Category: Finance

What Can You Do Legally As An Independent Contractor if a Company Doesn’t Pay You For Your Work?

EricGMarch 10, 2020Leave a Comment

Though many people choose the nontraditional role of working as an independent contractor, this type of job isn’t without its risks. Many independent contractors work with clients that refuse to pay them once the work is completed. Should you ever find yourself in this situation, know that all hope isn’t lost. Keep the following tips in mind to make sure you get the payment you’re owed:

1. Review the Contract and Send Your Invoice

As an independent contractor, it’s very important to thoroughly review your contract. Ideally, details like your fee, deadline for payment, and late fees should be addressed in the contract. Reviewing your contract will give you the confidence that you’re in the right and protect you in the event that you take your client to court.

After looking through your contract, resend your invoice. In some situations of late payment, the client failed to receive or see the initial invoice. Sending a follow-up invoice is perfectly acceptable in this situation. Likewise, it’s a good idea to send an email as a reminder that you’ve resent your invoice.=

2. Contact the Business Manager

It’s easy to feel as though you have no resources when working as an independent contractor. Without an HR team on your side, getting assistance from your client is a little more complicated. Consider contacting the business manager of the company you’re working with. In most cases, independent contractors aren’t working with the person responsible for payments.

Get in contact with the business manager by sending your signed contract along with another copy of the invoice. This is generally enough to encourage the person in charge of payments to follow through. Experts like Carina Advisors recommend including the number of days the payment is past due as this can motivate them to send the payment.

3. Make the Call

Emails are only effective if the client on the other end is responsive to your efforts to communicate. If your emails keep getting ignored, it’s time to make a phone call. Either call the client or business manager to follow up on your late payment. Remember to be professional, yet straightforward when discussing your situation.

Don’t hang up the phone without getting to the bottom of your missing payment. In the event that they don’t provide a suitable answer as to why they won’t pay you, the next step is to send a certified letter.

4. Send a Certified Letter

If emails and phone calls are still not effective, your final attempt to reach out should be with a certified letter. Having your letter certified carries a bit more legal weight that can encourage the client to finally respond with payment. While these letters are typically beneficial in taking a case to court, they can also be the motivation your client needs to respond to your invoice.

Sending a certified letter is generally an indication that you’re prepared to file a lawsuit. Experts from Carina Advisors suggest including a deadline for the client’s response in the letter. If this deadline isn’t met, plan to file your lawsuit.

5. Filing a Lawsuit

If all other attempts to get your payment are futile, the next step to take is to file a lawsuit. Consider consulting with a lawyer for advice on how to proceed. Depending on the amount of money owed, it may be more cost-effective to avoid going to court altogether. However, if you’re still motivated to go through with the lawsuit, taking legal action will help you get the money you’re owed.

Asking for payment isn’t always enough for independent contractors. Make sure you receive your next payment by keeping these tips in mind

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5 Business Tax Credits You Didn’t Know Existed

EricGJanuary 22, 2020Leave a Comment

Tax season is upon us, folks! That’s right, it’s time to fill out those dreaded forms and spend hours upon hours figuring out how you can get the most money back and pay the least amount of taxes. Being a business owner is hard but what’s harder is the costs associated with the daily running of your business. You may be new to the business world or you might be a small business who doesn’t know about taxes or sales tax nexus and cannot afford a tax preparer or accountant to help you at this time of the year. That’s where we come in. We have the lowdown on some business tax credits that you may not be aware of and can help you maximize your tax return in 2020. Here is a list of the top five business tax credits of which you may not be aware.

Self-Employment Social Security

If you are self-employed you have to pay about 15% of your income to cover your Social Security payments. If you would like to, you have the right to take the deduction that employees do, which is 7.65%. This can be a credit as well as a deduction, in that it reduces the tax bill and you may get some money back.

Credit for Employer-Provided Childcare Facilities and Services

Everybody talks about encouraging single parents to go back to work but it is hard to work and look after a child. If you are an employee who offers employer-provided child care facilities and services ,you are eligible for a tax credit. The credit is capped at $150,000 annually.

Disabled Access Credit

If you are an employer with disabled workers and you make modifications to your business to support their needs such as disabled toilets and disabled access to the building then you are eligible for a tax credit to help recoup the costs of modifying your business in order to allow your disabled employees to work comfortably.

Orphan Drug Credit

The orphan drug credit incentivizes pharmaceutical companies towards creating and Manufacturing drugs to help treat rare illnesses suffered by a small pool of patients. The credit is geared towards pharmaceutical companies who cannot turn a profit on such drugs because there is a limited number of patients with that condition.

American Samoa Economic Development Credit

Have you thought about taking your business overseas? Well, the IRS incentivizes business in American Samoa and its Economic Development. If you are a business who has contributed to the economic development of American Samoa, then there is a tax credit for you to help you recoup the costs of helping to develop the economy in American Samoa.

In truth there are a multitude of tax credits for business owners small or big depending upon their business many of the other tax credits available are centered around renewable energy or energy efficient vehicles or modifications to businesses. If you need help to navigate your taxes this season, including sales tax nexus, sales tax law, or a sales tax audit, there are a multitude of tax experts standing by ready to help you navigate your taxes in 2020.

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Punch Associates Discuss How to Keep Your Check From Being Garnished For Defaulted Credit Card Debt

EricGSeptember 02, 2019Leave a Comment

With interest rates on credit cards in this country averaging around 14 percent and moving to upwards of 20 percent for those who have poor credit, it is no wonder that people are suffering from some intense negative consequences of these predatory interest rates.

Here at Punch Associates, a firm that has solutions for people in debt, we often field questions about one negative consequence of debt, wage garnishment. The following, although not legal advice, is some important information about this sensitive situation.

What is a Wage Garnishment?

Wage garnishment is a legal process through which a creditor or a group of creditors are allowed to legally take a portion of your after-deduction wages from your paycheck if you default on a debt.

When Can a Credit Card Issuer or Creditor Garnish Your Wages?

In the case of defaulted credit card debt, the credit card issuer or another company that purchases the debt needs to fulfill a few requirements before they can just call your employer and take a portion of your wages. According to Nolo Press, they have to sue you and get a judgment against you as well as an order from the court to garnish your wages.

How Much Can Be Garnished?

The percentage of your after-tax wages that can be deducted will vary by state. According to Nolo Press, the federal guidelines in most cases is that 25 percent of your after-tax earnings can be taken out from your paycheck until the debt is paid.

How Much is the Debt?

A really big issue in all of this is that the credit card issuer has likely also assessed penalties and fees and added these to the principle.

What Steps Can I Take to Stop the Garnishment?

Nerdwallet states that that window to object to wage garnishment can be as short as five days. If you have been sued, you will need to respond immediately to the court and provide any paperwork that backs up your claims. The paperwork you receive with the notice of the lawsuit will show you how to respond.

Possible grounds for stopping a garnishment of wages include:

You already paid the debt.
A portion of your income is exempt from garnishment, such as social security wages.
You have already discharged the debt in bankruptcy.
The garnishment will keep you from paying for necessities, such as rent or food.

If you are challenging the garnishment because it will keep you from providing yourself necessities of life, you will need to fill out a claim of exemption with the court and also detail your finances. In any of the other cases, you will need to attach proof of your claim.

Bankruptcy will also stop a garnishment, but it is a really extreme measure that one should only pursue with the help of an experienced bankruptcy attorney. The judgment will stay on your credit score for up to ten years.

Can My Employer Fire Me for a Wage Garnishment?

Obviously, employers don’t like to be bothered with having to send a portion of your paycheck elsewhere each pay period. According to Nolo Press, federal law will protect you from an employer who fires you for one wage garnishment. If you have more than one wage garnishment, these protections end.

Can They Garnish My LLC’s Bank Account?

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, if the debt is personal, but you co-mingled your own personal funds in your LLC’s bank account, a judge may allow for garnishment of your LLC’s bank account as well.

How Can I Get a Better Handle on My Debts?

Rather than default on debt, it is good to try to reduce the interest rate you are paying. One means of doing this is through a balance transfer card. They are often offered at zero percent interest for a limited amount of time, usually 12 to 18 months. If you could pay off your debts within the zero percent window of time, they might be a good option.

For consumers who have more debt than they could pay off in a year or so, a debt consolidation loan allows the borrower to pay off their high-interest credit cards and stretch their payments out from three to seven years, often at a lower interest rate. At the lower rate, you will be paying down more of the principal each month.

At Punch Associates, we have solutions for people who are experiencing problems due to heavy debt. Contact us for answers

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Keel Associates Discusses the Statute of Limitations on Credit Card Debt

EricGAugust 25, 2019Leave a Comment

Only now does the truth appear to be emerging that most everyone already knows – the economy never really emerged from the Great Recession a decade ago. Many women have resorted to starting micro-enterprises in order to keep bread on the table. Millennials are suffering under massive student loan debt, afraid to marry or buy homes. Some people work two or three jobs to earn a “living.”

Since many have had to resort to heavy credit card debt in order to stay afloat, at Keel Associates, a consumer and business debt solutions firm, we are often asked about the statute of limitations on credit card debt. There are simple answers by state, but the statute of limitations is only a piece of the picture if you owe credit card debt.

What is a Statute of Limitations –

According to NerdWallet, the statute of limitations is the time period within which a creditor may sue you for an outstanding debt. The statute of limitations begins when the debt is owed and has not been paid. The statute of limitations in your state will vary by the type of debt you owe. Here, we will focus upon credit card debt.

Statute of Limitations on Credit Card Debt –

Most all states set the statute of limitations for open-ended debt, such as credit card debt, at three to six years. As of 2019, there are only two states with a longer statute of limitations on credit card debt, Rhode Island at 10 years and Wyoming at eight years.

Does the Statute of Limitations End My Obligation? –

No, the statute of limitations solely limits the time frame for suing you. According to The Balance, you still owe the debt until either the creditor cancels the debt, you pay it or you are able to use the bankruptcy process to discharge it.

What About My Credit Score? –

According to the U.S. government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), your credit score will be adversely affected for seven years on a debt that you are no servicing. Your protection under the Fair Credit Reporting Act kicks in at the seven year mark and ends the creditor’s ability to post the blemish on your credit record.

Creditor Contact –

The creditor can continue to contact you in order to ask you to repay the debt after the statute of limitations has passed. According to The Balance, if they are still contacting you, you can send a cease and desist letter to get them to leave you alone.

Important Points –

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the statute of limitations in your state is often extended when you admit in writing you owe the debt or make a payment.

According to The Balance, some creditors try to sue people for credit card debt after the statute of limitations has passed. That is why it is important to keep records of when you stopped being able to make payments and go to court if sued in order to fight for your rights. The CFPB states that it is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act if a creditor sues you for a debt after the statute of limitations has passed.

Also, according to WalletHub, if the creditor wins a lawsuit against you in court, your statute of limitations protections are permanently removed.

Contact us at Keel Associates if you are struggling under heavy credit card debt. We have solutions to help consumers and businesses get their finances back on a safe and secure footing

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5 Tips from Trout Associates That Will Make It Easier to Pay off Your Existing Debts

EricGJuly 24, 2019Leave a Comment

If you are currently dealing with debt, you are far from alone.

Via Debt.org, the total amount of consumer debt held by people in the United States is at $13.51 trillion. The bulk of that debt is a result of money owed on mortgages (over $9 trillion), but the figures also indicate that Americans collectively owe in excess of $3 trillion due to auto and student loans.

Owing money is inevitable sometimes and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. As financial experts such as Trout Associates note, the real problems arise when you are unable to make payments.

For those eager to learn how to manage their debt better, the pointers listed below should prove quite helpful.

1. Secure Stable Income

For many people, the reason why they are unable to pay off their debt isn’t because they are irresponsible or because they don’t want to fork the money over. It’s simply because they may not have the money to pay in the first place.

If you don’t have a reliable source of income, securing the funds needed to make those scheduled payments on your loans will prove nearly impossible.

It won’t be easy, but you should try to find a stable source of income if you want to be capable of consistently paying off your loans.

For those entrepreneurs still trying to get their business off the ground, it’s not a bad idea to apply for a day job with a fixed income. You can then use the income from that job to make debt payments.

2. Curtail Your Spending

Old habits really do die hard, don’t they? Even if you’re aware that your financial situation has changed after taking out a new auto loan or perhaps a mortgage, you may still end up maintaining your spending habits.

You simply cannot afford to continue down that path though.

It’s time to wake up to the realities of your current financial situation and make the adjustments necessary. If you went out on the weekends together with your friends or family prior to taking out the new loan, you should trim that back to once every two weeks or something more reasonable.

You may also be able to cut down on living expenses by shopping for food and other supplies smarter. For instance, buy tougher cuts of meat. Even though they take more effort to cook, they can still be filling and the best part is that they are usually more affordable.

Making those financial sacrifices are tough, but they are necessary if you want to climb out of the hole created by your debts.

3. Use Extra Income to Pay Off Debts

Every now and then, you may end up with some extra money in your pocket. Maybe your performance at work proved exceptional recently and thus you were rewarded with a well-deserved bonus, or perhaps your small business had its best month yet.

With all that surplus money, you may be thinking about getting something nice for yourself. An occasional treat is welcome, but don’t overdo it. That extra money you earned is still best spent paying off your existing debts.

In the moment, spending your bonus that way may be unappealing, but your finances will thank you later on and that’s what really counts.

4. Improve Your Credit Score in Underutilized Ways

Improving your credit score may not seem to have anything to do with paying debts since the loans have already been taken out, but they can indeed be connected.

To improve your credit score, there are things you can do such as simply paying on time, but there are other underutilized methods of increasing a credit score.

For instance, leaving an account open even after you’ve cleared the debt previously linked to it can help to boost your credit score.

You can also take the time to check out your credit reports to see if they are completely accurate. Mistakes on your reports can lower your credit score. Addressing those errors and having them fixed can do wonders for your credit rating.

5. Consider Consolidating Your Debts

How will improving your credit score make it easier for you to pay off debt? For starters, that improved credit rating can help you secure a lower interest rate on your debt consolidation loan.

Debt consolidation makes it easier for you to keep track of your debts because they are now bundled together into one payment. You don’t have to set aside money for different times of the month for your debt payments.

Furthermore, if you can land a debt consolidation loan with a lower interest rate, you may end up having to pay a smaller amount of money monthly than you did previously.

The Balance notes that there are four types of debt consolidation options, with those being a debt consolidation loan, a debt consolidation credit card, a 401k loan, and a home equity loan. Debt consolidation loans and debt consolidation credit cards are the preferred options because they are accompanied by less risk.

Trusted minds in the financial industry such as Trout Associates always remind people that debt is something that can be properly managed. Debt won’t be able to ruin you financially if you remain responsible and utilize all the tools at your disposal.

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5 Ways Investing Can Help You Get Out Of Debt

EricGJuly 27, 2018Leave a Comment

Financial success has long been attributed to one’s ability to invest in the right assets. But as much as investing can help you accumulate wealth, it can also be the arm you need to pull you out of the financial ditch that you’ve fallen into. Sure, it doesn’t sound as exciting when you’re trying to generate ROI to pay off debt, but it is a faster way of achieving the financial stability that you seek. Here are five ways to do just that.

Earn Capital Appreciation

The initial amount you invest in a financial market, such as stock or currency, is your capital. Over time, if you have the knack and eye to find and select assets that are undervalued, your wealth will appreciate in value. This is your return on the investment or ROI. By positioning yourself in the right direction of financial markets, you can accumulate a high ROI that can be used to repay outstanding debt including credit cards and mortgages.

Claim Investment Losses on Your Taxes

If things don’t pan out the way you expect them to and you start to accumulate losses on your investments, you can declare these losses as deductibles when filing your taxes. Investment losses also referred to as capital losses, can only be declared if they are “realized” or, in other words, when you liquidate the losing position. If you plan on deducting the stock into this year’s tax form, make sure you sell the asset before December 31 otherwise it rolls over to next year.

Earn Dividend Yield

Some companies pay out a dividend, or portion of profits, to their shareholders. The amount is usually small and is expressed as a percentage of the present value of the stock. Nonetheless, with enough shares in a company, the dividends you earn from your portfolio can reach a substantial sum. Fortunately, these days it’s quite easy to find companies that pay dividends to their shareholders on a regular basis. With a bit of online research on sites, like Finviz, you can narrow down options based on dividend-paying companies and other investing criteria you may have.

Boost Your Financial Confidence

According to Sean Seshadri, an experienced investment specialist, most people who suffer from vast amounts of debt usually also suffer from lack of financial confidence and responsibility. Lacking self-confidence in your ability to manage your finances can then create habits that lead to debt, such as failing to develop and follow a budget and overspending. By deciding to invest your money, you are taking better control of your finances and acknowledging the fact that you want to improve your financial situation.

Turn it Into a Career

Most investors with years of experience under their belt choose to sell their highly refined skill set in finding profitable investment opportunities to others who are less experienced. If you manage to build a good investment track record, you can join social investment platforms and sell your investment signals to your followers.

Investing has helped millions of people, like Sean Seshadri, create sustainable wealth for themselves. If you want to get out of debt and become financially free, start investing your savings rather than have it parked on a savings account that pays a measly amount on annual interest rates.

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Want to get Out of Debt? Here are 6 Ways to Do It.

EricGMay 05, 2017Leave a Comment

We all want to get out of debt. The problem with some of us is that we do not know how. All we have is a basic understanding. We try to apply some of the basics and fail. Some of us give up too quickly. Some of us are not as serious as we think we are. Some of us lack a basic understanding of what we are doing wrong. I am here to get us back on track. Here are 6 ways in which we can all get out of debt faster and rebuild our financial lives.

1) Pay on more than just what you owe. We all have a minimum payment due on a specific date. Add some extra money into this pot. You will get the debt paid down faster. When you only make the minimum payment, you are adding in extra interest and late fees. Try to pay off more when you can and as often as you can.

2) Pick up some extra money. Take on some extra jobs at work. Is there special project your boss wants you to work on? Will it pay you more money? Take your boss up on the offer. The extra money can be applied to the debt you owe. You will be free of your debt in time. Practice patience. It will work.

3) There is something called a “bare-bones budget”. It is a new tool available online. Use it. It is going to force you to live within your means. You will need to cut out a lot of extra expenses.

4) Sell off everything and anything you do not need or want. Many of us turn into hoarders and do not realize. Take stock of your life. Get rid of the excess and make some money off of it. Say you make $500 off of the stuff you are selling. This is $500 you can apply to any outstanding debt you may owe. We all have to give up something at some point. It may be your turn in line.

5) Do you have an “expensive habits”? We all have them. Some of us are more inclined to talk about it than others. You may need to re-evaluate your spending habits. Find out where you are coming up short each month and fix it. You may have to give some things up.

6) Avoid any temptations you may have. Some people like to shop online. Some like to go out to eat. Do what you can to avoid these temptations. This is a great way to pay down the debt and avoid creating new problems.

Visit Nationwide Debt Reduction Services to become debt free in no time.

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