited services for a small portion of the cost of a plan with one of the larger companies. Ting, Republic Wireless and other companies have smartphone plans that cost about $25 per month.

Compare prices on insurance. We halved out insurance a few years ago just by switching companies. Now you can go online to look at plans and compare prices for life, health, home and car insurance. Do not just go with the cheapest plan. Find one that offers the best value, as well.

Skip cable. You probably do not need cable anymore, now that options like Hulu Plus, Netflix and Roku are available. Even if you decide you would rather have cable, you should probably shop around and see if you can find a better deal somewhere else which could split the bundle.

Thoughts on Saving and Making Money for 2016
I talked about a few ways you can increase your savings, but I would love to hear more. What financial goals have you set for 2016? What do you want to achieve in the coming year?

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Optimize Savings On Your Tax Return

It’s always difficult to be caught up in a mad rush at the end of the tax season to get your federal taxes filed on-time. Filing at the last minute is bound to be particularly stressful this year due to the scaled back phone support from the IRS and the additional requirements set by the Affordable Care Act. Here are some tax changes to take note of now so you are not surprised down the stretch.

Tax Breaks

Sales tax can be deducted once again thanks to the last minute efforts in Congress. The primary beneficiaries of this measure are resident of states that have no income tax, as well as those living in states will considerably low income taxes. There is an IRS Sales Tax Deduction Calculator online to help assess the amount covered.

2014 Tax ReturnMortgage insurance premiums may also be deducted in some cases. Only people with a 2014 gross income that is less than $109,000 and who took out the loan after 2006 are eligible for the tax break. Programs like TurboTax Online will make the calculation for you automatically when you enter your income and your mortgage insurance paid.

Seniors are also going to get a couple additional breaks this year thanks to Congress. Those who are 70 and a half years of age may transfer as much as $100,000 from their individual retirement account (IRA) to a qualified charity. This will not be included in the gross income but instead count as the required minimum distribution. This may reduce taxes on Social Security benefits and avoid the Medicare high income surcharge.

Note that these tax breaks are only for the 2014 tax return. Congress has not made them permanent and the changing political landscape is likely to affect their renewal for the following year. Make sure to check several online tax resources next tax season to make sure they were renewed again.

Investment Income Tax

Single taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes in excess of $200,000 and married taxpayers with $250,000 or more may have to pay 3.8% surtax on their investments. Tax-exempt interest is not covered by the surtax.

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Criminals Benefit Via Fraud With Taxes

As with any online program, Turbo Tax 2013 has had its share of people trying to fraud the users by stealing sensitive login information. The reason that this happens is because people are not careful when they log into the system, or they do not ensure that their connection is safe.

Get Your Maximum Tax Refund

Criminals have systematically started to target Turbo Tax simply because it is a site where many people are now going to do their taxes without the help of an expensive tax refund business.

The Internal Revenue Service has reported major losses in its income since this type of fraud has been going on, but they are not the only ones. The customer is the one who also suffers when they are not receiving their full tax income. Sophisticated programs being used by criminals on the Internet are to blame for this, but also the method of encryption used on the site.

Fraud With Taxes

Photo by HM Revenue & Customs

Keeping your password safe can help you to be sure that you will not have to worry about hacking in that regard, as is any type of malware protection on your computer. Intuit does offer some state-of-the-art protection for this, but it is also your duty to ensure that fraudulence does not happen on your part. This is all about the safety of you and your tax refund, after all. Always keep your Turbotax login tax return 2014 information safe.

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TurboTax Deluxe Buyers To Get Free Premier Upgrades

TurboTax, a popular tax filing software recently announced that it will offer users free upgrade to the premier version of the software on 7 February, 2015. The catch: only TurboTax Deluxe users will be able to avail it.

A spokeswoman for the company told the press that starting the coming Saturday, users will be able to click on a link in their TurboTax software to upgrade to the home or business version of the Premier version of TurboTax. The announcement has outraged devoted users of the desktop version of the TurboTax Deluxe because, for this season, the Premier version will effectively replace the older tax preparation software after the free upgrade.

TurboTax Deluxe

Photo by State Farm

Users who bought TurboTax Deluxe software this year were angered by the company’s decision to remove capital gain reporting capabilities from the new edition. Self-employed taxpayers, to whom this feature was indispensable, found themselves forced to spend 50% more than the TurboTax on buying the Premier version. TurboTax is an operation of Inuit, a company that specializes in making financial software solutions.

The Deluxe version’s hitherto loyal following protested on Amazon and tax software forums. Meanwhile, TurboTax’s H&R department tried to placate angered users with free updates for their copies of the software.

Inuit’s CEO, Brad Smith has apologized to buyers for not explicitly alerting them of the change beforehand.

The company began damage control by offering $25 refunds to all TurboTax Deluxe customers whose process of filing their 2014 Taxes was hampered by the changes in the Deluxe version of the software.
Next, the company offered free upgrades to the Premier version and has promised to restore the deducted capabilities to TurboTax Deluxe next year.

Buyers of TurboTax Deluxe receive their upgrades starting Saturday.

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