Declaring Dividends

By Wolfgang Vanguard

Dividends are payments from shares, unit and investment trusts, which, investors hope, are not only regular (usually twice a year) but also rise over time to reflect the companys (or trusts) growing fortunes. Dividends are taxable as income.

The good news is tax on UK share dividends is deducted before you get it. If you are a basic rate taxpayer, you dont have to do anything else. Nontaxpayers and ten per cent taxpayers dont need to do anything either. But theres bad news here: You cant reclaim the deducted tax under any circumstances. Even though its called a tax credit by HMRC, we refer to it as a deduction to save confusion.

Top-rate taxpayers have to declare dividends on their self-assessment form and have the cash ready to pay the gap between the 40 per cent rate and the tax deducted.

Whether you get income from unit trusts, investment trusts, or individual shares, look at the date the dividend was declared and ignore the period for which the dividend applied. A 10p a share dividend for the year ending 31 December 2006 declared on 1 May 2007 and paid on 1 June 2007 counts as part of your 2007 " 08 return, not the 2006"07 calculation.

If you invest for long-term growth in shares that pay low or no dividends, youll pay less income tax. But dont forget these shares tend to be riskier. And you can get hit for capital gains tax on your profits.

Dont forget if you are near the top of the basic rate ladder " earning around $36,000 a year " your dividends can push you into the top tax bracket. For instance, if you earn $36,500 and have $3,500 of dividends youll be over the $39,825 (in 2007"08) basic rate tax limit for a person aged under 65.

Dividends from stocks traded in foreign markets can be tough to deal with. You may have to convert dividend payments into sterling as well as account for them separately.

You need to fill out the foreign income pages of the self assessment form. The UK has double taxation agreements with most foreign countries. The effect of these agreements is to cap the tax due on foreign-sourced income so you are no worse off as a result of possibly being taxed twice.

Many stock market companies have schemes by which shareholders can opt to receive new shares to the value of their dividends rather a dividend cheque. Even if you choose this option, you still have to declare the value of the new shares and any balance carried forward in cash because it is not large enough to buy a share. Youre liable for tax on re-invested dividends in just the same way as a cash dividend. - 23196

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Learn How to Invest Today from the basics to advance. Find financial freedom from debit and other money worries by learn how to invest and learning to control your money.

Using a real estate agent at the 100%

By Melisa Dominguez

A professional whose job it is to connect people that are selling real estate to people who are in interested in purchasing a piece of real estate is called a real estate realtor. In addition to selling real estate, many realtors also deal with rental properties. In exchange for their services, realtors receive a commission at the end of every sale or rental that they complete.

Everything you need to know when a realtor is that when the property in question is sold, the only person who has to worry about paying real estate commission is a person who sells the property. If you use real estate to hold a lease, the demand for real estate that both sides pay a commission.

Most owners believe that the services of a real estate agent is money well spent. The first advantage of listing your home with an estate agent is to be listed quickly. A good real estate agent can get a list of your house on the market faster than you can ever.

The speed of listing is only one of the advantages to using a real estate agent. Real estate agents have a cast network of contacts and resources, something you cant get when you try selling your house on your own. Most real estate companies have websites that allow them to advertise your home to even more potential buyers.

Most home owners find that even considering the commission the real estate agent collects after the house sells is justified. After all, homes that are listed with a real estate agent usually sell for several thousand dollars more than homes that were sold privately by the home owner.

When you try to find a real estate agent to sell your home, you should spend some time observing how they treat their customers looking to buy or rent. You know it is a true professional real estate agent when the agent really listen to what your customer is saying, that things will need and leads to properties that are tailored to the needs of its customers, including whether the property listed with another real estate agent. A real estate professional, which includes the recommendation of a happy customer are as a commission on sales. - 23196

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Do today a real estate property course where you will learn about real estate appraisal solution vital info to learn how to purchase house

Share Builder - Overview

By Anne Durrell

If you are currently buying and selling stocks online or are interested in starting you owe it to yourself to check out share builder.

This website offers a different way to buy stocks that will appeal to a lot of investors because it is simple and it makes sense.

Compare with a traditional broker, the share builder is easier and much cheaper, and they offer investors a different way than most online stock brokers.

You don't have to buy a minimum number of shares at share builder; they offer stock trades of any publicly traded company for only $4 for any dollar amount you want to buy.

With share builder you can start off at any level you feel comfortable with as they don't require you a minimum investment to start.

With share builder you can start investing right away; while with most sties they will require you to put a minimum amount of money when you establish an account, which means you have to spend more money before you really invest.

Since the $4 fee is the same no matter how much you buy, however, it is worth buying larger amounts at one time if you can because then the fee is a lower percentage of the overall cost.

Share builder applies $4 to each different stocks, not to the total stocks you buy. So it really makes sense if you consolidate your purchases of the same stocks all together.

In other words, it would be much cheaper if you buy $100 worth of one stock each week than buying $25 each of 4 different stocks each week for a month.

That way you will only pay $4 in a week fees instead of $16, which means you would've spent $48 more money by the end of the month. So, you're interested in stock market, give share builder a try! - 23196

About the Author:

Anne Durrell has written extensively on online trading . She comes from California. You may want to check out her other guide on online stock broker tips, and options trading software guide!

Life Becomes A Different Ballgame With Second Citizenship.

By Trevor Whiteman

The ability to have two passports to two different countries is called second citizenship. With second citizenship, you have the ability to take advantage of the rights of two countries instead of just one.

However, there are both personal and business reasons in which someone may have citizenship in two countries. It is really up to you why you want to take advantage of dual citizenship and there are definitely plenty of reasons to want it.

Here are some of those reasons:

- If you have family living in another country, you may want to stay with them for long periods of time.

- Maybe you want to see if you would prefer life in another country. Some individuals become tired of the same thing and want to experience other areas of the world.

- Perhaps you want to go on extended vacations. Many individuals simply love to live in two areas of the world.

- If you have to travel to another country frequently, it can pay to have that dual citizenship so that you can do so seamlessly.

- When you have dual citizenship, you have rights within the second country that you wouldnt have otherwise.

- You also do not have to worry about certain border and custom rules.

And you may have your own reasons as to why you want to have citizenship within another country. Maybe you can concentrate better on your job if you just have a residence in the country that you frequently do business with.

As for how you obtain your passport, you simply apply for and invest in a regular passport in your home country. You can then look into the rules and regulations for the country you want to achieve citizenship in to see what you need to do to be able to have the same rights as citizens.

Maybe later on you will decide to do such activities as vote, invest, and take advantage of various other rights you have obtained through that country. You want the rights that everyone else has and this is how it is done.

So evaluate your own reasons for wanting a second passport to achieve second citizenship. It can be really rewarding to have rights in two different countries. You never know, you may find that you want to reside in the second country. - 23196

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When you apply get a second passport, you are given second citizenship that will allow you voting rights and so much more. If you need this dual citizenship, go get it!

Day Trading Penny Stocks - Here's How People Make Money

By Sam Lockwood

Penny stocks have been around for a long time - they've been part of American investment strategies since the 19th century. That's where these stocks were named, since the modern penny stock actually costs somewhere between a dime and five dollars, not a penny. Let's have a look at the risks you incur by investing in these stocks, as well as the ways they can help investors profit.

Penny stocks are share offerings made by companies that are either too new or too small to be listed in the major exchanges. These have a potential to grow a lot for a relatively small initial investment, but they can also be part of unpleasant pump and dump schemes. Like anything else in the over the counter (OTC) market, the buyer should beware.

Choosing penny stocks in a reasonable fashion means having the business model of the company selling them independently appraised. This is like buying shares in any other company that's being publicly traded. It's important to understand the company's business model, what they're doing, who's competing with them, what they make and what products are being offered.

The thing that makes penny stocks so appealing is that most businesses offering them are actually extremely simple. One typical example of a penny stock company is that of a mining company that profits only when the price of the material it extracts reaches a certain number. There are also a few oil exploration stocks that are valued in this way.

Penny stocks are rated as a high risk vehicle by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Some of the risks involved include incomplete or indirect reporting of finances, fraud, and limited liquidity. People playing using a day trading strategy, sudden demand on penny stocks can create wide ranging volatility, which also makes it hard to short sell them.

The financial reporting guidelines on penny stocks are actually pretty loose. Unlike the national exchanges, not much is required of companies that list this way - in fact, sometimes these stocks will just de list for a few days! In the investment type called Pink Sheets, penny stocks have nearly no regulatory requirements at all, including few to no minimum accounting standards or reporting guidelines.

Due to this lack of standardization, this kind of stock is extremely vulnerable to being manipulated and even used for fraud. People posing as independent observers will use their influence to run up penny stock prices, then they'll sell and delist the stock. This is the classic scam referred to as pump and dump.

Of course, that doesn't mean you should never invest in penny stocks. There are lots of real, legitimate startup companies out there, and they need to have a good place to get up and running. If you're able to pick a winner, you'll get an impressive return.

If you're able to spot a company with lots of promise, you could get an enormous payday. Even if you lose four out of five of your picks, the single winner you get will give you enough to forget about the other losses. - 23196

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To Find more penny stocks tips have a look at my day trading website - it's there for people looking to make money! Click Here to learn about proven penny stock strategy you can start using today!