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Wednesday, August 8, 2012

The Fucking Nanny Tax Rabbit Hole - Burton Family Jewels

Next week I will begin a doctoral program in Social Anthropology in pursuit of my dream to live a life of the mind, as it were. ?We have hired a nanny to care for Lil Zo while The Good Doctor and I do our respective thangs. Yet, what should have been a bittersweet transition out of domestic serfdom has become a Borgesian labyrinth of?bureaucracy.??

I spent the better part of yesterday fighting my way out of the rabbit hole that is Nanny Taxes, a term that a few weeks ago would have confounded me. I now know that by hiring a domestic worker The Good Doctor and I have for all intents and purposes become a business, and are therefor subject to pay Social Security, Medicare, and State Unemployment Taxes on all wages.?

Of course we could have opted to jip our rich, alcoholic, and abusive Uncle Sam out of his share of our paltry operation be we decided to go above board for a few reasons:

We ain't trying to get Wesley Sniped, Martha Stewarted or, God forbid, Daryl Strawberried.?
No one is coming out the woodwork during my wife's inevitable presidential bid talking bout tax evasion.?
Our nanny wants to someday start her own daycare and needs a valid employment record.

For these reasons we have decided to suck it up and perform our civic duty. When I close my eyes at night I will be comforted by the knowledge that I have helped finance the construction of?~~missiles~~ schools. And by being above board we can also receive tax benefits such as the Childcare Tax Credit or use of a tax-deferred Flexible Spending Account. We can only receive one of these benefits so we chose to max out an FSA at $6,000 because we'll save more in the end. ?

So yesterday, on my morning off from watching The Tyrant, during precious time that I could have spent watching Breaking Bad or galavanting around the neighborhood, I instead dutifully sat at my laptop and initiated a process that, 24 hours later would still have me sufficiently fucking pissed. .

Note: This is turning into an epic post and if you choose not to read beyond this point I understand. In fact, if you have made it to this point, or any other point on this blog I thank you.?I write what follows in the sincere hope that it is of some help to others trying to figure out how to pay Nanny Taxes (or maybe whether or not they want to pay them at all). If I knew then what I know now. . .?

If you're still here let me first add that I genuinely believe that the Federal Government doesn't really want people to pay Nanny Taxes. If they did they would make it as easy as possible. If someone were trying to hit me off with regular payments you best believe I would facilitate the hell outta dem shits, not make them jump through moving rings of fire, but I digress.?

Prove Legal Status: I downloaded an I-9 Form from the IRS website and will have the nanny fill it out on her first day to prove that she is legally eligible to work in the US. Okay, no big deal.
Have Nanny Fill Out IRS Form W-2 & W-3:?This should have been mentioned in the beginning of both tutorial documents. However, it was?buried?somewhere toward the bottom. One would think that you could just go online and simply download a W-2, especially since they provide you with a link.?Apparently, you cannot. In order to receive official W-2s you have to order them from the IRS and wait 7-10 business days for them to be snail mailed to you. You can also sign-up to have your employee fill them out online, but the process is exceedingly complicated.?
Figure Out How The Nanny Will Pay State & Federal Taxes: We're leaving that to her.
State Employment Tax: Here I had to go to my state's employment website (which sucks) and determine whether or not I have to pay this "FUTA" tax, which I do. But first I had to:

Register for a Username and Password on the website
Register as a business in the state.?
Enter my Federal Employer ID number which at this point I did not have because I did not get to that step yet.?
Wait for 7-10 business days to receive a packet in the mail telling me the tax rate that I must pay, when I can pay it, and how I can pay it.?

Apply for an Employer ID Number (EIN), then return to step 4.?

Figure Out Who Will Pay What Portion of Medicare and Social Security Tax: We decided to take on her share of Social Security and Medicare Tax as well as our own. This amounts to 13.3 percent of her pay. The figure is incorrectly represented as 15.3 in the first, "easy" guide.

Create A Payment Invoice: Microsoft Excel 101

Calculate The Nanny's Taxes: There are free Nanny Tax Calculators?but I couldn't get it to work to the point where I felt confident that it was actually correct. I calculated manually by moving the percentage decimal over two spaces and multiplying. If you don't know what I'm talking about quit reading and give up now. Unless your nanny gets paid a flat rate or always works the same hours you'll have to do this every pay period. After a few weeks I'm sure I'll be confident enough to use the calculator.?

Figure Out HOW You're Going To Pay The Damn Taxes.?

Ask your employer to withhold more federal income tax from your wages in 2012.
Ask the payer of your pension or annuity to withhold more federal income tax from your benefits.
Make estimated tax payments for tax year to the IRS: I chose this option because I thought it would be the most straight forward. How silly of me? I still have to fill out IRS Form 1040 ES?in order to accomplish this.?

Keep All Your Records

I would not at all be surprised if all the republicans who accuse Big Government of inefficiency came to that conclusion while trying to pay the nanny tax. I mean, hire a consultant from Paypal and make this shit simple.

At this point I'm somewhere in the ballpark of 85% done with this madness. For the record, there are a number of services that claim to do a lot of this stuff for you. I don't have any experience with them so I can't speak on it as they are too expensive for us.?

I guess most people that can afford a Nanny can afford to pay extra to make the process easier. Alas, we are not yet in that boat.??

Source: http://www.burtonfamilyjewels.com/2012/08/the-fucking-nanny-tax-rabbit-hole.html

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Dream Team romp sets up rivalry quarter-finals

US NBA stars routed Argentina 126-97 Monday to remain unbeaten and set up showdowns in Wednesday's Olympic quarter-finals, with the alluring chance of a US-Russia gold medal final on Sunday.

The Americans could meet Russia 40 years after a US squad lost to the Soviet Union in a controversial Olympic final where the last seconds were played three times before the Soviets won, the first US defeat in Olympic history.

"I'm up for that," US star Kobe Bryant said. "That would be something special."

Indeed. So bitter were the feelings that the US silver medals from 1972 remain unclaimed to this day.

But first, those top-seeded teams must navigate a difficult playoff road that begins Wednesday when the US multi-millionaire superstars face Australia, Argentina will meet Brazil, Russia will play Lithuania and Spain tests France.

The US Dream Team only led Argentina 60-59 at half-time before LeBron James ignited a 19-7 run to open the third quarter and the South Americans never recovered, the US squad stretching the lead as large as the final margin.

"We can be beat," US playmaker Kevin Durant said. "We have always got to come out in the third quarter and try to turn it on."

Durant scored 28 points, 17 in the third quarter, while James added 18 and Chis Paul had 17. NBA guard Manu Ginobili led Argentina with 16.

Spanish NBA stars blamed a fourth-quarter fade that led to an 88-82 loss to Brazil on nagging inconsistency, not a deliberate desire to lose in order to postpone a playoff matchup against the United States.

"This team always plays to win. Always," Spanish guard Jose Calderon of the NBA Toronto Raptors said. "We're never going to speculate about that. Never."

The controversy came in the wake of a badminton match-fixing scandal that saw eight women banished for not trying to win in order to avoid an early knockout-round match against a favoured duo that was upset in preliminaries.

But NBA Los Angeles Lakers big man Pau Gasol, who led Spain with 25 points, denied his squad was so hungry to avoid the US half of the playoff draw, which it did by losing.

"It doesn't matter who we play," Gasol said. "Right now it's not happening for us."

Spain fell to a Brazil side that lacked NBA Washington Wizards centre Nene Hilario, among the Olympic rebound and blocked shot leaders.

"We wanted to come out with a victory," Brazil's Larry Taylor said. "We can't worry about the future. This builds us lots of momentum but the road ahead is still going to be tough."

Lithuania claimed the last quarter-final berth by beating Tunisia 76-63, Renaldas Seibutis scored all 10 of his points in a late 13-3 run that broke a deadlock at 59-59 and sealed the African champions' fate.

Lithuania own a 4-3 edge in Olympic, world and European championship play against Russia, including an 86-79 triumph in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"Russia are the favourites," Lithuania's Mantas Kalnietis said. "We have to play as a team to stop (centre Andrei) Kirilenko but they have many options to shoot from outside. If we're going to win, we'll win it with our defence."

Australia inflicted Russia's first loss of the tournament when NBA guard Patrick Mills sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Boomers an 82-80 triumph, although it had no impact on either team's playoff seeding.

"Lithuania will be a very, very tough game," Russia's Sasha Kaun said. "They are playing tough basketball right now. It's going to be a battle. The winner goes home, so it's definitely going to be tough."

The Aussies will face the United States but they do so confidently after downing Russia.

"I don't think intimidation will play a factor in the next game," Mills said. "We will have self belief and go into the game confident we can win."

Nicolas Batum scored 23 points to power France over Nigeria 79-73. Batum scored nine points in a late 13-6 French run to break a 62-62 deadlock and hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining to seal the Africans' fate.

Britain defeated winless China 90-58 in a game between teams already eliminated from playoff contention. But it was Britain's first victory in Olympic group play after their 1948 men and this year's women went winless.

"It's huge. It's GB's first win ever at the Olympics. It's an incredible feeling to finally get that win," British forward Joel Freeland said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-nba-stars-rout-argentina-stay-unbeaten-230845824--nba.html

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Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Contest Winners: Sexy Beach photo contest, $117 (not billion) dollars, Plume, and tons of accessories!

iMore contest winners

If there's one thing iMore loves even more than iPhones and iPads, it's giving cool iPhone and iPad accessories and apps to our awesome readers. This week we have...

App Giveaway: Plume for iPhone
mobijew
smn74uk
Superveloce
TubbyJester
uncleho

Jabra FREEWAY Bluetooth Car Kit review
slyles101

Qmadix iharmonix Q-i-sound Stereo Bluetooth Speakers review
Heather Creely

Belkin Rotating Charger 2.1 + ChargeSync for iPhone and iPad review
jason01568

$117 (not billion) dollar giveaway! Tell us what you would buy... and you could win it!
Alexfisher

Weekly Photo Contest: Sexy Beach!
SimpleAsItSeems

At the Bitterroot River in Montana. Edited with Camera+, Snapseed, and Photogene.

Congratulations everyone! You'll be contacted during the week with information on claiming your prize.

Contest Winners

Contests

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/THEDywpqTJk/story01.htm

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Medical device sales ? tips to leverage the power of storytelling ...

Medical sales

Storytelling and sales ? a powerful combination! We?ve written extensively about the power of storytelling noting that success comes more quickly to sales reps who are able to share engaging stories that resonate with the listener.? It is one thing to list why a customer should do business with you; it is another to be able to relate a past success stories that brings that list to life.? The latter is memorable and repeatable ? the former is just another list of features.

In a previous blog we included tips for successful story telling.? Those tips work with all B2B sales. But what about something specific for medical device sales?? Dr. Jan Gurley asked: How do you move from the realm of transferring knowledge to physicians to changing their behavior? Dr. Gurley answers this question by sharing several tips medical device sales reps might embrace when storytelling.

Make it personal. If you want someone to care about making sustained behavior change, you have to individualize the story. The more personal you can make the link between the story and the behavior change, the greater your chances of success.

Keep it positive. We?re wired to need and want a narrative. But not just any narrative. For behavior change, we need a narrative that moves us along a path. ?Shame or blame will yank a person right out of participating in change.

Relate details. For physicians, it?s details, details, details. Set the stage for the story with details that a physician can relate to.

Stay on message. What is the primary issue and how can it be a goal that is sustained over time?? What story can you share that illustrates how working with you and your company can help them move closer to achieving their goal?

Plan the next step. When it comes to behavior change, relapse is a normal part of the process. What?s the plan if a physician agrees to try your medical device but never gets around to it?

Storytelling in medical device sales is a powerful and effective tool for selling to doctors, administrators, and clinical staff. ?It allows medical device sales reps to translate their sales message from solely a clinical product pitch to a positive patient experience with health outcomes.

If you found this post helpful, you might want to join the conversation and subscribe to the?Sales Training Connection.

?2012 Sales Horizons, LLC

Technorati Tags: health care sales training, health care sales training articles, healthcare sales training, medical device sales training, medical device sales training articles, medical device sales training blogs, medical devices sales training, medical sales training, medical sales training blogs, sales best practices, sales training

For more than 30 years Dr. Richard Ruff and Dr. Janet Spirer - the founders of Sales Horizons - have worked with the Fortune 1000 - such as UPS, Canon USA, Smith & Nephew, Boston Scientific, Owens & Minor, Textron - to design and develop sales training programs. Janet has followed two different, yet complimentary paths. First, as a B-School Professor she taught marketing, sales, and business strategy courses. She also managed a consulting practice focusing on sales productivity and marketing ? working with a variety of clients ranging from Xerox to IBM. She translated those experiences into a book ? ?Parlez-Vous Business? ? that helps sales people develop the business savvy to sell successfully. Since co-founding Sales Momentum? in 2000 with Richard Dr. Spirer received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, an M.P.A. from The University of Texas at Austin, and a B.A. in Economics from Brooklyn College. She holds the appointment of Professor Emeritus at Marymount University. This entry was posted in Health Care Sales Training, Medical Device Sales Training, Medical Sales Training, Sales Best Practices, Sales Training, Uncategorized and tagged health care sales training, health care sales training articles, healthcare sales training, medical device sales training, medical device sales training articles, medical device sales training blogs, medical devices sales training, medical sales training, medical sales training blogs, sales best practices, sales training. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://salestrainingconnection.com/2012/08/06/medical-device-sales-%E2%80%93-tips-to-leverage-the-power-of-storytelling/

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State Police book Kenner woman with insurance fraud | NOLA.com

Authorities have arrested a Kenner woman who they say?received money to repair her house after Hurricane Gustav, then filed a claim with a separate insurance company for the same damages. Loretta Burgess, 53, was taken into custody Friday after an investigation by the State Police Insurance Fraud and Auto Theft unit, according to Trooper Melisa Matey, a spokeswoman for the department.

Investigators received a complaint about the alleged fraud from California-based Geo Vera Insurance in July 2009, Matey said. Representatives said Burgess had filed a claim with the company in March of that year for damage to her former residence on Cabernet Drive in Kenner that she said occurred during a heavy rainstorm.

Geo Vera paid out an undisclosed amount of money on the claim. But representatives discovered that Burgess had made a previous claim at that address. Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp.?paid Burgess $29,000 for damage to the residence that occurred during Hurricane Gustav in 2008, Matey said.

"They obtained a copy of the paperwork and the photographs from the 2008 claim and compared them with the photographs and paperwork from the 2009 claim and found it was the same damage," Matey said.

Burgess, of 2 Chalet Court, Kenner, was booked Friday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna with insurance fraud, an arrest report said. It was unclear Monday why it took investigators more than two years to book Burgess in connection with the case

Burgess was released Friday on a $50,000 bond. She could not be reached for comment.

Source: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/08/state_police_book_kenner_woman.html

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