Posted By Administrator
Date: September 7th, 2011
State benefits refer to any regular long-term payment from a government. This may be in the form of state pension, benefits for low income, children, careers, incapacity or sickness.
Almost all states provide state benefits to its citizen. This is given to provide assistance to disabled and less fortunate.
In California alone, an approximate of a thousand laws was enacted to provide state benefits to its citizen. The following are some of it:
California CalWORKs
This is a welfare program that gives cash aid and services to eligible needy California families. The program serves all 58 counties in the state. This is operated locally by county welfare departments. The family that applies and qualifies under this law receives on going assistance each month to help pay for housing, food and other necessary expenses.
Requirements under this Law
To qualify for this benefit program, you must be:
Resident of the State of California
Pregnant or responsible for a child under 19 years old
US national
Citizen
Legal alien
Permanent resident
Low or very low income
Underemployed
Unemployed or about to become unemployed
Needy families may apply for this benefit at any office located in any county where they live.
California Food Stamp Program
California Food Stamps is a federally funded program that helps people buys the food they need for good health. Food stamps are only part of their food budget; they must spend some of their own cash to buy food enough for a month.
Requirements to qualify under this Law
In order to qualify under this law you must be a resident of the state of California and must fall into one of these two groups:
With current bank balance under $2,001
With current bank balance under $3,001 who share their household with a person age 60 and over or with a person with disability.
California Head Start
This is a national program administered by the Head Start Bureau within the administration of Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, and Department of Health Human Services. This provides developmental comprehensive services to children from birth up to entry in the elementary school. This program is designed to address developmental goals for children, employment and self-sufficiency goals for adults, and support parents in their works and child caring roles.
Requirements for this Law
To qualify for this law, you must be:
Resident citizen of the State of California
A parent or primary caregiver responsible for a child who is too young for public school
Household annual income before taxes must not exceed $10,400 if you have one person in the household
California Healthy Families
This law is a low cost insurance for California children and teens. It provides health, dental and vision coverage to children who do not have insurance and do not qualify free Medi-cal.
Requirements under this Law
In order to qualify under this law, you must be:
Resident of the State of California
Under 19 years old
Not covered by health insurance
US national
Citizen
Legal alien
Permanent resident
With annual household income before taxes of less than $26,000
Posted By Administrator
Among the fast increasing crimes in the United States, identity theft may be considered as one of the most burdensome scenarios that a Supplemental Security Income beneficiary may encounter. An unlawful person who was able to steal your Social Security Number can manage to use it to obtain your other secret information.
Afterwards, they may utilize the same information to apply for credits in your name. You will just be aware of the fact that you have been robbed when notices and calls coming from unknown creditors demand payments for various transactions and items that you never purchased.
Your Social Security Number is extremely confidential. Thus, you must exercise all your efforts to protect it from other people’s knowledge. Aside from this, the SSA also protects your number as well as all your other personal information. Various measures are implemented by this agency to ensure that no other person can use your number to perform any illegal activity.
Here are some ways on how these individual get along with their fraudulent acts:
Lost wallets or mails that contains information regarding your Social Security identity and other financial statements Stealing secret information after your transaction with an unsecured website Searching for possible information about you in your trash cans Pretending to be someone in need of vital information about you Obtaining such information from someone whom you legitimately transacted with
Always remember, to avoid these problems, protect your card and number at all times. Be aware that these stealers are always on stand by waiting for their chance to do their fraudulent acts.
If needed, show your card only to those rightful persons and keep it on a safe place where nobody except your family can have access to it. Carrying your card is not recommendable for there is a chance that you may lose it.
Now if someone has been using your Social Security identity, the best thing to do is to report the incident to the police authorities as soon as possible. You may also call on your credit card company so that they may be able to deny further transactions made in your account.
Moreover, you may consult a competent a Social Security lawyer for proper guidance and assistance on how to incriminate those identity thieves. A credible advocate with vast experience in handling these types of cases may also let you recover your losses.
In searching for the appropriate lawyer to handle your Social Security cases, it is very important that you only pick an advocate who has a wide range of knowledge and credible experience in winning claims. Therefore, you must closely look on his background before hiring his services.
Several law firms and private practitioners offer these types of legal services. Yet, you may only get the most out of your case with those who specialize in this field. Appointing the right people then, would mean better chances of a successful result.
SSI fraud protection is not that hard to implement. You just have to follow certain precautionary measures and always care to understand all the steps to follow in case you have encountered it.
Posted By Administrator
Business Activity Statements (BAS) are used by business’s to report and pay a number of tax obligations, including GST, Pay As You Go (PAYG) instalments, PAYG withholding and Fringe Benefits Tax. This is the ATO’s way of combining a range of taxes into one statement to make it easier for you to collect and report information and monies that are due to the ATO, making sure that none are forgotten.
The ATO will generally issue your activity statement around 2 weeks before the end of your reporting period. It will need to be completed and lodged by the due date which is set by the ATO, and any amounts owing will also need to be paid. It is important to keep a copy of your activity statement and the records used in the preparation of it for five years in case the ATO have any enquiries or choose to carry out an audit on your business and its books.
You activity statement is personalised to your situation and if your business has previously lodged a Business Activity Statement subsequent statements will include any options that you have previously included. Generally it will show the items that you need to report against, which could include:
o Goods and Services Tax (GST)
o PAYG Instalments
o PAYG Withholding
o Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT)
o Luxury Car Tax (LCT), and
o Fuel tax credits.
There are a number of ways that you can lodge your BAS. It can be lodged online, through your accountant, via mail or over the phone. If your BAS is not lodged on time you may be subject to a failure to lodge penalty (FTL). If you are late in lodging your BAS, for every 28 day period (or part of) that you failed to lodge you can be charged $110; however, you can not incur charges that exceed $550. NB: the penalty is x2 if your business turns over more than $1 million but less than $20 million, and x5 if you turnover more than $20 million.
If the BAS you submit contains information that is not correct, the least you will be charged – in the case of a genuine mistake, is general interest on the underpaid tax or extra credit received. If however, the mistake was attributable to carelessness or purposefully ignoring the law, you will be charged a penalty based on a percentage of the shortfall amount in question – the exact percentage charged will be dependent on the reason for the incorrect amount.
Important Dates:
You can lodge your BAS either monthly, quarterly, or annually. The following is important dates you need to know in relation to the lodgement and payment of your BAS:
o Monthly: The 21st of every month for the period just gone.
o Quarterly: The 28th of the following months – October, February, April, and July. (In the case of a lodgement/payment being due on a weekend or public holiday, it is due by the next business day.)
o Annually: (pertaining to GST Return): Is sent out after the fourth quarter BAS, and needs to be lodged by either the 28 February, or before your yearly income tax return is due, whatever comes first.
Refunds:
The usual outcome of a BAS being processed is either a refund (from the ATO), or you will owe them money (in relation to your tax collections). When it comes to your refund, sometimes the ATO will keep some or all of it. Their basis for this can include:
o You have a previous outstanding tax debt owing to the ATO,
o Information provided in your BAS needs clarifying,
o You failed to nominate a bank for the payment to go to, or the information you gave the ATO regarding that account was incorrect,
o You forgot to lodge one of your BAS, etc.
In order to avoid late or incorrect lodgment and to ensure that you are getting the maximum tax that is legally due to you it is recommended that you have an accountant or tax agent prepare and submit your Business Activity Statements. This also gives you more time to worry about the day-to-day running and growth of your business.
Should you have any queries, require assistance with your Business Activity Statement or would like more information please contact The Quinn Group on 1300 QUINNS or click here to submit an online enquiry.
Posted By Administrator
Date: February 11th, 2010
If you are planning on starting a new business, doing so without the guidance of legal counsel can be biggest mistake you can ever make. If you don’t already have a lawyer representing you, you should obtain the services of a business lawyer who is well versed and experienced especially with regard to corporate matters and startup ventures.
If you are planning to start a new venture, a business lawyer with expertise and experience all of the fields affecting your business–such as labor or employment law, tax law, real estate law, banking and finance or intellectual property–would be your best bet. A business lawyer also helps you if you find yourself with a serious legal problem in the course of your business. A business lawyer helps in many areas from making business decisions to handling serious problems such as an injury caused by your product or an investigation by the SEC. If an inexperienced person handles these cases, he or she might cause serious harm to your business. Business lawyers play a critical role in several business activities, such as legal obligations and implications. If you are engaging in real estate acquisitions and dispositions, it is important to consult a business attorney. A business attorney can assist you with contractual drafting and negotiations as well as the acquisition and disposition of assets during a restructuring process. Thus, in every step of your business, right from setting up the venture to running it successfully, you need a business lawyer to help you take right decisions to run your business successfully without legal complications.
Finding a lawyer depends upon the state where you are running or planning to run a business. Since each state has its own code of law, it would be wise decision on your part to hire the services of a local lawyer well acquainted with the ins and outs of business law in the state.
To run a business in a state like New Jersey, which has strict business laws and norms, it is always safe to hire a well-experienced New Jersey business lawyer. Hiring an efficient lawyer is no easy task. It’s always good to seek references from relatives or friends, who can comment upon the lawyer’s track record and capability. Seeking a reference through the state bar of New Jersey is also a good idea. Setting or running a business venture is no easy game, so take the first right step by hiring the right lawyer, to move ahead towards growth and success.
Posted By Administrator
Are you underpaid in your job and do not know what to do?
When this happens, you are certainly in a bad situation. Imagine you have been working very hard to ensure you receive your hard-earned salary or hourly wages but it turned out that it is beyond the minimum wage. Hence, the first thing that you may think of doing is to fight for your rights and demand for suitable compensation from your employer.
With this, you may put into consideration hiring a minimum wage claim attorney – an advocate to defend your cause.
Filing a minimum wage claim is not as easy as it seem. You need to have someone expert on the laws associated with Minimum Wage Law or other employment laws in order to have better chances of resolving the issue.
An employment attorney will help you file a wage claim against your employer. But in case you have not yet hired a legal advocate to assist you in filing your claim, you can do the following steps to improve your chances of getting the best recovery and legal remedies possible:
o Keep a detailed and complete record to support your wage claim. If you think that your pay is incorrect, acquire records that will indicate the number of hours you have spent in working. Any correspondence from your employer or bank regarding your pay will also do.
Also, have a list of all your expenses brought about by the premise that you have not been given due compensation.
o Secure important facts. Ask your employer the reasons why you are underpaid. This is to make sure that there has been no mistake in the computation of your wages. If you are a member of a union, you can seek your colleague’s help.
o Make a formal request with your employer. Exhaust remedies in accordance with your company policy. Be sure to keep a copy of said request.
o Plan your course of action.
o Consult an attorney.
Under the law, an employer is required to pay his/her employees with the minimum hourly, daily or monthly wage specified under it. When your employer fail to observe what the law provides, then you are given the right to file a minimum wage claim against him/her.
If your employer does not comply with the requirement, you are entitled to recover, in addition to penalty and attorney’s fees, the following:
o Unpaid salary, together with commissions and bonuses
o Wages paid by check issued with insufficient funds
o Last paycheck not received
o Unused vacation hours that were unpaid upon severance of the employment relationship, e.g., terminated, discharge, or layoff
o Unauthorized or illegal deductions from paychecks
o Unpaid or unreturned business expenses
o Failure to give a meal and/or rest period provided under the applicable Industrial Welfare Commission Order
Employees do have legal employment rights for as long as they are willing to insist on them and fight for them. Remember, your effort alone for fighting illegal employment practices may be inutile in comparison to the influence and machinery of your employer.
In times like this, you need to hire the best minimum wage claim attorney to uphold and protect your rights at all times and without any delays.
For any legal concerns regarding any Labor Law violations, do log on to our website and seek the aid of our credible and experienced Employment attorneys.