An audit is an investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) into a taxpayer's financial records and tax return(s). A field audit is a systematic investigation by the IRS that is conducted at the taxpayer's place of business or at the office of the individual who prepared the return. A field audit is a comprehensive review of the entire set of financial records. It differs from a correspondence audit in that it is conducted in person rather than by mail. In addition, a field audit is typically scheduled for more complicated audits and is more serious.
A company whose common shares are owned by one individual owner or by a small group of controlling stockholders. This is in contrast to a widely held stock, in which thousands or even millions of different investors may own shares in a large company. Taobiz explains Closely Held Stock Closely held stock is typically not publicly traded on exchanges because the small number of owners rarely sell their shares. A common way that a closely held stock is created is when an entrepreneur starts and incorporates his or her own business, but retains ownership of all the company's outstanding shares.
The original legislation that allows the federal government to tax businesses for the purpose of collecting revenue that is then allocated to state workforce agencies. The Federal Unemployment Tax Act works with state unemployment agencies to provide funds to workers who have lost their jobs. Employers must file Form 940 annually in order to report this tax. This tax is sometimes collected periodically throughout the year. When the economy is growing and unemployment is low, the unemployment fund tends to grow, thus creating a surplus that can be accessed during economic downturns. FUTA also pays half the cost of extended unemployment benefits. For example the FUTA tax rate was at 6.2% through 2009, and was levied only on the first $7,000 earned by each of a company's employees.
1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. In effect, this gives the target company a "safe harbor." 3. An accounting method that avoids legal or tax regulations and allows for a simpler method (usually) of determining a tax consequence than those methods described by the precise language of the tax code. 1. In the first case, under SEC rules, safe-harbor provisions protect management from liability for making financial projections and forecasts made in good faith. 2. When trying to scare away sharks, it sometimes helps to stink up the water. 3. Here's an example of an accounting safe harbor: a firm is losing money and therefore cannot claim an investment credit, so it transfers this claim to a company that is profitable and can therefore claim the credit. Then the profitable company leases the asset back to the unprofitable company and passes on the tax savings.
Established in 1974 by the Wyoming Legislature, the Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund (PWMTF) is that state's oldest and largest permanent fund, with assets of $4.2 billion as of June 30, 2009. It is funded by a portion of severance taxes on mineral revenues and occasional direct legislative appropriations, while income from the fund goes to the state general fund. The fund covers part of the costs of running the state, and also acts like an endowment for the state by conserving its wealth for future generations. |||Wyoming is richly endowed with natural resources, making its economy dependent on resource prices and hence prone to boom and bust cycles. The PWMTF cushions the impact of these economic cycles, while ensuring future generations share in the wealth generated by these finite resources.
An order placed by a company's insider to buy or sell restricted securities from within the company's own treasury. Appropriate documentation must be filed before the order can be placed. Taobiz explains Closed-Market Transaction A closed-market transaction is simply an order placed by an insider according to the rules and regulations set out by the SEC. With a closed-market order, the insider is buying or selling shares at a price above or below the market and directly from and to the company rather than openly on the market. These types of inside trades are generally not considered significant as they do not reflect the insider's sentiment towards the company. Here's an example of a closed-market transaction: an insider is given the stock of a subsidiary company, and then he or she immediately sells the stock.
Any repair-related expenditures incurred during the process of preparing one's home for sale. This type of expense does not include major home improvements such the addition of a new room or swimming pool. Fixing-up expenses are not deducted outright, but are subtracted from the sale proceeds. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 has rendered the rules surrounding fixing-up expenses less important than they were previously. Since homeowners can now exclude the first $250,000 of the gain from the sale of their homes, the reduction in sale price from these expenses is generally meaningless.
A horizontal histogram plotted on the chart of a security, which corresponds to the volume of shares traded at a specific price level. Price by volume histograms are found on the Y-axis and are used by technical traders to predict areas of support and resistance. |||Large price by volume bars are used to illustrate high buying and selling interest, and they are often regarded as a sign that the given price level will act as a strong area of support or resistance. It is common to see the price of an asset face little resistance when traveling between levels that have small PBV bars, but pushing the price past areas with large PBV bars is substantially more difficult.