North Carolina Newspapers

7A STRICTLY BUSINESS/ The Charlotte Post February 8, 1996 Filing down your tax day frustrations: A planning primer Amanda S. Danchi SPECIAL TO THE POST There's only one way to keep tax-time panic in check - col lect and organize the informa tion you need to prepare your 1995 tax return now, says the North Carolina Association of CPAs. The better prepared you are when April 15 rolls around, the more likely you are to avoid penalties and last-minute mistakes. Round up your income statements Begin gathering the W-2 forms you received from employers and the 1099 forms from your banks, brokers and mutuEd fvmds. By law, W-2 and 1099 forms must be mailed to you by January 31, 1996. Also, collect bsmik and credit card statements, can celed checks and documenta tion for other sources of income, such as pension bene fits, tips and alimony. Next, check the information on these forms carefully. If you find a mistake, make sure you correct it before filing your return. When verif3ring the income shown on your W-2 form, keep in mind that if you contributed to a 401(k) plan, or set aside funds in a flex ible medical or dependent care reim bursement account, these contributions already should have been deducted from your gross wages to arrive at your taxable wages (or W-2 income). Gather your filing forms Don't wait until April 15 to discover you don't have all the forms you need to prepare your tax return. You may need more than just a 1040 form. For example, if you sold your home, you also would need Form 2119. You can call the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at (800) 829-3676 for copies of any forms you need. Or use your computer to download any or all of the more than 500 tax forms now available on the Internet. The telenet address to request these forms is fedworld.gov; modem direct dial: (703) 321- 8020. Pull together your deductible expenses Good records can help you secure the deductions to which you are entitled. First, use last year's return and support ing documents to jog your memory for deductions. Then, > ^ □ O/ start gathering the documents you need to support deduc tions for items like medical expenses, IRA and Keogh con tributions, alimony, interest expenses, charitable contribu tions and miscellaneous item ized expenses, such as work clothes, tax preparation fees and investment-related expenses. Make sure you have all the paperwork needed to back up your deductions. Locate receipts for charitable donations If you're audited, the IRS will no longer accept you can celed checks as proof of large charitable donations. When you give a single gift of $250 or more to a charity, you must have a written receipt from the charity. If you donated property, the receipt must describe precisely what you gave. Also, be sure the charity is one recognized by the IRS by checking IRS Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations. Calculate your cost basis of shares sold If you sold stock or redeemed mutual fund shares in 1995, you'll '' receive a 1099-B form f indicating how much you received. But it will be up to you to determine how much you orig inally paid for these shares. That amoun - your cost basis - affects whether you must report the sale as a taxable gain or a capital loss on your 1995 return. If you can't find your original purchase confir mations, your broker or mutu al fund company may be able to provide copies. Keep in mind that if you reinvested dividends in your mutual fund, they represent an addi tional investment, and increase the cost basis of your shares. Since you already paid tax on those dividends as you earned them, merely subtract ing the original purchase price from the sales price would have you paying taxes on them again. The necessary calculations can get complicated, so allow time to work through the numbers. CPAs say you can make tax-filing time less frus trating by making every day a tax preparation day. To learn more about financial record keeping, send a self-address es, stamped envelope to the North Carolina Association of CPAs, PO Box 80188, Raleigh, NC 27623-0188 and request a copy of the brochure "Taming Your Taxes: 1995 Filing Tips from CPAs." MONEY MANAGEMENT is a weekly column on personal finance prepared and distrib uted by the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants. People on the move * Dan Bttttrey has been promoted to managing director for Source Services Corp. in the Charlotte market. He will be responsible for providing direction for alt divisions in the Charlotte area. Prior to joining Source, Buttrey worked for CSC in Ohio as regional sales manager. Source, which is the nation's largest full-service staffing firm, has 154 locations natnmwide. • Kim Graham ha.s been pn.mol ed ti jcssislam vice presi dent at Wachovia Bank ofNorth Carolina. Graham joined Wachovia in 1988 a.s a service representative in Charlotte-. She i.-, currently a mortgage loan olli«-r for Wachovia .Mortgage of North Carolina. The 19S« Johnson C- .Smith University graduate is a native of High Point. • Brian K. Davis h a new magazine targeting African American.s. Davis, a former Duke Univenuty basketball .standout, is publisher of/Vr.sppc/me maga zine, which hit newstands in December. Charlotte has a dis tinct connection to the publica- Grahatn McCullough of McHenry /\s.sociates is develop ing the magazine's subscription and advertising base in piedmont North and .‘louth Carolina, and John.son C. Smith Univer.sity graduate Katherine Wellman is its editor in chief. Charlotte native and former WBTV (channel 31 staffer Abby Flanders is a contributing Advertising agency to expand market reach Continued frompage 6A right, they turned to compa nies like Burrell Communications, New York's Uniworld Group and Anderson's Communications in Atlanta to promote their products to the minority community. Eva Wu, director of mar keting for Sara Lee Corp.'s L'eggs division, says the company chose Burrell's Atlanta office to promote its Color Me Natural hosiery line. “We choose a special mar ket agency to promote the line because we felt they could do a better job of it," Wu said from her Winston- Salem office. Burrell left Needham Harper & Steers, where he was a copy supervisor, in 1971 to found Burrell Communications. It took him six months to land his first client, cigarette-maker Phillip Morris. He created the first and only black Marlboro man, an urbanized version which now sits in the Smithsonian. He later picked up Brown- Forman (jorp., a maker of whiskey and champagne. “Clients I wanted had long standing relationships with major agencies," he said. “Why would they want to do business with me? That (is what) led to the niche of the black consumer market. We bring something to the party that others couldn't: Insight into a growing market seg ment." With the acquisition in November of New York-based DFA Communications, with its 35 employees and $25 mil lion in billings, Burrell Communications became the largest black-owned advertis ing agency in the nation, and gained in ability to target markets beyond black con sumers. “I worked for 12 years in a general market agency,” he said. “Just because we have been focusing on the black consumer market, that is not the only thing we can do." But when an agency like Burrell enters the general market, it will face competi tion from other small, talented agencies, as well as from industry giants. Calder says some of the obstacles faced by specialty agencies such as Burrell are pretty much of their own making. “There has long been a debate (in business) on whether you should view the various (ethnic) groups as sep arate markets, which how a lot of specialized agencies have looked at them as," Calder said. “The disadvan tage is that it makes compa nies think of those agencies as specialty agencies. It's a Catch-22 situation." neritage house SPECIALIZING IN UNIQUE GIFTS, ART, BOOKS AND HOME ACCESSORIES WITH AN ETHNIC FLAIR "l/etlefticfte ’l Remember your sweetheart with a card, balloon or that special gift from Heritage House Kings Court At 901 South Kings Drive • Charlotte • 344-9695 (By The Melting Pot & Mama Ricotta's Restaurants) NEW 1996 Hours Mon. - Sat. 10-6 Hotel rates often lower to wise Continued from page 6A Letter shows you are more likely to be quoted the lowest rate if you call the hotel desk directly and specifically ask for specials being offered. Many of the hotels surveyed even suggested the traveler check back for a lower rate closer to the time of travel. If you plan to travel over seas, consider the cost of the calls before shopping hotel rates long distance. How to think like a millionaire A study of truly wealthy peo ple shows that being rich is more about attitude than accumulation of symbols of wealth. A profile of a wealthy person usually looks like this: a businessman who has lived all his life in one city. He owns a small factory or chain of stores. He drives a modest car and lives in a modest home. Most people who have money know the key to keep ing it is to live below your means, which means they spend far less they can afford on houses, cars, vacations and entertainment. Why? Because these things offer little or no return. The wealthy would rather put their money into investments or their business es. Which brings us to point number two. Most million aires measure success by net worth versus income. Maintaining a lifestyle of the "Rich and Famous" will deplete your fortune and diminish your ability to let your money make more money. Most millionaires know money attracts money, so they plow their income back into the business. Millionaires tend to spend their money on getting good advice that will help make more money. And more impor tantly, the wealthy almost a.lways have firm goals and clear plans on how to. reach them. Wealth - a state of mind Most millionaires measure success not by how much they make, but by what they own. Instead of taking their money home, they plow as much as they can into their business or stock investments and other assets. Why? Because the gov ernment doesn't tax wealth, it taxes income. Another aspect of wealth builders is they seek good legal and financial advice when needed. Those who spend heavily on cars, boats and houses tend to skimp on tax or investment advice. And finally, millionaires develop clear goals for their money. They may wish to retire early or they may want to leave an estate to their chil dren. The goals may vary, but two things are consistent. They have a dollar figure they want to accumulate and they have a time-frame for how long they think it will take them to achieve it. CHARLES ROSS is host of the nationally syndicated radio program, "Your Personal Finance," and author of Your Common Sense Guide to Personal Financial Planning. business, Call one of our professional representatives to help market your business, profession or event in the publi cation that produces results and keeps you in touch. • StrictlyBusiness, Designed to Profile Minorities in Business and Minorities Successful Within Majority Corporations. • Healthy Body/Healthy Mind, Designed to Keep You Abreast of Current Health Issues, Concerns and Preventions, • The Post, Designed and Dedicated to the concerns of the Black Community. Call: (704) 376-0496 JERI Assistant Sales Manager & Automotive Specialist FRAN PARKER AdverHsmg & Marketing Director & General Sales or Fax: (704) 342-2160 PAT Healthy Body/Healthy Mind Specialist Prime Spots Still Available In The 1996 BLACK GUIDE CALL TODAY! CARLOS StrictlyBusiness Specialist & Rock Hill Accout Executive BOB General Manager & Account Executive Celebrate Black History Month ...ADVERTISE Your Business!