Canadians Beware of California Community Property Rules
Canadians find many things in California to be foreign, like the sun, surf and In-N-Out Burgers.
But when it comes to Canadians who have family in California, or who spend considerable time in the Golden State, California’s community-property laws make Canadians realize just how foreign the state can be.
As we’ve discovered over the years, California tax laws and the concept of community property are foreign to Canadians and their Canadian tax preparers. While many Canadians are aware that California taxes its residents on worldwide income, few truly understand the complex interplay of California’s tax and community-property laws on California tax filings.
We’ve seen many Canadians and their Canadian tax advisers incorrectly prepare California tax returns by not taking into account Canadian-sourced income on a California non-resident return, or by failing to apply California community property laws.
Since California’s community property laws are fairly complicated, this article will be the first in a series of articles explaining how the state’s laws apply to Canadians who are living or working there.
To start, California is one of only nine U.S. states that is a community-property state. Texas, Arizona and Nevada are among the others.
In a nutshell, California defines community property as any asset acquired by, or income earned by, a married person. As a result, California considers property and income derived during a marriage to be owned 50/50 between the spouses. Any property or income not considered community property is treated as separate property.
California community-property rules have a profound effect on the federal and California tax returns for Canadians who are domiciled in the state. This is especially true when spouses have different domiciles—where, for example, one spouse is domiciled in California while the other is domiciled in Canada.
Because community-property laws only apply to taxpayers domiciled in California, this first article will discuss the concept of California domicile.
Domicile is a legal term of art. As such, there is no bright-line testthat defines when a person is domiciled in California. This is different from how the IRS uses an objective test to determine residency for federal tax purposes.
Instead, for California tax purposes, domicile is defined as the place where an individual has their true, fixed, permanent home and principal establishment, and to which they intend to return after being absent.Another way to look at: You are a resident of the place where you live, and you are domiciled in the place to which you intend to return. Therefore, the question of domicile boils down to a taxpayer’s intention as demonstrated by the taxpayer’s actions.
Most people would think that where you reside is where you are domiciled. In most cases, this is absolutely true. For Canadians facing cross-border issues, however, “residence” and “domicile” do not necessarily mean the same thing. While a person can have several places of residence, such as Toronto and Los Angeles, they can only have one domicile.
When assisting Canadians with their California domicile determination, we apply the following factors to determine a taxpayer’s intention for maintaining a California domicile:
- Is the taxpayer on a temporary work assignment in California?
- Where is the taxpayer employed?
- Where is the taxpayer’s immediate family located?
- Where does the taxpayer vote?
- Where does the taxpayer own property?
- How long did the taxpayer live in California?
- Where does the taxpayer have their business and social ties?
California maintains a rebuttable presumption (an assumption that something is true unless someone proves otherwise)that someone living in the state for at least nine months out of the year is presumed to be domiciled in the state. On the other hand, if someone is in California for less than six months in a calendar year, California presumes the person is a not domiciled in the state. In cases where a Canadian is spending considerable time in California, such as working for Google on a TN visa, the community property rules would not apply if the Canadian still maintains a domicile in Canada.
Generally, a Canadian in California working on a temporary visa is probably domiciled in Canada. As such, income earned in California is not community property. Conversely, a Canadian who obtains a green card and moves to California is very likely to be subject to community property rules.
A little-known exception to applying community property rulesfor federal tax purposesapplies when a Canadian is filing a dual-status federal return. In this case, the community property rules do not apply during the period of residency in a dual-status year. Therefore, for federal tax purposes, income earned is treated as separate property.Unfortunately, California does not conform to this exception for California tax purposes.
One situation we often run into illustrates the impact of California community property laws well. In this situation, a Canadian spouse is working in Canada and the other spouse is working in California.
For example, George is a Canadian television personality who exclusively works in Canadaon a popular hockey program. George owns a home in Toronto where he lives while working in Canada. He’s married to an American, and they own a house together in Venice Beach, Calif. George files a Form 1040NR under the Canada-U.S. tax treaty,and his wife filesa Form 1040 with a married-filing-separately status. George’s wife only works in California. On a regular basis, George makes trips to Los Angeles to be with his wife, andhe spends the offseason in Los Angeles.
Although George lives and works in Toronto, he still maintains a home for his family in California. And his regular trips to Los Angeles demonstrate that California is where he intends to return when able to do so. Therefore, George and his wife are considered to be domiciled in California, and are subject to worldwide taxation as California residents.
Consequently, George’s Canadian income is considered community-property income, and his wife would have to pay federal and California tax on her 50% share of George’s out-of state earnings.
Marc Gedeon is a CPA (U.S), CPA (Canada) and Tax Attorney at Cardinal Point, a cross-border wealth management organization with offices in the United States and Canada. Marc specializes in providing Canada-U.S. cross-border financial, tax, transition, and estate planning services. www.cardinalpointwealth.com This piece is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal or tax advice. Online readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel.
5 Things to Promote on Your Website!
I have been an affiliate marketer since 2011,but only full-time since January 1,2016. I have noticed one of the things that holds many people from progressing besides finding a niche is Not knowing what to promote on their website.
Don’t worry about what to sell,finding your niche should be your first goal. Once you establish your niche finding what to promote is easy. Without identifying a niche,they can’t really pin point the right products to sell.
Read my Review about
Clickbank University
Find what your niche crowd needs (products that solve problems) and give it to them. Once you do find what they like or want,try to sell them for a fair price.
Say you came up with one awesome product to sell to your niche audience ,but there are two different affiliate programs selling the same product at different prices. If one affiliate program sold the product for $ 125 and another for $ 3,000. Which would you pick?
My opinion is that you should pick the $125 one because it gives your customer the same quality or service that the $ 3,000 does,that would make them happier.
If you would make $12.50 for promoting the cheaper one and $300 for promoting the more expensive one,if you only care about the $300 commission then you can call yourself a scammer.
If you bought something and found out you spent 5x the cost,I’m sure you would be mad as hell,customers don’t forget when they get screwed.
Sometimes you can sell more of the cheaper product.You end up selling more volume of the cheaper product which would add up making more people happy.
The 5 Different Things You Can Promote
1.)General affiliate marketing. This is how most websites monetize themselves,you will definitely always find something to promote.
Whether it’s a physical product or a digtal product or it can be services. You can sign up with most of the big affiliate networks such as Wealthy Affiliate,Maxbounty or Amazon for free.
Find the product you want to sell or promote get the affiliate link and begin selling it on your website.
Read my post Top 4 Affiliate Marketing Programs
2.)Sell your own services/products. If you have the knowledge to create and sell your own product or service that is comparable or better than what you see,you will be able to make money doing this.Two great examples is my Blog Comment Service and MakingCashOnline’s Social Media Management Service
You always want to go with a niche,because if you are credible it’s very easy to make your product.
Example If you’re a public speaker you can sell advice about that through your
website.
3.)Affiliate marketing,just on a more local level.Instead of doing business with big networks like Amazon,you do it with a business close to your local area who will compensate you adequately.
I would recommend you be highly educated in social media marketing,this would increase your chances of finding employment with top tier companies online.
4.)Ads. This is sort of like local marketing,but instead you host businesses on your page and promote them.
5.Just collect leads and don’t sell anything yet! Anything you do decide to promote later,whether it’s services or products Collect an email list and do the other 4 things I told you about not through your website,but through the list you will accumulate.
In Conclusion:
There’s no such thing as not having something to sell or promote.
In the 5 ideas above,I have given you thousands of ways to make money online,let me know how they work out and if you have some suggestions let me know.
http://makingbigcashonline.com/
Medicinal Herbs Can Prolong Your Erections
One of the most common sexual issues that affect men is erectile dysfunction. In this condition, men are unable to erect fully or for a sufficient time. The result of this is that sex becomes difficult or unsatisfactory. In order to have successful intercourse that is also enjoyable, it is important for the penis to erect fully and stay hard for some time. However, some people may find this difficult because their penis fails to stay firm and they are unable to experience proper erections.
Erectile dysfunction has a lot of negative effects, both immediate and long-term. The immediate effects are that it can prevent a person from pursuing an active sex life. On the other hand, it can have an effect on a person’s relationship with their partner or spouse and may even lead to dissolution of the relationship in the long run.
In order to fix this problem, there are many erectile dysfunction products on the market. However, most of them are over-the-counter drugs that are not only full of chemicals but can also lead to unpleasant side effects. For this reason, it is important to look for a treatment option that is safe for use by all men with this condition.
The best option for those who want chemical-free products without any side effects are medicinal herbs. As the name suggests, these are herbs that have healing properties. Apart from the fact that they are all-natural, these medicines are also effective. This is because they contain potent ingredients that help men to recover from erectile dysfunction the natural way. With this treatment option, you will not have to worry about side effect risks because there are none whatsoever.
How exactly do these medicines work? Well, medicinal herbs increase nitric oxide in the body and increase the flow of blood to the penile shafts. This helps to give the penile tissues essential nutrients that increase firmness. This also allows the penis to erect fully whilst the extra nutrients helps the tissues to remain stretched for longer periods. The result of this is that the penis no longer loses its hardness and it is able to stay erect throughout a love-making session.
That is not all. Medicinal herbs also help men to gain control over their ejaculation. Thus, they can delay ejaculation if the need arises. This helps them to reach climax with their partners and enjoy intimate moments to the fullest. So if you notice that you ejaculate early even though your erections are hard, then you may need to try this treatment method. This is because it has so many benefits and can help you fix multiple problems at the same time.
Apart from this, these medicines also help to increase the stamina of men so that they can stay in bed longer. It is no secret that low energy levels can prevent some people from having sex regularly. Most people get tired and experience low levels of energy after a busy day. For them, sex becomes a burden instead of a pleasurable activity. For this reason, stamina is an important part of an active sex life. Medicinal herbs can help men regain their vigor and be able to lead a sexually active lifestyle.
Low sex drive is also another problem that men with erectile dysfunction face. Sometimes, the lack of libido can hinder their erections. They may not feel aroused and have no desire for sex. Instead of using chemical products, you should try medicinal herbs. These medicines are natural aphrodisiacs that help to increase sensitivity and enjoyment. Not only will you be able to experience quick arousal but you will also want to have sex more often.
Tips to consider while finding a Caterer in Kolkata
Tips to consider while finding a Caterer in Kolkata
Kolkata is one the most traditional area in West Bengal India. Most of the people re Banglai. Here wedding is not just wedding. Here, this is much more! A whole wedding ceremony takes 7-15 days to get completed. Can you just imagine? Yes, that is their culture.
The meaning of Wedding is a lot of fun, joke, events, musical show and also a lot of traditional culture. These things are truly depending on the event management system. Your whole occasion can be ruined if your caterer is not experienced. So it is really very important to know some great tips before you hire a catering company for your occasion.
Let me share with you some tips you need to consider before hiring a catering company in Kolkata:
- Ask your recently married friend or other relative about which caterer they have hired for their ceremony.
- Ask them about what mistakes their caterer done. This is very important because if you know their mistakes then you can concern your caterer company about the mistakes before you order.
- Find out:
- a) Number of guests they had, the venue, and menu items
- b) Was the meal tasty, well presented, and served hot?
- c) How was the service and table-clearing? and
- d) Were there any surprises on the final menu or final bill?
These steps you must need to ensure from their previous experience.
- Make sure the Caterer you hire have enough reputation in your local area and they have done well before.
Remember, wedding or any type of ceremony do not happen again and again. If there remain any mistake, then this will take an effect for whole life. So be careful before you choose.
Are you from Kolkata India? Then you must take a look at our highly recommended Catering Service. Take a look at Subham Caterer in Kolkata. Check out menus and get cost effective services.
Let me know what you think about this post. Leave a comment below.
Motivated For Lifelong Fitness
Many of us who include in our life a regularly planned schedule for physical fitness understand the importance it has on our day-to-day lives and helps in making us look and feel better.
Those of us who do not find the time to include daily exercise in their life generally lack the motivation and therefore the discipline to get started no less keep up a regular fitness program.
When it comes to staying motivated to a life long fitness program, you have to know what the long-term rewards are to begin with. Without the internal drive and the vision of what being healthy as we age looks and feels like, following a fitness program will be more like work rather than a way to build and create a healthier body.
As we age, it becomes more important than ever to begin to get into a preventative state of mind when it comes to our health. All it takes is one major medical crisis to arise that can throw everything you have worked for into disarray.
And it generally is a medical problem that could have possibly been avoided in the first place had they taken a proactive approach when it comes to their health.
Obesity which is not only a problem in the US but is increasingly becoming a problem around the world for instance, is shortening the lives of many due to its associated problems that come with it such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and stroke for instance.
As we age, it is important to understand that it is not the quantity of life that is important but the quality of life that we desire to have. We can be proactive in increasing our odds that we will live with a higher quality of life as we age by taking the time each day to become physically fit.
Also by becoming physically fit through strength training, cardiovascular training and a stretching program, we feel better, look better and, our self-esteem increases which will lead to healthier and more productive days ahead.
If you for instance plan to stay active during your retirement years by taking on a new occupation part-time or start a business you have always dreamed about but didn’t have the time, then your health will be the determining factor whether you can move forward or not.
All the financial planning in the world will not help you if you develop chronic medical problems as you age due to not looking after your health earlier. The cost of healthcare is astronomical and, chronic diseases due to inactivity and poor eating habits can destroy the nest egg you worked so hard to achieve the way the current US healthcare system is set up.
Only you can control your destiny by taking the time to incorporate a healthy lifestyle into your daily routine which involves exercise, eating a low-fat, high protein diet and, getting adequate sleep each night.
Your health is your wealth, you cannot do anything in life without it.
Network Marketing Challenges
Network marketing is that method of selling and promoting products or services which makes exclusive use of a network of people to achieve their goals. The products are distributed through the network. They cannot be found in classic stores and in order to purchase them you have to become a member. Most members will just purchase products for their personal use only. Others, determined to make a living out of network marketing, will work hard to recruit other people and build themselves a strong down-line, which may give them a nice income level,even if they do not actively promote the business anymore.
Network marketing is also called multi-level marketing, because of the multiple levels of compensation within the sales force representatives. The more referrals a person brings into the network, the bigger their commissions will be. When their referrals bring other people in, the first ones will also get commissions on this new level. Compensation levels may go as deep as seven or even ten layers. This is the dream of every network marketer: to build a down-line of active and motivated people. That is where the true money is. However, in order to get to that point, one needs to work hard for many years without any real compensation and under the suspicious looks of their family and friends.
This is the biggest challenge of the network marketer: to overcome objections and suspicions of their loved ones. It is easier if both husband and wife are in the same business, but it is also more risky, as they will have all of their eggs in the same basket. Not to mention, the basket will be very fragile for a long while in the beginning of their journey, so it is certainly smarter that one of them keeps a job outside the network.
Suspicions may have a real basis, though, as many pyramid schemes presented and promoted themselves as MLM businesses. When they turned out to be fraudulent schemes, people turned themselves against all multi-level marketing businesses, without difference.Those empty network marketing schemes collapsed one after another, leaving most members of the network empty-handed. There were a few members, most likely the top ones, who made good money, but when the chain was broken, more than 90 percent of the participants had to suffer losses and live with that.
Independent, active and persuasive people have the best chance to put network marketing to good use and record levels of success unknown to the biggest majority. While, widely contested, network marketing is still a force today, with giant companies using it as their sole promotion method. Nevertheless, we can observe a shift in the way they do marketing. We now see television advertisements for network marketing businesses, we see ads in print, we see representative booths inside shopping centers and malls. Years ago, these practices were unknown to this type of business and it would have been crazy even to think that they could be employed to help distributors broaden their down-line network.
Keep Your Business Safe
In our business, we constantly get phone calls from scammers.
I believe it is important to share these stories and alert other business owners. Please read on, be aware and don’t fall in any of these or other scams. You will be targeted, there is no doubt, so keep up your guard and be vigilant.
One day we received an email from a gentleman who said he was in the UK.
He asked for a quote; a big order containing several hard hats, visors, safety goggles and fire hose reels, which are very heavy and bulky. Obviously we got very excited with the prospect of such a big sale.
I sent him a quote with the shipping costs to the UK using our usual delivery courier.
He asked if I would mind using another courier company, one that he had used many times before and offered good service at reasonable prices.
I said there shouldn’t be a problem.
He then asked if I could get a quote with his preferred shipping company and said he would pay for everything in one transaction, with his credit card. We would then have to pay the courier ourselves.
I didn’t think much of it and mostly, I wanted the sale. The quote for his suggested courier was cheaper than with our usual courier (still over AU$2,000). I remember thinking what a good find for future orders.
I sent him the information and he sent me the details of his credit card to process for the full amount of the purchase and shipping.
I processed the credit card and all went well. I contacted our suppliers and organised all the products we would need to fulfill the order the order. After about 3 days the money was available in our account, so I contacted the courier company and asked them to book the collection.
They instructed me to do a wire transfer to their account in Nigeria in order to confirm the booking. This rang many bells in my head. But I thought, well, the money is in our account, so what could happen?
I thought I was safe since the money was already in the account, but I had an uneasy feeling about doing a wire transfer to Nigeria. I decided to speak to a friend of mine whose husband also has an online store and asked for advice. Luckily I did so!
He told me that similar scammers approach him every now and then. He sells computers and printers, which are also heavy and bulky. He told me that the scammers want the money that you are paying for the shipping company. That nobody is likely to ever come to collect the goods because the shipping company is a bogus.
I was told that although the money was in our account, it was likely that the buyer had used a stolen credit card. Once the credit card owner would see the transaction and realise they hadn’t done it, they would contact their bank, which would in turn contact our bank and ultimately after a lengthy process, they will take the money back. I would be liable for it, unless the credit card owner had typed a pin or signed the credit card receipt, which he had not, as I took the card details from an email.
I contacted our bank and explained what was happening. They advised me to wait and said they would try to contact the other bank and check on that credit card and the payment. After a few days, they told me that the card had been reported stolen and that I should indeed refund the money.
Had I done the wire transfer to Nigeria, we would have lost over AU$2,000.
Be very wary of taking payments from credit cards over the phone or email, and even more wary to take payments from international credit cards. The onus is on you, unless the credit card owner types a pin or signs the credit card receipt.
If you research online, you will find more information on this.
This was by far the worst of all attempted scams we suffered, but by no means the only one…
People call us from all sorts of publications, asking if we would like to place an advert in their magazine.
They claim to be from the Firefighters Association, Ambulance NSW, Orphanages and all sorts of other publications who help people.
I always ask them to send me an email, with a link to their website, a hardcopy of the publication and information such as price and yearly distribution in writing. After literally dozens of calls from so many different publications, only one ever bothered following though and sending me a hard copy and some info. All others were scams.
Email scams are also rampant. We use a known company for our payment getaway.
Often there are emails pretending to be from our gateway company, our bank, all requiring urgent action. It always has a link and it asks you to click on that link. Don’t ever click on these links. It will take you to a bogus site, which will try to get your business details and create havoc.
Scams can be checked online, so if you are unsure, ask for their name and number and say you will call them beck in one hour or so. This should get rid of them if they are fakes anyway.
First Step to Take When Start a Business
I’ve been meeting a lot of people who are tired of their corporate jobs and are now thinking that maybe they want to work for themselves and open their own business. If you are exploring the idea of opening your own business, do you know what the first steps are?
You may think that you need to incorporate, get office or retail space, get employees, get financing, and get started right away. I take a different approach with my start-up business clients. I ask them first to tell me about their business idea.
Every business needs to make a product or offer a service that someone wants to pay money to buy. If you can’t say what your product or service is, then you can’t sell it to anyone. If you don’t know whether people will buy it, then you don’t have a business, you have a hobby. So, my recommendation is to first decide what your new business will sell and then find out whether people will buy it.
This means that you must do some market research about your product or service before you quit your corporate job. Your new product or service doesn’t have to be new or unique but you must figure out what you will be doing differently from other companies that will make people want to buy your product or service rather than theirs. You need to do some research about your competition, decide who you want to be the buyers of your product or service, and how you will differentiate yourself from other businesses who sell the same or similar product or service.
Or if you have an idea for a new product or service, talk to people you know and ask them if they would buy your product or service. You may find out that your perceived competition has bad customer service and that is an area on which you can build your marketing around. You may originally think that you want to sell to a certain segment of your town’s population but find out there aren’t enough of them to give you the income that you need. Or you can discover that your idea fills an unmet need in your area and people keep saying they would love to buy your product or service if it were available. That’s a great sign that you have a good idea for a new business.
Only by thinking through the product or service and its target market can you decide whether you should even start a business with that service or product. If you learn about some very successful start-ups, you will find out that sometimes the owners started in one direction and then moved into a completely different business.
Once you find your product or service, understand who your target customer is, and learn how much you can charge for your product or service, do you take the next steps to starting your business.