You can usually request a stop payment by calling your bank or visiting a branch. Some financial institutions also allow you to do it online. To put a stop payment on a check, you’ll need to know the check number, the exact amount of the check, and who you made it out to. If you present any of that information incorrectly then the check might still be cashed. You should be prepared to pay the fee to stop the check, and you may need to pay it again if you have not found the missing check when the six-month hold expires....

If you’re thinking of switching to a better loan, see how to refinance, including the necessary steps and critical factors to pay attention to throughout the process: Make Sure It Makes Sense Before you begin the refinancing process, figure out whether or not it makes sense to refinance. Doing so typically costs money (even if you don’t write a check for anything) and it takes a lot of time. When the benefits of refinancing are minimal, it may be the wrong choice....

But most taxpayers who got divorced earlier than 2019 can claim a deduction for alimony payments they make and must report alimony payments they receive as taxable income. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) eliminated the alimony deduction from the tax code from 2019 through 2025 for most divorce agreements and decrees entered into during that time. Taxpayers can still claim the deduction and must still report the payments for most divorces entered into before Dec....

What should you do if you’ve been turned down for a job? How should you respond to a rejection email? The job application process has never been so informal, and a significant number of employers don’t even bother to tell applicants that they have been turned down for a job. Employers aren’t legally required to notify candidates who aren’t selected. The Best Way to Respond to a Job Rejection Email It’s certainly not necessary to send a follow-up email unless you really want to make a good impression and be considered for jobs with that specific employer in the future....

The risks are often small, and most of us can avoid trouble with basic common sense, but it’s helpful to have a checklist in mind for staying safe. The main things to be aware of are: Your personal safety—somebody trying to steal cash, which might also involve physical injury Identity theft—somebody getting information that can be used to get money later. Although you might not be liable for the losses, it’s possible to lose money, and cleaning up after identity theft is time-consuming....

When Can Debt Collectors Call Debt collectors are required to abide by a federal law called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This law defines what debt collectors can and cannot do when they are collecting a debt. For starters, debt collectors cannot call you about a debt that you do not owe. When a debt collector first contacts you about a debt, you have the right to request them to verify that the debt is yours....

This article discusses the types of deductions your Airbnb business can take and how to calculate those deductions. Airbnb Hosting as a Business Most Airbnb hosts pay taxes as landlords. Being a landlord is—for tax purposes—different from being “in business.” The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers this rental or landlord activity as a passive activity for tax purposes because the business person doesn’t “materially participate” in the activity in the same way as the owner of a business does....

If your business has already shown the expected revenue from that uncollectible debt, you may be able to reduce your business’s taxable income by the bad debt amount. Here’s how that works. What’s Considered a Bad Debt? Bad debt is owed by a customer, client, or patient that the business owner or creditor is not able to collect. You can write off bad debt on your business tax return, depending on your accounting method, as an expense of doing business....

Here’s a quick look at the most significant economic indicators of the day and what they tell us. Inflation, Spending, and Personal Income One of the two most widely used measures of inflation (the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure) showed inflation continued to accelerate in December. Prices rose 5.8% in the year through December, according to the Personal Consumption Expenditures survey from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a new high since 1982....

This question is a way to break the ice and make you feel more comfortable during the interview process. However, some people might find this—and other interview questions about you—slightly stressful. If you’re someone who doesn’t like bragging about yourself, these kinds of questions can be difficult to answer. But they’re a good way for the hiring manager to get insight into your personality, so it pays to prepare to answer them....

The U.S. Ofice of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) explains that inventory financing in the more general concept of accounts receivable financing (ARIF) and says that this type of financing combines elements of secured lending and short-term business loans. In ARIF loans, a business borrower uses the value of receivables and inventory to get the money to produce and market their products and services. An Example Let’s say a car dealer wants to increase inventory, buying more cars because of an expected increase in new car sales....

European ETFs offer simplicity and diversification without many of the fees associated with mutual funds. By purchasing single securities, international investors gain exposure to hundreds of different companies located throughout Europe, including exposure to specific countries or industries. However, like all investments, European ETFs offer both benefits and risks. Benefits of European ETFs Even though Europe is considered one of the safest economic regions in the world, the economic crisis in 2009 illustrated it still carries great risk....

In essence, invoices are used to request payment, while receipts are used to demonstrate proof of sale and payment. For instance, if you are a consultant, you may use an invoice to request payment for your time and services. On the other hand, if you are a small business owner selling homemade products, you provide receipts to the buyer as proof of payment. What’s the Difference Between Invoices and Receipts?...

You must report the amounts on IRS Form 941 if you’ve been paying employees and you’ve been withholding federal taxes from their earnings. What Is Form 941? IRS Form 941 is a quarterly report that cites: Withholding of federal income taxes from employee paychecks based on the information from their W-4 formsWithholding amounts due based on your employees’ Medicare and Social Security wagesCalculation of your employer portion of FICA taxesTax credits for participation in COVID-19 related tax relief program...

People creating an online account at irs.gov now have the choice of verifying their identity during a virtual interview with a live IRS agent instead of taking a selfie and relying on facial recognition provided by ID.me, a private company the government is contracting with, the IRS said Monday. The agent interview option, which takes about 5 to 10 minutes and requires users to show two pieces of identification, will last through this year’s filing season while the IRS switches over to using login....

You can file for an extension by April 15 if you need more time to prepare your return. This will give you an additional six months to file. Still, you must pay any tax due by April 15, or you’ll be penalized. Learn the consequences of late payments or unfiled returns and how to avoid them. The IRS Penalty for Late Payments The late-payment or failure-to-pay penalty applies to any portion of your federal tax debt that remains outstanding as of the due date....

Not only did the number of people initiating claims for unemployment insurance fall below 400,000 for the first week since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest data from the Department of Labor, but a report from payroll company ADP showed that private companies added 978,000 people to their rosters in May, more than in any other month since last June and far more than the 650,000 economists had predicted....

You may not be aware of the spousal IRA rules that allow for this, but it’s a simple process. Here’s how it works and how to tell whether you qualify. Who Is Eligible for a Spousal IRA Contribution? To make an IRA contribution, you must have earned income equal to or greater than the amount you’re putting in. For couples, as long as one of you has earned income and you file a joint federal income tax return, the spouse who isn’t working can open a traditional IRA or Roth IRA and contribute to it....

Unfortunately, not all job titles are accurate. Some employers like to be creative with their job titles, creating a team of gurus, heroes, and jedis whose actual roles may be unclear to anyone who doesn’t work at the organization. Other employers load up their long-time staffers with additional responsibilities without giving them the promotions that should go along with the increased work. Both these situations can be tricky for you when you’re looking for a new job....

What’s the Difference Between Long Trades and Short Trades? Going long on a security uses the process that most investors are familiar with. You purchase a security and hold it for a period, hoping for its price to increase during that time. At a later date, you sell the security, hopefully for a profit. Shorting, by contrast, involves selling a security first. To start a short trade, you must first borrow shares from someone else, typically your broker....