Quicker Cash Net

An IRS levy is an order from the Internal Revenue Security directing TVA to withhold a specified amount of an employee’s pay to satisfy a tax debt. If the IRS determines that we owe back tax then it may issue an IRS levy requiring the deductions from the pay till the back taxes are paid. They may ask the person to sign an agreement of consent authorizing the amount to be deducted. The IRS levy can allow an amount to be exempt from withholding based on the o employee’s tax filing station and the number of exemptions claimed.

A legal step taken by Internal Revenue System to seize anyone’s property in order to satisfy his debt is IRS levy. They are different from liens. Lien is just a claim used as security for tax debt whereas in IRS levy they actually take the property to do so. If one cannot make arrangements to settle the debts then the IRS seizes or sells any type of personal or real property which one possesses. For example, the IRS can seize and sell property like boats, houses, cars, etc. Even they can levy property that is actually the debtors’ but is help by someone else like the wages wit the employee, balance at the bank account, license, rental income, etc.

An IRS levy is issued only when he requirements are met. The first condition is when IRS sends a notice or demand for the payment of the tax assessed by them. Secondly, when the person refuses or neglects to pay the tax and lastly when a final notice of Intent to Levy i.e. a legal notice of IRS levy is sent 30 days before the levy. A person receives one more notice with this notice known as Notice of Your Rights to Hearing. These notices can be given anywhere at our business place, at home or can be registered with the return receipt.

One may ask the IRS to review the case or can even request to Office of Appeals by filing a request to the IRS officer listed in our notice. This request filing should be done within 30 days of the receipt of the IRS levy notice.

When the IRS levy, levy our wages, salary or bank account, the levy ends when it is released or when on e pays the tax debt or at the expiry of the time of legal collection of tax. When the IRS levy, levies the bank account, the bank holds the funds in deposit for 21 days. This time is given as the relaxation period to solve the problem at hand. After 21 days, the bank sends the money to the IRS along with the interest, if applicable, to the IRS.

If IRS makes any mistake, like while levying bank account, the bank charges are borne by the debtor. In such a condition one is entitled to have the reimbursement for such charges. For this reimbursement one has to file a claim to the IRS within one year after the bank has claimed the charges.

There are two different types of IRS levy programs. One is FPLP i.e. Federal Payment Levy program and the other is SITLP, which is State Income Tax Levy Program. Under the FPLP, the IRS may levy money from the federal payments received like Social Security benefits, retirement from the Office of Personnel Management, federal employee’s salaries, etc. FPLP electronic levies the federal payments made through Department of Treasury, Financial Management services. When these agencies levy through FPLP, they take 15% from each of the payments till the account is resolved. One can call IRS employee for assistance if he is already working with them.

Under the SITLP, IR levies the state tax refund. This implies to individual state tax refunds only. Inclusion of business tax refunds in the future is under consideration. If the state tax refund is levied, the state issues a notice of advice about the levy. If one receives an advice, legally, for the Rights of Hearing then this IRS notice of advising is not issued.

Henry Byers, Retired IRS Manager and IRS Tax Levy expert – focusing on Garnishment Laws and IRS Levy

It was just a few degrees shy of swimming weather a few weeks ago at the beach. I walked along the shore in my jeans and a red tankini top, the salt air refreshing against my skin but not quite cold. My two sisters and some friends and I were taking a brief hike down the beach. Up ahead, a small freshwater creek came out of the pine forest along the beach and cut across our path. The water of the creek was a ribbon of earthy red crossing the white sandy beach. As we approached, I said to my sister Audra, “let’s jump it!” It was a shallow creek, and only about seven feet wide, easily fordable. But something within me wanted to run, to leap, to risk splashing down in the cold water. Carefully wading across just wasn’t going to do it for me. I wanted to jump the creek – for no reason other than the fun of it.

My sister enthusiastically agreed, so we got a running start and began to run willy-nilly down the beach, our feet pounding down into the soft, powdery sand. The narrow creek approached rapidly, the wind in my face urging me along, my hair flying about, and when we reached the sandy edges leading down into the creek, we hurdled through the air as if jumping the Grand Canyon. I landed just short of the other side, sending diamond drops of water spraying all around me and soaking the cuff of my jeans. My sister landed right beside me and we laughed like children. It was fun. I felt happy and alive.

The 14th Dalai Lama said, “The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” Indeed. This purpose I gladly share with all fellow humans. As you go about your day, do you find yourself caught up in happiness, laughter and fun? As children, everything we did was for fun. That was the purpose behind every action. That was the part of me that had to leap across the creek. As you complete your daily duties – going to work, doing the laundry, checking your email, whatever your daily habits may be – is fun your purpose? Is happiness your objective?

When you were younger, the pursuit of fun and happiness came naturally. You didn’t have to put a lot of effort into looking for it. If your mother had asked you, “So dear, are you going to try to have fun today?” you would have looked at her like she was crazy. Fun is a child’s obvious objective. If they want to build a castle, they have fun doing it. If they want to plant some flowers, they have a blast in the process. Mud pies – fun. Washing the dog – fun. At some point our priorities change. Our purpose and objective often becomes money and work. The obvious and natural engagement in fun activities falls to the wayside.

When I’m taking myself too seriously, writing at the computer or something, my son always reminds me of my priorities. He’ll come up to me and say, “Let’s play tigers!” and we’ll wrestle on the floor, growling and meowing. Or he’ll run up to me and say, “Look, a rainbow!” and point to the refracted light coming from the sunlight shining through some glass. Being an adult doesn’t mean abandoning the quest for fun. If life is not meant for fun and happiness, what is it meant for?

Think about the things you might have done as a child. Did you climb trees, ride bicycles, eat ice cream and (purposefully of course) get it all over your face? Did you run uphill and pick flowers and play in the hose because you wanted any excuse to get muddy and wet? What do you do now for fun? As an adult you have more freedom, not less, than as a child. You’ve got a car and money and no curfew or confined play areas. Your play should be increased, not decreased!

I’m not suggesting that you quit your job and play in the sandbox all day. What I am suggesting is that you quit working and start playing. Children find the fun in almost anything. It’s all a state of mind. You can choose to view life as fun, or you can choose not to. Have fun at your job, have fun completing tasks, have fun brushing your teeth, have fun eating. Do also increase the purposeful acts of fun in your life. Go on a spontaneous lunch picnic. Go for a hike in the woods. Take a road trip to the country for a couple hours. Drive down to the beach. And be spontaneous and adventurous. When something silly strikes you, go for it! What’s the worst that could happen?

Have fun with your life. Break up your daily routine with intentional acts of fun. Laugh really loud. Take a leap!

Copyright 2005, Alexia Alderson Chamberlynn

Alexia Alderson Chamberlynn is the Co-Owner of Prosperity Power Training, LLC, a national training company specializing in e-learning, life coaching and live group training. To contact Alexia or sign up for free services such as a Free 7-Day Training Program, free monthly newsletter and free quote-of-the-day club, visit the website at http://www.prosperitypowertraining.com. Alexia expects to release her first novel in 2005. Alexia lives in Florida with her son Gareth.

1. Spend money on decent quality business cards. Home made cards just don’t compare to the quality of professionally printed cards. Your cards reflect your business – do you really want your cards screaming cheap!

2. Always hand out two business cards – one for the prospect and one for them to handout to a colleague.

3. Enter your business cards in Free Lunch draws at restaurants.

4. Make your card unique in size, shape or texture. You want your card to stand out from the crowd. There are very nice folded cards that will provide more room to detail your services.

5. Leave your business cards everywhere you go – leave one on the table in a restaurant, post a few on community bulletin boards.

6. Tuck one of your business cards inside of library books – especially books related to your services. Perhaps someone who is researching databases will decide to save him or herself the trouble and will hire you instead!

7. Include business cards with your invoices, or bill payments.

8. Quite often, you will see vehicles lettered with their business info parked in parking lots – tuck your business card in the window on the driver’s door.

9. Are you attending a trade or consumer show? Use your business card as a ballot for the many draws and contests through out the event.

10. When handing out a business card to a prospecting take the time to write a personal message on the back of the card. This could be a promotion or discount or even your cell phone number. This personal message can make the prospect feel special and will save your business card from the dumpster.

11. Make your business card useful. On the backside of the card, include a calendar, map, or even keyboarding shortcuts. Something that will encourage the prospect to hold on to your card.

© 2004-2005 Tanya Beaudoin o/a Office on Demand, All rights reserved. You are free to use this article in its entirety, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. Please also notify Mrs. Beaudoin as to where the material will appear. The attribution should read:
“Tanya Beaudoin, B.A. is a virtual assistant who specializes in e-solutions (including graphic and and web site design) and administrative support for small businesses and non-profit organizations.

Please visit Tanya’s web site at http://www.officeondemand.ca for additional business related articles”

Are you willing to spend $1.25 to raise $1? To lose money to make money? You should be. Most donor acquisition mailings never pay for themselves. They lose money. And rightly so.

Acquisition letters (letters designed to acquire new donors) should be a vital part of your development program. Current donors fall away. Some lose interest in your mission. Some lose their jobs. Other leave the country. Some die. You need to be mailing fundraising letters to people who have never supported your cause in order to replace the donors who fall away every year through no fault of yours.

But to be successful at acquiring new donors, you need to ignore one set of numbers and fix your eyes on another. The numbers to “ignore” are the costs of getting your first donation. According to James Greenfield, in his excellent book, Fund Raising (second edition), you can expect to pay anywhere from $1.25 to $1.50 to raise $1 with an acquisition mailing. That doesn’t sound like a wise use of your resources, does it?

But with acquisition fundraising letters, you need to have your eyes fixed on the lifetime value of your donor, not the short-term value of their first gift. You need to remind yourself (along with your board members, key volunteers and inexperienced colleagues) that your goal with acquisition mailings is to acquire friends, not funds.

Let me illustrate.

Let’s say you mail a fundraising letter to a list of 10,000 strangers. These are people who have not supported your organization before but might. Assume that your costs for writing, design, production and postage come to $0.60 a piece. Your mailing costs are thus $6,000. Let’s say you receive a 1 percent response rate. That’s 100 gifts. Further assume that the average gift is $30 Your income is $30 x 100 donors, namely, $3,000.

Your costs are: $6,000
Your income is: $3,000
Your net loss for the campaign is: $3,000

Are you in trouble? No. Here’s what you tell your executive director. “We gained 100 new donors. And up to 80 percent of them will give again, provided we follow up properly and solicit their gifts in the right way in the future.”

Each of these new donors effectively cost you $30 each (your net loss divided by total new donors). Are you willing to spend $30 today to raise a friend who will likely give your organization hundreds of dollars in gifts in years to come? You should be, provided you can remember that your goal with acquisition letters is to raise a donor, not a donation.

My thanks go to Stanley Weinstein and his book, The Complete Guide to Fundraising Management (second edition), for his insight into the economics of donor acquisition.

About the author
Alan Sharpe is a professional fundraising letter writer, instructor and mentor who helps non-profit organizations raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors using creative fundraising letters. Learn more about his services, view free sample fundraising letters, and sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.RaiserSharpe.com.

Asthma treatment is a growing field in the health care community. Because so many people, particularly children, are being diagnosed with the condition, a number of families are looking for innovative asthma treatment programs. In general, asthma treatment can be divided into two categories: long-term control and quick-relief medications.

Long-term control medications must be taken each day as part of asthma treatment. This kind of asthma treatment regimen is primarily designed to control the inflammation of the airways. Quick-relief medications can provide effective asthma treatment by relaxing bronchial smooth muscle, combatting acute asthma attacks.

Asthma treatment involving medication can be taken orally or through inhalation. The most common asthma treatment method involves metered-dose inhalers, or MDIs. However, another popular asthma treatment option is the dry powder inhaler. Nebulizers are a favorite asthma treatment method for children because they’re easier to use.

One asthma treatment strategy involves anti-inflammatories which prevent blood vessels from leaking fluid into the airway tissues. Through the reduction in inflammation, this asthma treatment method reduces the likelihood of spasms of the airway muscle.

While asthma cannot be cured, it can be managed through appropriate asthma treatment. One of the first steps in asthma treatment involves changing an asthmatic’s environment. This type of asthma treatment can be as simple as washing bedding each week in hot water, or eliminating pets from the home.

Other effective asthma treatment involves using the air conditioner, replacing carpeting with hardwood or tile, using leather or vinyl furniture rather than upholstered chairs and sofas, and replacing down bedding with bedding made with synthetic materials. Keeping the humidity low can be another asthma treatment strategy.

Yet another asthma treatment option involves allergy shots, also known as immunotherapy. With this asthma treatment, allergen extracts are injected into a patient to desensitize the person. The asthma treatment usually involves no more than five shots a week, with the dosage increased over time.

Sandra is a long time Asthma sufferer and has researched the topic thouroughly. You can read much of her findings on her blog: www.asthmablogonline.com

What is risk assessment?

A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of your workplace, to identify what could cause harm to people, so that you can decide as to whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm from being caused.

Work accidents and work related ill health, can ruin lives, and seriously affect your business also, if output is lost, machinery is damaged, insurance costs increase, or you have to go to court.

You are legally required to assess the risks in your workplace.

The important thing you need to decide is whether a hazard is significant, and whether you have taken satisfactory precautions to minimize the risk.

If you are a small firm owner, and you are confident you understand what is involved, you can carry out a risk assessment yourself. You do not have to be a Health and Safety expert. If you are a larger firm, then you may want to assign a responsible employee, safety representative or safety officer to carry out the task. You can also obtain advice from outside companies, who have specialised in this type of work.

What is Hazard and Risk?

A hazard means anything that can cause harm. To give you a basic idea, think of chemicals, electricity, working at heights etc etc.

A risk is the chance, high or low, that somebody will be harmed by the hazard.

There are five steps in a risk assessment:

Step 1. Look for the hazards.

Step 2. Decide who might be harmed and how.

Step 3. Evaluate the risk and decide whether the existing precautions are adequate or whether more should be done.

Step 4. Record your findings.

Step 5. Review your assessment and revise it if required.

Do not overcomplicate matters. In the majority of firms in the commercial, service and light industrial sectors, the hazards are few, and those that do exist are fairly obvious. Checking them is mainly a matter of common sense, but also a required and necessary action.

You probably know already, whether you have machinery that could cause harm, or if there is an awkward entrance or stairway where someone could be hurt. If so, check that you have taken all reasonable precautions you can to avoid accidents and prevent injury.

Lets take a closer look at Steps 1 and 2.

Step 1. Look for the hazards.

If you are doing the assessment yourself, walk around your workplace and look at what could reasonably be expected to cause harm. Ignore the trivial (for now) and concentrate on significant hazards which could result in serious harm.

Ask your employees what they think. They are the ones who are working with the various components on a daily basis, and will therefore know where the problems are. They may have noticed things which are not immediately obvious. Manufacturers instructions or data sheets can also help you spot hazards and put risks in their proper perspective.

Step 2. Decide who might be harmed and how.

For each identified hazard you should then decide who might be harmed and how. And of course you will then be able to decide on a course or action that will prevent the hazard from causing risk.

Do not forget about young workers, trainees, expectant mothers etc who may be at particular risk.

Do not forget cleaners, visitors, contractors, maintenance workers etc who may not be in the workplace all the time.

Do not forget members of the public, or people you share the workplace with, if there is any chance they could be injured by your activity.

David Barnard is a professional, personal injury accident investigator. If you would like further information on work related injury, please go to http://www.accident-claimz.co.uk.