Recent content by jgombos

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FL USPS was hired to take a package to a particular address overseas. As usual, shipping cost was prepaid. Foreign customs opens package, and decides it's not enough value to bother charging VAT, so they give the package back to the foreign...

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IN A phone company made several technical and billing errors with my account. It's a very long story, but in short they ended up overbilling my credit card in 2007. They refused to fix it, so I won a chargeback dispute. It probably should have...

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? fl I heard about this tax credit of $6.5k for current homeowners who would buy another home, and make that home their primary residence. Does it matter how cheap the 2nd home is? According to some heresay, this is only for "high end" homes...

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Fed Now that everyones pre-tax retirement plans have bottomed out and are starting to recover, is it a good move to convert them to Roth IRA's? My speculation is that the value is not going to slowly and steadily increase as it does in a stable...

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WA, OR Earth Class Mail ("ECM") receives postal mail for their customers, they scan it, and put it online. They state that accounts cannot be used until they first receive a notarized consent form. After signing up for a 1 year contract, ECM...

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? fed The US embassy charges $50 to simply notarize two documents. I am not willing to pay this. Is there a way to find out if there are any American notary publics in a given city abroad?

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? fed Given the option to either freelance or take a salary in the EU, which is favorable in terms of US tax? (Assuming the take-home income is about the same). Does it make a difference?

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA I heard the tax regime will be eliminating the foreign tax credit. The rationale is that it will discourage corps from sending jobs overseas. But what about expats? Does this mean if an individual is earning an overseas wage, and paying tax...

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA Some Belgian mobile phone providers who accept credit card are systematically blocking payments when the credit card number traces back to the US. I'm not sure if they are singling out US cards, or if they're denying all non-Belgian credit...

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA When it comes to wire transfers, I'm finding that banks know only what they charge, and refuse to disclose what intermediate banks skim from a wire transfer. I'm shocked that this practice is legal. I'm told that all the intermediate banks...

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? OH, CA Is there any way to get a tax break for contributing to someone elses medical expenses? I have two similar situations: * A friend recently survived a hard attack. He has a 80/20 medical plan, and it will cost him his home to pay the 20%...

What is the name of your state? NM I've read parts of the tax treaty between the US and Belgium. This is some tough reading. I need some practical advice on where to go for advice. Should I try to find a Belgian accountant that can accommodate US taxes, or should I seek out a US accountant...

What is the name of your state? federal Back when I did my tax manually, I was given the direction to enter zeros in fields that don't apply, because it makes it clear that the field was not overlooked. It makes sense, and I believe that was good advice. However, now when I use TaxCut, the...

What is the name of your state? IN The neighbor cranks music every morning. Sometimes 4:30 am, sometimes 7:30 am. The ambient bass vibrates my walls enough to wake me. The neighbor has been my premature alarm clock for ~10 months. Normally I would sleep until 8. What I've tried: *...

What is the name of your state? IN I had some weights for sale, and got a call from the local fire department. The firefighter is planning to pay me out of his own pocket for the weights because the department won't buy them for them (apparently he's getting them for the station). So I'm...