vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Cash is king. PIN-based debit transactions are cheap. In terms of credit cards, a regular (ie. not a gold card) with no rewards has the lowest rates.  Bigger merchants with lots of card volume likely have better deals that make the differences less pronounced.
In such a situation, is there any reason, financial or not, to NOT pay   as many points as mortgage seller allows? I can think of a few reasons not to buy points, in the scenario you described: If interest rates decrease you could be better off refinancing to a lower rate than buying points now. If buying points reduced your down payment below 20% then the PMI would more than offset the benefit of having purchased points. Your situation changes and you aren't able to stay in the home as long as planned.  That said, current interest rates are pretty low, so I'd probably gamble on them not getting too much lower anytime soon. I also assume that if you can afford as many points as they allow, that you wouldn't have to dip below 20% down payment even with points. Edit: Others have mentioned that it's important to note opportunity cost when calculating the benefit of purchasing points, I agree, you wouldn't want to buy points at a rate that saved you less than you could earn elsewhere. Personally, I've not seen a points scenario that didn't yield more benefit than market average returns, but that could be due to my market, or just coincidence, you should definitely calculate the benefit for your scenario and shop for a good lender. Don't forget that points are tax deductible in the year paid when calculating their benefit.
Credit cards are a basic building block of a stable financial plan.  By using a credit card for every purchase above, say, the price of a coffee you gain a number of material benefits.  You get the free use of the bank's money for about a month.  You reduce the amount of cash you require to almost nothing.  You get a handy budget tracking tool as many credit cards help you assign categories to expenses.  You can typically download your transactions and import them into a budget app for handy record keeping.  Many cards offer benefits such as extended warranties on items purchased, travel insurance, reward points and other benefits. There is only one caveat: Pay the entire balance, in full, every month, on or before the due date.  Don't even THINK about paying anything less and don't EVER be late.
"Assuming you are talking about an LLC in the United States, there are no tax repercussions on the LLC itself, because LLCs use pass-through taxation in the U.S., meaning that the LLC does not pay taxes. Whatever you take out of the LLC in the form of distributions goes onto your personal income tax as ordinary income, and you pay personal income tax on it.  See this link on the subject from the Nolo.com web site: Tax treatment of an LLC from the Nolo.com web site Repayment of your loan by the LLC would just be another business expense for the business itself.  I guess the question would then turn on what your personal tax repercussion would be for payments received from the LLC on the loan.  I would guess (and I emphasize ""guess"") that you would pay tax on any interest gain from the loan payments, which makes the assumption you made the loan to include interest.  If not (in other words, if you made this an interest-free loan) then it would be considered a wash for tax purposes and you would have no tax liability for yourself. To reiterate, the LLC (if it is a U.S.. entity) does not pay taxes.  Taxation of LLC income is based on whatever distributions the principals take out of it, which is then claimed as taxable personal income. My apologies to littleadv for not making my prior answer (I deleted it) more clear about my answer assuming you were speaking of a U.S.-chartered LLC. I hope this helps. Good luck!"
You can use it for medical expenses even if you don't have a high deductible policy. It can cover prescriptions, copays, deductibles, co-insurance, dentist, orthodontics... As long as it is being used for an approved medical expense there is no tax or penalty.  Yes it doesn't save you on the monthly service charges but it does allow you to cut your medical expenses for a while.
A search quickly led to http://www.cardfellow.com/blog/debit-card-credit-card-difference-charges/ which shows the difference in merchant fees charged. A $200 charge costs $3.50-$3.60, a debit charge, $2.34-$2.39 but a PIN Debit, $1.87. The debit cards are a full percent less cost to the merchant, so the money collected is less to use for rewards. (I can't help but wonder how my card gives me 2% cash back, no fee, when I never pay interest.)
One thing that has not been pointed out as a disadvantage of using Credit Cards:  people tend to spend more.  You can see This Study, and this one, plus about 500 others.  On average people tend to spend about 17% more with credit cards then with cash.  This amount dwarphs any perks one gets by having a credit card.   The safest way to use one is to only use them for purchases where you cannot make a decision to spend more.  One example would be for utility bills (that don't charge a fee) or at the gas pump. Using them at Amazon might have you upgrade your purchase or add some extra items.  Using them at restaurants might encourage you to order an extra drink or two.  Using them at the coffee shop might have you super size your coffee or add a pastry.   Of course this extra spending could lead you into a debt cycle exacerbating the financial hit many struggle with.  Please tread carefully if you decide to use them.
Yes, for a credit card, payments in excess of the minimum will go toward principal. This is not always the case with a mortgage, where prepayments of extra principal need to be explicitly stated.
quid has expressed some of the disadvantages with this approach, but there is another. Vendors will not want to give you any goods you buy with your credit card until they are sure they will get the money. With your suggested approach buying something with a credit card now looks like: No vendor is going to stand for this for even moderate sized transactions, so in reality they will just decline your card if you have this facility enabled.
Cash back from credit cards is handled separately than the rest of the purchase, i.e. interest begins accumulating on that day, and likely at a higher rate, and usually comes out of a lower limit than the credit allotted to that card. Given all these differences, and the obvious revenue-generation situation for the lender, it makes sense for them to give the store an incentive, rather than penalize them further, for the use of such a feature.  Note: I am not privy to the inner-workings or agreements between large stores and credit lenders, so I cannot guarantee any of this.
"In the end, all these fees hurt the average consumer, since the merchant ultimately passes cost to consumer. Savvy consumers can stay at par or get ahead, if they put in the effort. It's a pain, but I rotate between 4 cards depending on time of year and type of purchase, to optimize cash back. My cards are:  1. 5% rewards card on certain categories, rotates each quarter 2. 2% travel/dining card (fee card, but I travel a bunch so it's worth it, no foreign transaction fees) 3. 1.5% rewards card for everything else 4. Debit card (swiped as a CC) for small purchases (i.e. lunches) at credit union for ""enhanced"" high interest checking account, requiring certain # swipes/month. This alone returns to me ~$800/yr."
As a sole proprietor, the tax liability of your business is calculated based on combining your business income with your personal income together.  It is good advice to keep all personal and business financial matters separate. This makes it easier to prove to the IRS that all your business expenses are actually business related. In this case however, the two items [tax payment for personal income vs tax payment for business income] are inseparable. What you can do, however, for your own personal records, is calculate how much of your tax payment relates to your business. I wouldn't get complicated about this; I would simply take the net income of your business as a % of your taxable income, and multiply that against your tax payment. ie: if your business net income is $10,000, and your total taxable income is $50,000, and you paid $6,000 in taxes, I would record that 20% of the $6k was related to business income. If you have a separate bank account for your sole proprietorship, you could make a transfer to your personal account of $1,200, and then make the $6k payment from your personal account. Remember that tax payments for either your sole proprietorship and your personal income will be treated the same: federal tax payments are not tax deductible, and state tax payments are tax deductible, whether they were paid for your sole proprietorship or the rest of your personal income. So even though this method is simplistic [for example, it doesn't factor in that different investment income types earned personally will have a lower rate than your sole proprietorship income], any difference wouldn't have an impact on any future tax liability. This would only be for your own personal record keeping.
"In the UK, using a credit card adds a layer of protection for consumers. If something goes wrong or you bought something that was actually a scam, if you inform the credit card company with the necessary documents they  will typically clear the balance for that purchase (essentially the burden of 'debt' is passed to them and they themselves will have to chase up the necessary people). Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act  I personally use my credit card when buying anything one would consider as  ""consumer spending"" (tvs, furniture ect). I then pay off the credit card immediately. This gives me the normal benefits of the credit card (if you get cashback or points) PLUS the additional consumer credit protection on all my purchases.  This, in my opinion is the most effective way of using your credit card."
"Until the CARD act, credit card rules required that merchants had no minimum purchase requirement to use a card. New rules permit a minimum but it must be clearly posted.  Update - Stores can now refuse small credit card charges is an excellent article which clarifies the rules. It appears that these rules apply to credit, not debit cards. So to be clear - the minimum do not apply to the OP as he referenced using a debit card.  ""Superiority""? Hm. I'd be a bit embarrassed to charge such small amounts. Although when cash in my wallet is very low, I may have little choice. Note, and disclaimer, I am 48, 30 years ago when I started using cards, there were no POS machines. Credit card transactions had a big device that got a card imprint and the merchant looked up to see if your card was stolen in a big book they got weekly/monthly. Times have changed, and debit cards may be faster, especially if with cash you give the cashier $5.37 for a $2.37 transaction, but the guy entered $5 already. This often takes a manager to clear up."
I would suggest opening a new account (credit card and bank) for just your business. This protects you in multiple ways, but is no bigger burden for you other than carrying another card in your wallet.  Then QB can download the transactions from your website and reconciling is a cinch. If you got audited, you'd be in for a world of pain right now.  From personal experience there are a few charges that go unnoticed that reconciling finds every month at our business.  We have a very strict process in place, but some things slip through the cracks.
https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/GST/ Some of the costs are indeed related to the conversion rate, which, as we all know,changes daily. You don't say whether you're using a credit card. If so, some cards do charge foreign transaction fees; some do not. However, Australia, like many European countries, does use a VAT system. Therefore your charges will be increased. Please be aware that these taxes are built into the economic system. In many cases, you van apply for and receive a waiver to be reimbursed if the purchase is made through a duty free store.
Nope. Or at least, if it were possible the company offering such a credit card would quickly go out of business. Credit card companies make money off of fees from the merchants the user is buying from and from the users themselves. If they charged no fees to the user on cash advances and, in fact, gave a 3% back on cash advances, then it would be possible for a user to: The company would lose money until they stopped the loophole or went out of business.
A credit balance can happen any time you have a store return, but paid the bill in full. It's no big deal. Why not just charge the next gas purchase or small grocery store purchase, to cycle it through?  Yes - unused cards can get canceled by the bank, and that can hurt your credit score. In the US anyway. I'm guessing it's the same system or similar in Canada.
If a business tool has a limited lifespan, it's value decreases (depreciates) from year to year. The business can capture that loss of value on some things that it couldn't otherwise write off as expenses. A few tools can be either expenses or depreciated, but only one of those can be chosen for that particular object. This is generally not relevant for individual taxpayers, unless you can show that the item is being used for income-producing purposes.
My view is from the Netherlands, a EU country. Con: Credit cards are more risky. If someone finds your card, they can use it for online purchases without knowing any PIN, just by entering the card number, expiration date, and security code on the back. Worse, sometimes that information is stored in databases, and those get stolen by hackers! Also, you can have agreed to do periodic payments on some website and forgot about them, stopped using the service, and be surprised about the charge later. Debit cards usually need some kind of device that requires your PIN to do online payments (the ones I have in the Netherlands do, anyway), and automated periodic payments are authorized at your bank where you can get an overview of the currently active ones. Con: Banks get a percentage of each credit card payment. Unlike debit cards where companies usually pay a tiny fixed fee for each transaction (of, say, half a cent), credit card payments usually cost them a percentage and it comes to much more, a significant part of the profit margin. I feel this is just wrong. Con: automatic monthly payment can come at an unexpected moment With debit cards, the amount is withdrawn immediately and if the money isn't there, you get an error message allowing you to pay some other way (credit card after all, other bank account, cash, etc). When a recent monthly payment from my credit card was due to be charged from my bank account recently, someone else had been paid from it earlier that day and the money wasn't there. So I had to pay interest, on something I bought weeks ago... Pro: Credit cards apparently have some kind of insurance. I've never used this and don't know how it works, but apparently you can get your money back easily after fraudulent charges. Pro: Credit cards can be more easily used internationally for online purchases I don't know how it is with Visa or MC-issued debit cards, but many US sites accept only cards that have number/expiration date/security code and thus my normal bank account debit card isn't useable. Conclusion: definitely have one, but only use it when absolutely necessary.
"There are benefits associated with a cash only business (the link states a few). However checks made out to ""cash"" don't reap those benefits listed. For anyone on SE to say your barber hides revenue from the IRS would just be speculation.  With that said there are a great number of disadvantages for a cash only business. And from my experience, a business that goes out of their way to take cash only can be a little suspicious. Luckily you are not committing any crimes or fraud by paying her cash."
Neither. Keep in mind that while you're on a payment plan with the IRS, you pay much lower interest than what you'd pay for a credit card debt. I suggest sticking to your payment plan and paying it off without incurring additional debt or rolling it over to credit cards.
Systems to research that may help you out: Less Accounting and Wave are great because they can import data from banks / credit cards. I know you said your bank doesn't export it but it seems like something as a small business you would want.
"The difference between the provincial/territorial low and high corporate income tax rates is clear if you read through the page you linked: Lower rate The lower rate applies to the income eligible for the federal small   business deduction. One component of the small business deduction is   the business limit. Some provinces or territories choose to use the   federal business limit. Others establish their own business limit. Higher rate The higher rate applies to all other income.    [emphasis mine] Essentially, you pay the lower rate only if your income qualifies for the federal small business deduction (SBD).  If you then followed the small business deduction link in the same page, you'd find the SBD page describing ""active business income"" from a business carried on in Canada as qualifying for the small business deduction.  If your corporation is an investment vehicle realizing passive investment income, generally that isn't considered ""active business income."" Determining if your business qualifies for the SBD isn't trivial — it depends on the nature of your business and the kind and amount of income it generates.  Talk to a qualified corporate tax accountant. If you're looking at doing IT contracting, also pay close attention to the definition of ""personal services business"", which wouldn't qualify for the SBD.  Your accountant should be able to advise you how best to conduct your business in order to qualify for the SBD.  Don't have a good accountant?  Get one.  I wouldn't operate as an incorporated IT contractor without one. I'll also note that the federal rate you would pay would also differ based on whether or not you qualified for the SBD.  (15% if you didn't qualify, vs. 11% if you qualify.)   The combined corporate income tax rate for a Canadian-controlled private corporation in Ontario that does qualify for the small business deduction would be 11% + 4.5% = 15.5% (in 2013). Additional reading:"
The interest on a loan secured by a rental property is not deductible at all. The interest on a loan used to buy (or improve) the rental property is deductible, regardless of where you got it from (you can take money from your credit card to buy a rental - it will be deductible). The deductability is per the use of the money, not the source, with the cash-out up to 100K from your primary residence being the notable exception.
"The mortgage tax deduction can at most apply to two mortgages. IRS Publication 936 lays this out pretty clearly. There might be other deductions available if you are using the houses as a commercial entity, but that's more ""corporate taxes"" than ""personal taxes"". I know there are tax laws for dealing with interest, depreciation, capital expenses that businesses use."
By contrast, if you pay $750 at the start of the month, then add $100 back every 6 days so that you spend $500 over the course of the cycle. You will have an average daily balance of $4466.67, which results in $44.67 in interest charges being accrued at the end of the month. This gives you a balance of $4794.67 going into the next cycle, putting you about $3 ahead of the previous method. Push this pattern out for a year and your ending balance is 2395.86, with 395.86 going to interest. Resulting in a savings of ~$36 over making the smaller payment and paying cash for your other expenses. If this happens to be a rewards card, you also have gained whatever rewards benefit it gives you. This demonstrates that by the strict numbers game, the scenario you propose should come out a small but measurable distance ahead of making a smaller payment in order to avoid putting things back on the card. So why do so many people adamantly advise you to not do this? Most of it has to do with psychology and risk. The cash method does not leave any room for you to over spend. You have shredded or locked up the credit card so it can’t be used casually, and when you run out of cash, you can’t spend any more. Which forces you to pay much closer attention to where your money is going. When you are running things through the credit card, you generally don’t have that hard stop unless you are up against your credit limit, and even then most issuers are quite happy to let you go over and charge you extra fees for doing so. So if you have this plan where you are intending to put $500 on the card in a month, then lose track of something you did early in the month, and inadvertently spend $800, you are digging yourself deeper into the hole instead of climbing your way out. There is also a risk in terms of income loss. In the cash method, you no longer have the money to spend, and you are forced to make the hard decisions about where to allocate what you do have, making you much more likely to cut back on luxury items to preserve the necessities.
There are several reasons why credit cards are popular in the US: On the other hand, debit cards do not have any of these going for them.  A debit card doesn't make much money for the bank unless you overdraw or something, so banks don't have incentive to push you to use them as much.  As a result they don't offer rewards other benefits. Some people say the ability to spend more than you have is a downside of a credit card.  But it's really an upside.  The behavior of doing that when it isn't needed is bad, but that's not the card's fault, it's the users'.  You can get a credit card with a very small limit if this is an issue for you. The question I find interesting is why debit cards are more popular in your home country.  I can't think of any advantage they offer besides free cash back.  But most people in the US don't use cash much either.  I have to think in your home country the banks have a different revenue model or perhaps your country isn't as eager to offer tons of easy credit to everyone as the US is.
Credit card companies charge merchants for accepting their cards.  They'll take their cut and give you some of the fee back as a reward.   So, in reality merchants have increased their prices to accommodate for the credit card processing fees. The credit card takes a bit of their fee and gives you back some of the money you wouldn't have spent if there were no fees for using a credit card.