Tax Refund

   In the United States, taxpayers will get a tax refund, a refund on their U.S. income tax, if the tax they owe is less than the sum of:  The total amount of refundable tax credits that they claim. The total amount of withholding that they paid.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, 77% of tax returns filed in 2004 received a refund check, with the average refund check being $2,100.  Taxpayers may choose to have their refund directly deposited into their bank account, have a check mailed to them, or have their refund applied to the following year's income tax.

  Every year, a number of U.S. taxpayers around the country get tax refunds even if they owe zero income tax. This is due to withholding calculations and the earned income tax credit.  Because withholding is calculated on an annualized basis, an individual just entering the work force or unemployed for a long period of time will have more tax than is owed withheld.

  Refund anticipation loans are a common means to receive a tax refund early, but at the expense of high fees that can reach over 200% annual interest. In the 1990's, refunds could take as long as twelve weeks to come back to the taxpayer; however, the average time for a refund is now six weeks, with refunds from electronically filed returns coming in three weeks.

 Some people believe that getting a large tax refund is not the greatest thing; that instead, it represents a loan paid back by the government interest-free. Optimally, a return should result in a payment owed of just less than would cause a penalty charge, which is 100% of the prior year's tax (110% for high income individuals), 90% of the current year's tax, or $1,000 for individuals who have direct withholding and do not pay estimated tax). However, some people use the tax refund as a simple "savings plan" where they're pleasantly surprised to get money back each year (even though it is excess money that they paid earlier in the year). Another argument is that it is better to get a refund rather than to owe money, because in the latter case one might find oneself without sufficient money in the checking account to pay the necessary payment. When properly filled out, the Form W-4 will withhold approximately the correct amount of tax to eliminate a refund or amount owed, assuming the W-4 was filled out at the beginning of the tax year.


 

   Income tax is a tax on earnings –

   Money that individuals, corporations, trusts or other legal entities receive in different ways and from different sources.

   The 'tax net' refers to what types of money payments are charged the tax. Generally, tax will be charged on personal earnings (wages), capital gains, and business income. The rates for different types of income may vary and some may not be taxed at all. Capital gains may be taxed when realised (e.g. when shares are sold) or when incurred (e.g. when shares appreciate in value). Business income may only be taxed if it is ‘significant’ or based on the manner in which it is paid. Some types of income, such as interest on bank savings, may be considered as personal earnings (similar to wages) or as a realised property gain (similar to selling shares). In some tax systems ‘personal earnings’ may be strictly defined to require that labour, skill, or investment was required (e.g. wages); in others they may be defined broadly to include windfalls (e.g. gambling wins).

  Tax rates may be progressive or flat. A progressive tax taxes differentially based on how much has been earned. For example, the first $10,000 in earnings may be taxed at 5%, the next $10,000 at 10%, and any more income at 20%. Alternatively, a flat tax taxes all earnings at the same rate. A tax system may use both progressive and flat taxes for different types of income.

  Often income tax systems will have deductions available. Deductions lessen the total tax liability by reducing total taxable income. Income tax systems may allow losses from one type of income to be counted against another. For example, a loss on the stock market may be deducted against taxable wages. Other tax systems may isolate the loss, such that business losses can only be deducted against business tax, by carrying forward the loss to later tax years.

   Income tax is often collected on a pay-as-you-earn basis, with small corrections made soon after the end of the tax year. These corrections take one of two forms: payments to the government, for taxpayers who have not paid enough during the tax year; and tax refunds from the government for those who have overpaid.

An entrepreneur (a loanword from French introduced and first defined by an Irish economist named Richard Cantillon) is a person who undertakes and operates a new enterprise or venture and assumes some accountability for the inherent risks. Entrepreneurship is often difficult, as many new ventures fail. In the context of the creation of for-profit enterprises, entrepreneur is often synonymous with founder.

Most commonly, the term entrepreneur applies to someone who establishes a new entity to offer a new or existing product or service into a new or existing market, whether for a profit or not-for-profit outcome.

Business entrepreneurs often have strong beliefs about a market opportunity and are willing to accept a high level of personal, professional or financial risk to pursue that opportunity. Business entrepreneurs are often highly regarded in U.S. culture as critical components of its capitalistic society.
 

Want to "be your own boss," "work from home," or just "make extra money"? Then you may be tempted by an ad for a business opportunity. Before you open your checkbook, check out the offer. Fraudulent business opportunity promoters use the classifieds and the Internet to tout all kinds of offers, from pay phone and vending machine routes to work-at-home businesses like medical billing and envelope stuffing. Too often, these ads make promises - about earnings, locations, merchandise, or marketability - that sound great, but aren't truthful. The result: consumers are getting ripped off, losing money instead of making it.