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
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a card, balloon or that
special gift from Heritage House
Kings Court At 901 South Kings Drive • Charlotte • 344-9695
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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,
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