DO YOU HAVE YOUR TAX BILL ON HAND FOR PAYMENT?
HACKING OF EMAILS – ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE “WEAK LINK”
A few weeks ago one of my staff caught a hacker trying to substitute a Seller’s wire instructions for his own fake instructions. My staff caught it (and I caught his reporting of this incident on video, which I will post soon) and boy, was there a big sigh of relief for dodging this bullet.
Look at this article , substitute their high-end city name for one around my community and this could be an article done on our neighborhood. It is so scary, and it happens DAILY, I kid you not. My staff are taught again and again to look out, watch the incoming emails and question everything. It pays to have this message repeated again and again at staff meetings. Here is the sign at my desk:
The Facts of (Cyber) Life:
Trust No One
Question Everything
Slow Down
When in Doubt, call the Sender
Passwords – Strong, Long, Unique
All it takes is one minute of inattention and we could be UP THE (PROVERBIAL) CREEK. Whose account was hacked? The real estate agent’s.
IT’S TAX FILING SEASON!
We may have evolved from the background of being hunters and gatherers for food, but we never quite left that mentality behind. Now we hunt and we gather pieces of paper so that we may desperately lay them at the altar of our accountants as the deadline for filing of income tax returns loom. Here are some last minute tips:
- Name Changes!
Did you have a name change and did not report it? If it is not reported to the Social Security Administration the IRS won’t be able to match it to your income tax filing and any refunds that you might be expecting may find it hard to get into your wallet. Is this an OOOPS?? Here is their name change tip. - Report Your Virtual Currency Transactions!
Aha! Time to ante up to all those thousands and thousands that you made on the sale of your Bitcoins. Yes, the currency might be virtual, but I bet your proceeds are not! So, the IRS is sending all a friendly reminder: They Are Still Taxable! Is this an UH OH? Here is the reminder – Notice 2014-21. Be sure you lay this one at your accountant’s altar too. - Where has all the money gone???
Guys, the IRS is holding about $1.1 billion (with a “B”) in uncollected refunds from an estimated 1 million taxpayers who might not have filed their 2014 income taxes. Do you think you might be one of them? Let’s see, if I divide $1.1 billion by 1 million…. No, seriously, you have to file your taxes. I look at it this way: I pay, so I should receive if I overpaid. Now the IRS is telling us that the window period is narrowing to just a few more days. Do you really want IRS to keep all this money? This truly is balancing the government deficit on the backs of the people, I suppose. But it does go against the grain, you know?
GOOGLE AND HOUSING FOR EMPLOYEES
Besides the cafeteria and good food that is offered to their employees that we hear about, Google is now looking into alleviating housing for the employees. Like providing of food, this is all about employee productivity.
We all know how difficult it is to find reasonable housing in the Silicon Valley. How can you attract outstanding employees if they can’t even find a place to live to be able to work for you?
Their (smart) strategy then is to look into building pre-fab housing on Google owned land to temporarily house employees. Yes, pretty smart! A roof over their head, food in the tummies, those employees will work their hearts out for this company.
Wouldn’t you, if you were a just graduated techie with a chance to put your skills to work?
Course, this is Google, and they have the financial means to do it but now perhaps they are thinking far in advance and putting their money to good use.
Perhaps the folks at Google should take a look at these homes made of shipping containers.
They can even install a pool made from one of these containers. Isn’t it great? Are we looking at the future now?
WHEN PERSONAL PROPERTY AND REAL PROPERTY DON’T MIX
I have answered enough questions regarding the issues of including personal property in the sale of real property to know that it is sometimes a concern, particularly when the Seller has gussied up his property by himself (not a staging company) and the Buyer just totally fell in love with the WHOLE package, curtains, sofas, chandeliers and all.
Well, it’s not such a good idea to include this as part of the sales price, and here is why:
(1) The Buyer’s lender may have a problem with it – see this article
(2) In California, the general regulations under Revenue and Taxation Code 6051 state that if the values of the personal property is separated from the real property in a transaction, the California Dept of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) requires the Seller to get a Seller’s Permit and pay the sales tax on the personal property, which can vary from county to county, city to city, with the highest that I know of at 10.25%. Ouch!
HIDDEN SIGNS IN FAMOUS LOGOS:
It may sound a little creepy, but this is my fun article for the month. Now that you have come to the end of this month’s blog, if you have 5 more minutes to spare, take a look at the article and be as surprised as I was at the hidden signs within certain famous logos.
How did they think of that? Truly, a good design architect is simply in a class by himself. Their brains must be wired differently compared to us common folks.
SIGNS TO LIVE AND LAUGH BY
At a public toilet: “TOILET OUT OF ORDER. PLEASE USE FLOOR BELOW.”
In a Laundromat: AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES: PLEASE REMOVE ALL YOUR CLOTHES WHEN THE LIGHT GOES OUT.
In a department store: BARGAIN BASEMENT UPSTAIRS…
In a safari park: ELEPHANTS, PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR.
At a Conference gathering : FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN AND DOESN’T KNOW IT, THERE IS A DAY CARE ON THE 1ST FLOOR.
Smile! Tomorrow is another day!
