AAV Announces Monthly Distribution Update

CALGARY, Feb. 19 /CNW/ - Advantage Energy Income Fund ("Advantage" or the "Fund") announces that the cash distribution for the month of February will be $0.12 per Unit. The distribution represents an annualized yield of 13.6% based on the February 18 closing price of $10.57 per Unit.

The distribution will be payable on March 17, 2008 to Unitholders of record at the close of business on February 29, 2008. The ex-distribution date is February 27, 2008. The cash distribution is based on approximately 138.9 million Units outstanding.

The CDN$0.12 per Unit is equivalent to approximately US$0.12 per Unit if converted using a Canadian/US dollar exchange rate of 1.02. The US dollar equivalent distribution will be based upon the actual Canadian/US exchange rate applied on the payment date and will be net of any Canadian withholding taxes that may apply.

Hedging Update
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Additional hedging has been completed for 2008 to i) stabilize cash flows and ii) ensure that the Fund's capital program is substantially funded out of cash flow. Approximately 51% (net of royalties) of our natural gas is now hedged for the 2008 calendar year at a floor of $7.43/mcf (currently equivalent to approximately NYMEX US$8.43/mcf). Advantage has also hedged 38% (net of royalties) of its 2008 crude oil production at an average price of $94.07/bbl (currently equivalent to approximately NYMEX US$95.95 WTI).

Please visit our website for details on our hedging position: www.advantageincome.com.

Advisory

The information in this press release contains certain forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or our future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "would" and similar expressions. These statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Advantage's control, including: the impact of general economic conditions; industry conditions; changes in laws and regulations including the adoption of new environmental laws and regulations and changes in how they are interpreted and enforced; fluctuations in commodity prices and foreign exchange and interest rates; stock market volatility and market valuations; volatility in market prices for oil and natural gas; liabilities inherent in oil and natural gas operations; uncertainties associated with estimating oil and natural gas reserves; competition for, among other things, capital, acquisitions, of reserves, undeveloped lands and skilled personnel; incorrect assessments of the value of acquisitions; changes in income tax laws or changes in tax laws and incentive programs relating to the oil and gas industry and income trusts; geological, technical, drilling and processing problems and other difficulties in producing petroleum reserves; and obtaining required approvals of regulatory authorities. Advantage's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such forward-looking statements and, accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpireor occur or, if any of them do, what benefits that Advantage will derive from them. Except as required by law, Advantage undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

For further information: Investor Relations, Toll free: 1-866-393-0393, ADVANTAGE ENERGY INCOME FUND, 700, 400 - 3rd Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 5E9, Phone: (403) 718-8000, Fax: (403) 781-8338, E-mail: advantage@advantageincome.com

Author: Advantage from Advantage Income

What Happens if I Don't Pay the IRS?

Depending on how much time has past, an individual will see hundreds; even of thousands of dollars owed in back taxes that were not originally assessed when first receiving a letter from IRS. Similar to a credit card company, penalties and interest can and will be applied.

Delinquent Income Tax Return Defined -
A delinquent income tax return is defined, in the eyes of the IRS and federal government as:

Income tax return having a US mail postmark after April 15th, if an extension was not granted. If an extension was applied for and granted, a delinquent income tax return is defined as an income tax return with a US mail postmark after the due date of that extension.

Does the IRS Keep my Return Money if I am Late? -
After three years, yes. There is a statute of limitations, or certain period of time allowed, by the federal government applied to receiving income tax refund money for a given year. That is three years from the due date of the tax return, not January 1st.

Just think, you could have money owed to you that you could apply toward your IRS tax debt if you have not filed.

Tax Return Stature of Limitations Example -
For example this is 2007, if your unextended delinquent income tax return for 2003 is fixed this year, you must do so before April 15th, 2007 to receive any refund from the IRS.

After that date, the government legally does not have to pay any refund owed even if it is thousands of dollars. If you mail or the return after the third anniversary date, the IRS will keep your refund check.

Delinquent Tax Penalties & Interest -
If you owe tax from the year's income, you could possibly be subjected to several penalties on the amount due. The failure to file penalty assesses a 5% charge on the amount due each, up to a maximum amount of 25%.

The failure-to-pay penalty equals one-half of 1% of the amount owed per month, maxing out at 25% as well. You will be charged interest on an unpaid balance at the prevailing rate (varies month-to-month).

You may be subjected to a penalty for not paying sufficient estimated taxes. There are several other penalties that may also apply.

If you have not filed and have not heard from the IRS, it is only a matter of time, even if you have not heard from them in years. They will contact you and find a way to collect.

How the IRS will Settle Delinquent Taxes by Force -
If none of these previously mentioned options above are arranged, some of the enforced collections measures the IRS can use, but are not limited to:

- Wage attachments
- Bank Account Levies
- Seizures of property
- Referrals to a private collection agency
- License or permit revocations
- Corporate responsible person assessments

Do not let the IRS scare you into signing an agreement that demands high dollar tax payments that you can not afford. Let a tax professional with years experience working with the IRS help you.

Author: Neil from Articles Alley

Are You Required to Report Your eBay Earnings?

Many people ask me if they are required to report the profits they earn on items they sell on eBay on their income tax return. In short, yes.

If you sell items on eBay for a profit, then you should report your eBay sales on your income tax return, and you may owe income taxes on any profits. It doesn't matter if its just a hobby or if you are trying to build a business - if you earned a profit, its taxable income.

Generally, any income you receive from all sources is subject to income tax unless it is specifically exempt by law (hint: eBay profits are not exempt).

You must file a tax return if your net earnings from self employment are $400 or more. You are self employed if you carry on a trade or business for profit. If you are selling on eBay with the intent of making a profit, then you are self employed.

To report your eBay earnings, you should file Form 1040, and attach Schedule C or C-EZ. Schedule C is used to calculate your net profit or loss from your business, which is then reported on your Form 1040. This is assuming you are a sole proprietor. If you are incorporated, you have to file a separate business return. You will file Form 1120 or Form 1120s (for S Corporations). If you are a partnership, you will file Form 1065.

At this point, you may be thinking 'I don't run a business; I just sell on eBay as a hobby'. Unfortunately, income from hobbies is taxable as well.

You should decide before you even start selling on eBay if you will be running a business, or if this will just be a hobby, or if you are just selling off collectibles. Each choice has its own tax consequences and its own reporting requirements.

If your eBay income is a hobby, you still report your income and expenses, but you are not allowed to deduct expenses in excess of your income. Your hobby income is reported on line 21 of Form 1040; expenses are reported on Schedule A as a miscellaneous deduction, subject to the 2 percent Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) floor. This means if you do not itemize you could lose the ability to deduct any expenses against your hobby income, and even if you do itemize, you can only deduct the amount of expenses that exceed 2 percent of your AGI.

If your eBay income is from the sale of collectibles (artwork, antiques, stamps, coins) then you will report the gain from your sales on Schedule D. The capital gain tax rate for collectibles is 28 percent. Losses on the sale of collectibles are not deductible.

As you can see, it is very important to decide how you will be treating your eBay activity so you'll know your tax responsibilities from your activity from day one.

Author: Kristine from Articles Alley.

Rebares: What you need to know

Lawmakers have given their final seal of approval to a $170 billion plan intended to spark the slowing economy.
The plan's centerpiece: tax rebates.

But questions remain about how the program will work, and officials at the Treasury Department and IRS are scurrying to work out the details.

In the meantime, here are some answers based on currently available government information and experts' analysis.

Do I qualify for a rebate and how much can I expect?

One-time rebates will be sent to at least 117 million low- and middle-income households, 20 million senior citizens living off of Social Security, and 250,000 disabled veterans.

To be eligible for a full rebate, single tax filers must have 2007 adjusted gross income (AGI) below $75,000 and joint filers must have AGI below $150,000.

Adjusted gross income is not your annual salary. It's equal to gross income minus "above the line deductions," which are reported on page 1 of the 1040 tax form. Above-the-line deductions include deductible IRA contributions, alimony paid and, for the self-employed, some portion of money spent on health insurance or Social Security.

Single filers with AGI below $75,000 will get rebates of as much as $600. Couples with AGI below $150,000 will receive rebates of up to $1,200.

In addition, parents will also receive $300 rebates per dependent child; there is no cap on the number of children eligible.

An example: A couple with one child and $100,000 in AGI will get a rebate of $1,500 ($1,200 + $300). If they have two children, they will get $1,800 ($1,200 + $600).

Tax filers who do not owe income taxes because of various credits and deductions but have at least $3,000 in income - which can include Social Security and disability payments - will get $300 rebates per person or $600 per couple.

I make more than the income caps. What about me?

You might get a partial rebate. It depends on how much your income exceeds the caps.

The stimulus legislation allows for a 5% phaseout rate for households above the income caps of $75,000 for single filers and $150,000 for joint filers.

That means that for every dollar a tax filer earns above those caps, he or she will lose 5 cents of the rebate, said Jason Furman, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Put another way, the rebates of those taxpayers will be reduced by the amount of income above the cap multiplied by 5%, said Mark Luscombe, principal analyst at tax information publisher CCH.

Take a couple with two children. If they make less than the income cap, they will likely get an $1,800 rebate. If they make $15,000 more than the cap, they will see their $1,800 rebate reduced by $750 ($15,000 x 0.05). So instead they will receive a check for $1,050 ($1,800-$750).

A childless couple whose AGI falls below the cap will likely get a $1,200 rebate. But if their AGI exceeds the cap by $15,000, their rebate will be reduced by $750. So they'd get a check for $450.

Single filers with no kids and an income below $75,000 will likely get a $600 rebate. But if they made $80,000, their rebate will be reduced by $250 ($5,000 x 0.05). So they will get a check for $350 ($600-$250).

The point at which the rebate gets phased out entirely will vary. For example, a single filer with no kids whose income exceeds the cap by $12,000 or more will get no rebate, because it will be reduced by an amount equal to or greater than the $600 ($12,000 x 0.05 = $600).

Do I have to pay the rebate back?

No. And here's why.

Your rebate is a one-time tax cut - an advance on a credit you'll receive on your 2008 return.

It's based on your 2007 income initially. If it turns out that your 2008 income and number of children would have qualified you for a larger rebate than the one you received, you'll be sent the difference. If it turns out your 2008 income was lower than in 2007 and you should have gotten a lower rebate, you get to keep the difference.

"If you were supposed to receive a larger payment than you did, you will get the extra money," said Treasury spokesman Andrew DeSouza. "If you received more than what you should have gotten, you will not be penalized."

What do I have to do to get one?

You must file a 1040 or 1040-EZ federal tax return for 2007.

Some people are normally not required to file a return. To get the rebate, however, they have to file a federal tax return.

So when will I get a check?

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Thursday night that the IRS will start sending out checks in early May. Last month, he said it should take about 10 weeks to crank out all the checks. In all likelihood then, you'll see the money sometime between May and early July.

That assumes, of course, that you hit the IRS deadline and file by April 15.

If you're a laggard and have to file for an extension, you'll still get a check but it may not come until the end of the year - probably in time for Christmas shopping.

By Jeanne Sahadi @ CNNMoney.com

Save First, Pay Taxes Later

Most people pay everyone else first -- taxman, landlord, credit-card company, and so on. They try and budget every week, month, and year hoping that if they're careful they'll have some money left over.

This is absolutely, positively backwards. And because of it over 70 percent of Americans continue to live paycheck to paycheck regardless of increasing incomes. We make more. We spend more. And at the end of the day we're still broke. Are you tired of this game?

"Pay yourself first" means just what it says: When you earn a dollar, the first person you pay is you. Sounds simple, but most people don't do it.

Instead, the first person they pay is Uncle Sam. They earn a dollar and before they even see it, they pay around 20 to 30 cents in federal income tax. Depending on the state they live in, they may pay another 5 cents in state income tax. On top of that, there's Social Security, Medicaid, and unemployment. In the end, the government gets as much as 35 to 40 cents of their hard-earned dollars.

The Taxman Gets Smart

The government didn't always get first dibs on our paychecks. Before 1943, folks got their hard-earned paychecks first and paid taxes later. There was a problem with this system, however: People weren't saving enough money to pay their taxes. They spent what they earned and when it came time to pay taxes they didn't have the money.

So the government created a system under which it got paid automatically every time we got paid. And that system has worked for the government for over 60 years. But how is it working for you?

My point here is not to have you break the law, but rather learn from the government.

You have a right to legally avoid federal and state taxes on the money you earn. You can legally pay yourself first by simply using a retirement account. There are many different types, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans, IRAs and SEP IRAs. The one thing that makes all of these "pay yourself first" accounts is that the money you put in them is either pre-tax or tax deductible.

$14 a Day Could Grow Into a Cool Million

The most common question I get asked is, "How much should I save?" Your goal should be to save one hour a day of your income.

If you start this week by having one hour a day of your income deposited into a 401(k) plan at work, you will be in fantastic shape. If your employer doesn't offer a retirement account, go to a bank or brokerage firm (on- or offline) and set one up.

Let's assume you make $50,000 a year. That's about $2,000 every two weeks, which is how most people are paid. So to save 10 percent of your income, which is less than an hour a day of savings, you'd have to save $200 every two weeks -- or $14 a day.

If you invested $200 every two weeks for 35 years in a retirement account that earned an annual return of 10 percent what would you have? Quite a pot of gold: $1,678,293.78.

Depending on how you calculate this and compound the interest it could be higher or lower, so don't waste time debating the calculation. The point is you can make a lot by setting up a retirement account that pays you before Uncle Sam takes his cut.

By David Bach @ Yahoo Finance

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Remember that money is not everything।

The are also other things like love :)

A few coupons for the V day:

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• Fannie May Candies • Free Shipping w/ $20 Purchase • Coupon 10085 •
• Cheryl & Co.• $10 Off w/ $50 Purchase • w/ Coupon 8M •
• Collections Etc. • 15% Off $60 Valentine's Purchase • w/ Coupon 3DZZC1 •
• Ashford • $50 Off Select Watches for Valentine's Day • w/ Coupon FWVDAY08 •

The Rule of 72, 114, and 144

Rule of 72 or the “Rule of Doubling”

Most people are familiar with the Rule of 72, the simple formula that can be used to estimate how long it takes to double your money based a certain expected interest rate. For example, you expect to get an 9% rate of return on your money. At that rate, how long will it take to double your money?

To calculate this, simply divide 72 by 9 to get 8 years. For instance, if you were to invest $100 with compounding interest at a rate of 9% per annum, the rule of 72 gives 72/9 = 8 years required for the investment to be worth $200; an exact calculation gives 8.0432 years.

Accuracy

The formula is reasonably accurate in the 6% to 12% range (especially in the 8% to 9% range), and progressively loses accuracy at smaller or larger values.

With 4% interest rate it will take 18.0 years to double the money
With 5% interest rate it will take 14.4 years to double the money
With 6% interest rate it will take 12.0 years to double the money
With 7% interest rate it will take 10.3 years to double the money
With 8% interest rate it will take 9.0 years to double the money
With 9% interest rate it will take 8.0 years to double the money
With 10% interest rate it will take 7.2 years to double the money

The Rule of 114 or the “Rule of Tripling”

To estimate how long it takes to triple your money, divide 114 by your expected interest rate (or rate of return). Using the 8% return figure from the first example, the formula would look like this:

114 ÷ 8 = 14.25 years

Accuracy

The higher the expected rate of return, the less accurate the formula is. However, this is also true of the Rule of 72.

Now for the Rule of 144 of the “Rule of Quadrupling”

To estimate how long it will take to quadruple your money, you can use the number 144. Simply follow the steps in the above example but substitute 144 for 114.

For more mathematical details visit wikipedia.

Welcome To My Blog

In this Blog I’d like to share knowledge which I acquired regarding how to make your money work for you harder than you work for your money.

Many people as well as myself want to get wealthier. I'd like to share some of the tactics that I have learned. Maybe those will help others to achieve their financial goals.

I am not a CPA I am JADLTGR (Just another dude leaning to get rich) so please use your own judgment in terms of how to use the information from this site.

I want to help you increasing your money my sharing what I have learned by myself. I want to help you avoiding my mistakes which I might do. I want to make it clear that I am not a financial expert, I am without a degree in finances and if I do work in financial industry for some engagements it's more from a computer science point of view since two of my degrees are strictly mathematical and technical.

I'll try to do my best to make sure that all the info on this site is correct, but please use the information on this site at your own risk.

Remember the hardest step is the first one.

Once you have started it will be easier.

Good luck to everyone!