Bank finance articles and tips

Do you feel like you have few / limited / or no options in your tax situation? What would a tax consultant recommend if you could meet with one for an hour?

Perhaps you just received a CP 2000 letter. Or maybe you just received a lien or levy notice. The number of situations and questions you might pose to a tax consultant could vary in scope and complexity.

"Can I discharge my debt to the IRS in bankruptcy?"

"I don't have money to pay back taxes. What can I do?"

""I haven't kept (or have lost) good records? What do I do?"

"Will IRS take a payment plan?"....

In a recent deficit-reduction plan submitted to congress, the president has included a provision that would make it easier for debt collectors to call the personal cell phones of private citizens. If signed into law, this would allow debt collectors to aggressively pursue debtors by means that previously haven't been legal. Collectors would be allowed to call consumers' cell phones to collect money that's owed to the government, primarily in the form of student loans. This comes despite other legal measures to make it easier for individuals to consolidate and negotiate student loan payments. Though the plan is already unpopular, Obama's administration justifies the decision by arguing that it's necessary in an age when most people don't use landlines anymore....

Gold prices hit a new high above $1600 on Monday as a result of a powerful cocktail of economic uncertainty, difficult US deficit ceiling negotiations, European Union sovereign debt concerns and the threat of contagion to the banking sector.

Taken singly, the US debt ceiling impasse or the ongoing EU sovereign debt crisis would be sufficient to trigger a gold rally. But together, the affect on gold prices is even more bullish, as investors become wary of USD and EUR assets and seek a safe haven in gold. Based on this, we believe the bullion rally is likely to continue until tangible progress is made on relieving at least one of the sovereign debt issues.