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As a followup to my recent article about paying sales tax for online purchases, I wanted to highlight an interesting article from last summer that a reader named Heather pointed out in the comments section.

In short, Arizona has added a dedicated line to their state tax returns for taxpayers to reporting unpaid use taxes. This isnt a huge deal in itself, but According to a local tax pro named Ellen Campbell, the AZ Department of Revenue has been advising taxpayers that anyone who fails to report something on that line will be subject to an income tax audit.

Whether or not this is true remains to be seen, but its hard to imagine trying to enforce something like this. Perhaps it will raise your odds of an audit, especially if you fit certain other criteria (e.g., income above a certain threshold), but auditing every single return that fails to report use tax?

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What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question. 1. Investing in tax liens 2. How much for housing? 3. Stuck in a rut 4. Choosing an investment house 5. Turning the economy around 6. Investing for youths 7. Reactivating old card 8. Auto loan credit question 9. Handling an inheritance 10. Philosophy reading list

I get two or three book suggestions from readers a day. Usually, one of them is related to personal finance, while the other one or two could be anything.

I just wanted to give a shout out to three great books readers have recommended to me and I’ve enjoyed in the past year: Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer, The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, and Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer.

Reading a great book is one of my favorite experiences.

Q1: Investing in tax liens I have heard a lot about investing in tax liens as a risk free (?!) method to get an 18% or more return on your money or acquire the property. I am

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Tags: Mailbag, Reader Mailbag

Technology has allowed credit cards to develop quite a lot in recent years. From the Chip and PIN revolution to the ability to manage card accounts online, new capabilities have helped to make payment and transaction processes much more efficient than they used to be.

Something else that has helped contribute to this change is the growing trend for contactless payments. Increasingly when you apply for a new credit card, you will find that the card you are applying for will come with this capability. One common credit card question is what contactless payments are and how they actually work.

Essentially, they are what they sound like: the ability to make payments for purchases in shops without the need to hand over your card every single time. Contactless payment cards come equipped with a special chip, which is compatible with a certain type of payment machine that is becoming increasingly ubiquitous in retailers.

All you need to do to pay is hold the chip over the machine and your payment should be processed.
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Tags: new credit cards

Springfield, IL – Crop prices during 2011 were influenced by a wide range of factors that resulted in extremely large trading ranges.  The price patterns, however, were very different for corn, soybeans, and wheat.  As the year ends, thoughts turn to likely price levels in 2012.

December 2011 corn futures started the year near $5.50, with the higher trend that began near $4.00 in July 2010 still in place.  The trend continued, although erratically, reaching a peak near $7.80 in late August.  Prices have declined sharply since then, with the December 2011 contract currently only about $.30 higher than at the start of the year.

January 2012 soybean futures started the year just below $13.00, with the higher trend that began near $9.50 in July 2010 still in place.  The price of that contract traded between $12.50 and $14.00 through mid-August, peaked at $14.74 in late August and then plummeted to $11.00 in late November.  That contract is currently trading near $11.40.

December 2011 wheat futures at Chicago were also trending higher at the start of the year.  The higher trend started near $6.00 in July 2010, with the price near $8.50 in early January 2011.  The price of that contract peaked near $9.70 in mid-February and is now just over $6.00, about where the price rally began in July 2010.

For corn, it appears that 2012 will begin with a continuation of weak export demand.  While China has purchased 95 million bushels of U.S. corn and

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Tags: Crop Prices, Prices

Most homeowners and agents have a clear idea of how ideal tenants look like. But how do you find such a variant without running tenant verification? Good tenants mean no headache for landlords, but sometimes you need to get a good tenant even if you rent an apartment. When you have to move out quickly, with tenanthunter.com finding a tenant is not a problem for you anymore.

The ideal tenant is professional, reliable, courteous, quick with a lease payment, attentive to all neighbors and causes no problems for the owner or the property manager at all. All the above mentioned features are very useful, but besides all these things, what a property manager or lessor really needs is honesty and communication. A tenant who will contact you when there is a problem and work with you as the owner to find solutions makes everyone’s life easier. O
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Tags: finding a tenant

Medical care is big business in the U.S and health insurance companies are out to make money, not to make sure you get quality medical care. Keeping this fact in mind will help motivate you to be vigilant about checking to make sure you’re getting your full insurance benefits. But navigating through all those codes can be exhausting, so here are a few tips to help you get the most from your health insurance by understanding all those complex codes.

Navigating the EOB
Your health insurance company sends out an Explanation of Benefits form outlining payment information for services rendered to a person covered by your insurance plan that have been submitted for payment. This EOB form provides a wealth of information and is the first place to check for billing errors and inconsistencies.

Dates of Service
Listed on each EOB are the dates of service for charges submitted for payment. You should double check each date for accuracy and compare it against your personal calendar to ensure that you actually received services on those dates. By the way, if you’re not doing so already, you should keep a log of all medical care provided to you and your dependents. Inc

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If the budget is stringent, then secured car loans will be the best option for you. Purchasing a new car or a used one can be made more agreeable with the aid of these kinds of credits. One of the major factors to be noted is that, for getting these kinds of loans, you will have to pledge any of your properties or your home as a guarantee. On the other hand, this is found to be the best possible method for financing a car on the basis of your own requisites.

One of the most advantageous things with these kinds of advances is that, they are flexible enough for molding into your financial requirements with any type of loan borrowers. With the aid of secured automobile loans, you will be able to own a car according to your budget. The only thing which has to be remembered is that, the first payment should be made after a month without any fail.

There are even provisions for applying online car loans. This in turn will help you to get your brand new vehicle at the earliest. While buying automobiles, the online car financing techniques is providing more easier as well as cost-effective methods. You will be able to receive the cash approvals at very fast rates.
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Tags: Car Loans

Don’t doubt for a moment that China’s growth is not a sham. When a country produces economic growth via the actions of self-interested individuals producing goods and services with a profit motive, the growth achieved is usually sustainable. (Provided its not financed entirely by debt)

When a country like China directs investments for the sake of employment and social cohesion, with no regard for the profit motive, the economic growth produced is unsustainable. It is just money being funnelled into a black hole.

Granted, this sort of stuff can go on for years and make naysayers like us sound like idiots. If you’re long commodities, you probably think we are an idiot. But do yourself a favour and look through the history books. If you can find any centrally planned economy that prospered due to its leaders’ wisdom and disdain for free markets, drop us a line.

Now even BHP Billiton is getting a tad concerned. At yesterday’s AGM, the board indicated the mess in Europe is beginning to have an effect on Chinese customers.
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Tags: Growth, Growth Debt

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. released its third quarter report on Tuesday that showed some fruitful signs of life for the troubled banking industry.

According to the report, U.S. bank profits rose collectively over the summer to their highest level since mid-2007, but banks still continued to struggle to generate more revenue in a stagnant and cautious economy.

In the quarter ending Sept. 30, the industry showed a group net profit of $35 billion, an increase of nearly 50 percent from a year earlier.

Another bright spot in the report was that the agencys list of troubled institutions shrank in the third quarter for the first time since the same period in 2006.

The report revealed 844 institutions on the agencys “problem” list at the end of September, down from 865 at the end of June.

During the June-September period, 26 banks failed, four more than in the second quarter, but 15 fewer than in the same quarter a year ago.

The current risk for U.S. and global banks remains the potential contagion, or ripple effect, should a serious financial crisis develop across Europe.

Regulators will ask the six largest U.S.

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