April 18 is the deadline for filing your 2010 federal income tax return to the Internal Revenue Service this year. But do you need to file for an extension beyond the IRS’s gift of an extra three days? Maybe you need more time because of late 1099 reports from your financial institutions or perhaps you’re just a habitual procrastinator?

Thankfully, it’s now pretty easy to get an extension for filing an income tax return.

The IRS’ Free File system online allows you to prepare and file electronic Form 1040s as well as Form 4868, the form needed to file an extension.

Those not using Free File can use commercial tax preparation software, such as TurboTax and H&R Block At Home (formerly TaxCut), to electronically fill out and file IRS Form 4868.

But be careful.

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In a move that has come as a shock to nobody, the Portuguese caretaker prime minister, Jose Socrates, approached the EU yesterday with a request for discussions about financial assistance. The out-going prime minister had done all in his power to pass a fourth austerity budget which might have avoided the need for Portugal to ask for help, but the bill was defeated and the PM resigned, calling elections for June.

The Portuguese needed to raise money to service its existing debts, coming to the market to raise €1 billion. However, although the bond issue was successful, Portugal had to pay higher interest following the decision last week by ratings agency Moody’s to downgrade the nation’s credit rating from A3 to Baa1. The l

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Facebook has taken the world by storm and, far from being nothing more than a way to keep up with college or high school friends, it has become a powerful tool for small businesses as well. Check out our roundup of links for more about how to make Facebook and other social media work for your small business today.

Strategy

The new FB business migration tool. We open with a link on how and why you need to move your business from a profile site to a business or brand site. FB has made it a violation of the site’s Terms of Service to use a profile page as a page for your business. There are also, as this post points out, some definite benefits to placing your business on a brand or business page instead if, for whatever reason, you haven’t done so already.

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Does your business need to purchase new equipment?

Not sure whether you should finance or just pay cash?

If you don’t quite know the difference between a lease and a loan or you don’t really understand the tax benefits associated with funding business equipment don’t worry because you’re not alone.

You can spend countless number of hours on the internet searching for companies that offer financing but first you should determine which purchase option works best for you.

Whether you’re financing office equipment, financing business supplies, or financing business equipment there are certain benefits and strategies associated with each type of option.

So in order for you to get a much better perspective on how you should purchase your company’s business equipment let’s compare the difference between leasing, getting a loan, using credit, or paying cash.

Equipment Leasing

• Interest rates are fixed
• Fast approval is usually within days
• Down payment is low typically only 1 or 2 payments upfront
• Leases under $150k usually do not require financials
• Lease payments are 100% tax deductible when you show it as an operating expense
• Equipment does not become obsolete because you don’t own it

Getting a Loan

• Interest rates can fluctuate which can become costly
• Approval can take weeks
• Down payment of 10-20% of the total amount is typical using up your company’s cash
• Financial statements are required
• Depreciation can be taken over the useful life of the equipment
• May need to purchase new equipment in the future as existing equipment becomes obsolete

Using Credit

• Interest rates are variable and sometimes fixed
• Approval can take weeks
• Requires 10-20% down on the total purchase amount
• Financial statements are required
• Can use depreciation over the useful life of the equipment
• You own the equipment so it can become obsolete in time

Pay by Cash

• No interest
• Instant purchase with no approval period
• Requires 100% of equipment purchase amount using your company’s cash reserves
• No financials required
• Depreciation can be used
• You own the equipment outright which can become obsolete in time

So if you prefer to conserve your company’s cash some of the most popular equipment you can finance includes computers, office equipment and furniture, heavy machinery, dry cleaning equipment, medical equipment, printing presses, fleet vehicles, and restaurant equipment.

Did you know that over 80% of businesses in the U.S. lease at least one of

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Tired of hearing about the devastating impact a bankruptcy has on your credit?

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The all-important credit score has gained so much significance in our modern lives that a team of researchers from the University of Missouri plan to spend more than a million dollars to study it.

The group of experts was given $1.13 million in grant money by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, and the educational institution released a statement to the media explaining that the focus of their research is to gain more insight into the how disputes related to credit scores are resolved.

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