Category: News

News of the day.

Child Stars of the 80s that are still famous today

If you grew up in the 80s, chances are that your favorite characters are still gracing your screens. Some have come and gone and come back again. Others have never left. Here are just a few Child Stars of the 80s whose luster haven’t faded.

Child Stars of the 80s
Photo by Hollywood_PR Child Stars of the 80s

1. Mayim Bialik

“Blossom” fans may find it hard to recognize the twirling, dancing, jumping, smiling, vivacious teenager who now plays the nerdy, straight-faced Amy Farah Fowler in “The Big Bang Theory”. But we love her anyway!

2. Jason Bateman

Even “Little House on the Prairie” fans probably won’t remember Jason in the role of little James Cooper, the adopted brother of Laura Ingalls. We got to know him as the naughty Derek Taylor in “Silver Spoons”. Lately, Jason’s been playing the nice-guy role in movies. With that adorable smile, what else could he be?

3. Leonardo DiCaprio

Luke Brower, the lost soul we grew to love in season 7 of “Growing Pains”, made Hollywood take notice with his Oscar nomination for “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”. Since then, our little Leo has taken on all kinds of powerful roles!

4. Drew Barrymore

Adorable as Gertie in “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”, Drew went a little off the track, landing her in rehab at the age of fourteen. But true to Charlie’s Angels form, she found her stride and fought her way right back on to our screens and into our hearts. Going through a struggle? You can transform yourself, too, with a wise jug weight loss plan and a never-say-die attitude!

Maybe you’re more of a couch potato than an action hero. Either way, there should always be time to watch reruns.

H&R Block Losses Widen As Customers Delay Filing

As consumers wait longer to file their taxes, H&R Block is feeling the pinch. It was revealed on Thursday that the long-established tax services company had posted greater-than-expected losses for the last quarter due to consumer delays.  The company is also facing currency headwinds impacting business from overseas.

H&R Block Losses
Photo by pasa47

Typically, H&R Block has posted losses for quarters outside the normal tax season; however, these recent losses revealed a deeper downturn for the same period last year, missing expectations from Wall Street. As a result, shares slipped 5.1% in after-hours trading, leaving the stock at $31.22, which is down 2.5% for the year so far. The company also reported that total U.S. tax returns had slipped more than 6% for the first three quarters of the year.

H&R Block’s chief executive, Bill Cobb, stated that this tax season was being impacted by continual instances of fraud as well as the ongoing trend of returns being filed later in the season by taxpayers. This also causes tax refunds to take longer to process. Cobb also noted that there were significant measured being taken by both the federal and state governments to fight tax fraud, which would create some material changes in the industry.

H&R Block reported a total loss of $81.7 million for the quarter, or 35 cents per share. This is compared to a loss of $36.9 million a year earlier. After adjustments, H&R Block earnings was down 34 cents a share as sales increased by 6.8% to $475 million.

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) From The IRS

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs are a part of the IRS that assist individuals in calculating their tax returns. One can volunteer in any of the programs helping your community in preparing 2015 taxes.

As a serious tax volunteer, you will undergo some training that is provided online or in a classroom before the actual volunteering begins. The tax sites are opened at nights and during the weekend where anyone can choose a volunteer location close to them.

Why become a volunteer?
No past experience needed as volunteers receives exclusive training and can serve any role, example, helping those who do not understand English.

Free tax law training is offered by IRS. They provide the required materials to volunteers for the preparation of income tax returns to individuals.

Flexibility of working hours. Per week, volunteers only serve 3-5 hours

Widely distributed volunteer sites. The volunteer locations are everywhere including libraries, malls and even schools. In addition, a free electronic filing, TurboTax 2014, is available in both VITA and TCE sites for federal and state tax returns.

Duration. A volunteer will be part of the VITA and TCE programs for more than 40 years assisting people filing their tax returns free of charge.

As a volunteer, you will assist low income individuals. Many people volunteered in 2013 to make a difference and you should too. Help your community by emailing your Form 14310,TCE/VITA Volunteer Sign Up, to [email protected].

Slimming Pills Are Flying Off The Shelves This Summer

Ball-and-stick model of the chlorogenic acid m...
Ball-and-stick model of the chlorogenic acid molecule (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The quest for a bikini body is an elusive one. Majority of people have a difficult time finding the right combination of diet and exercise to achieve their goal. Life also has a way of derailing workout plans and sabotaging nutrition targets. What are beach-goers to do given these challenges? Purchase slimming pills, apparently.

For many, these tiny pills are their salvation in a bottle. Supplements of this nature have soared in popularity in the UK according to a Kantar study. The numbers don’t lie: products sales shot up 74% from 2 years ago to the tune of 19 million British pounds. Vitamin Planet, one of the largest retailers of supplements, says that Metaburn saw an incredible 3700% rise in sales in just one month. Metaburn is slimming product that combines a trifecta of ingredients for blockbuster appeal: green tea extract, green coffee bean, and raspberry ketones.

Green tea extract’s claim to fame is its abundance of polyphenols. These work towards increasing metabolism so people can burn more calories during the day. They make fat breakdown much easier as well.

Green coffee beans, meanwhile, contain a substance called chlorogenic acid. This has been shown to prevent sugar from entering the bloodstream. Thanks to this low absorption, blood sugar levels can remain stable despite the intake of sweet food. Another bonus is that it can delay aging at a cellular level.

Finally, raspberry ketone has established itself as a prime ingredient for those who wish to enhance their fat-burning capacity. It does this without adversely affecting energy levels so productivity is not impaired unlike resorting to crash diets.

These three make a potent combination but they still need to be used in conjunction with the right type of exercises to bring about the desired effects. Be cautious when choosing slimming pills and make sure that you are getting a good product with proven results.

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5 Overlooked Tax Deductions From Turbo Tax

Taxes
Taxes (Photo credit: Tax Credits)

According to the website Turbo Tax, there were over 51 million current tax payers who listed tax deductions over the year 2007. They claimed more than 1.33 trillion dollars in tax deductions. At the same time, more than 91 million people claimed the regular standard deduction. They managed to reduce their tax by 654 trillion dollars. These numbers look good for tax players who are doing standard deductions. However, you need to look at both methods of tax deduction when you are preparing to do you taxes. If you don’t, you may miss out on some great deductions.

The following are five tax deductions that are often overlooked. They are reinvestment dividends, state sales paid tax, charitable contributions, moving expenses and student load tax deductions.

State Sales Tax

This deduction is for people who live in those states without any state income tax. If you live in one of these states, you can deduct this tax. Most of the time, when people file for this kind of deduction, they overlook several things. These include taxes on automobiles, boats, airplanes, any any sale tax they may have spent on building supplies for the home.

Reinvested Dividends

If you have sole any mutual funds during the previous tax year, and have good capital gains, then you should calculate your reinvested dividends correctly and thoroughly. Because the amount that was paid for your investment increases each time that the dividends get reinvested, your capita gain may not be as big as you thought.

Charitable Contributions

Any small items which you may have purchased while volunteering for charities are tax deductible. It is not only the larger contributions that you can receive deductions for, but these smaller ones as well. Keep track of what contributions you have made, such as driving mileage, or any small purchases.

Student Loan Interest

Any interest paid on students loans are able to be deducted. Whether the payment was made by a student or a parent they qualify for this deduction. This is because the IRS counts the interest payment as a gift. This is a good little deduction that students can capitilize on to reduce their tax liabilities.

Moving Expenses

One last good deduction is the moving expense tax. If you just started your very first job any time throughout the previous tax year and have been required to travel over 50 miles for work, this can be be deducted. This tax deduction can be claimed as part of the cost of any driving and the costs of any moving. However, it is only the moving and driving expenses which qualify. Costs of securing the employment are not included in these deductions.