It’s easy to understand that traditional employers — corporations with established payrolls — must collect and pay payroll taxes. Many households aren’t aware that once they hire a nanny, or any other household worker, they’re likely to be an employer just like a factory owner or a shopkeeper, and must handle employers’ taxes on the wages they pay. Because it’s a misunderstood area of tax law, it’s easy to make potentially costly tax mistakes when you employ a nanny.
Most households who pay for childcare don’t qualify to pay taxes as an employer.
08 May
Posted by: Ethan Collin in: Home Insurance
How to Save Money on UK Home Insurance – Photo by playboyThere are specific ways you can lower premium costs for home insurance. Security, crime prevention groups, higher excesses and smart shopping can all help.
If youre looking for new home buildings and contents cover, it may be tempting to simply shop around, find the lowest quote and buy that. This may save you some money. But, if you really want to access discounts and reduce your overall house insurance costs, you may need to think smarter. How can you cut your premiums?
Good Home Security Equals Lower Insurance Costs
If you increase security in and around the home, you make it harder for criminals to break-in. So, you could, for example:
Increasing your home security makes you less of a risk, and many insurers will discount premiums in return. Read more…
04 May
Posted by: Ethan Collin in: Home Insurance
How do Burglars Target a Home? – Image by immrchris A report commissioned by Halifax Home Insurance polled burglars to learn more about how homes are targeted for theft. What do criminals look out for?
A report released by Halifax Home Insurance in March 2011 used the attitudes and opinions of criminals about to be tried for burglary convictions to learn more about how homes are targeted for break-ins. What do burglars look for and what will put them off trying to break into your property?
Using the Criminal Mind to Deconstruct Burglary Habits
This report used a variety of techniques to try and establish how criminals target homes. Participants were, for example, shown photos of properties of varying values and were asked how interested they would be in breaking into each one.
Your credit report is real time detailed analysis of your current credit status. Credit reports help both you, as the consumer, and lenders to review your credit standing. Keeping your report “clean” is important if you are seeking new loans, credit or lower interest rates.
A solid plan can help reduce your debt. The rate that you’re able to pay down balances depends largely on how much debt you carry, and how much you’re willing to sacrifice. Debt elimination is a process, and you shouldn’t expect overnight results. Develop a realistic plan, put it into action and slowly watch your debt disappear.
Difficulty: Moderate
25 Apr
Posted by: Ethan Collin in: Home Insurance
When talking about insurance for holiday homes (and insurance for a permanent home for that matter), the term ‘insurance excess’ may cause a little confusion, especially by the use of the terminology ‘compulsory’ or ‘voluntary’ excess. Here we explain what they mean – and how they may affect you when claiming.
The insurance excess
The claims excess is a commonly found insurance feature on most types of cover – for example, home insurance and motor insurance.
It has its origins in the fact that, typically, a fairly high percentage of insurance claims relate to often minor incidents and smaller amounts of money. Insurers typically seek to reduce the volume of such small claims by the use of ‘the excess’.
This is a sum of money that the insurance provider will require you to pay as the first part of any claim. If the difference b