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Human Trafficking in Arlington?

8/18/2013

How Businesses and Arlingtonians Can Help End Human Trafficking.
by Kelly Heinrich, President, Global Freedom Center

Many fellow Chamber members have recently expressed to me their shock at the discovery of human trafficking cases in Northern Virginia, such as cases of domestic workers forced to labor long hours with no pay, passports confiscated, and threatened with deportation in a Saudi compound in McLean; girls being recruited by the gang MS-13 and forced into prostitution at area hotels and apartments; and the fact that our local representatives held a community meeting on the topic because of growing concern.

It’s an issue long assumed to be happening elsewhere when, in fact, it happens everywhere. Worldwide, an estimated 27 million people are enslaved in nearly every industry including agriculture, garment and electronics manufacturing, and mining. It also occurs within more local settings like security, construction, janitorial services, restaurants, and health care services. The victims are men, women and children; citizens and noncitizens; rich and poor; young and elderly. A full 78% is labor trafficking and the remaining 22% is sex trafficking.

Traffickers use whatever means necessary, be it physical or psychological, to compel their victims into work or commercial sex. Common tactics include physical and sexual abuse, exorbitant recruitment fees, bait and switch, inflated debt, threats of arrest and deportation, shame, withheld identity documents, little to no pay, and inhumane treatment.

The sheer scale and tragedy of human trafficking can be overwhelming and lead many to wonder what, if anything, they can do. There are actually a lot of options. Here is a short list of actions each of you can take as Arlingtonians, consumers and businesses:

Download a free ebook to learn the signs so that you can spot trafficking in the community. Less than 1% of victims are identified each year, but we can change that if more people know what to look for.
Read a few real stories to get a better sense of how, why and where this happens.
Now that you know, be alert. While trafficking is hidden, it is still in plain sight. Be aware of domestic workers and au pairs next door, landscapers in the neighborhood, the manicurist who does your nails, the grocery store stockers, etc.
Consult the U.S. Department of Labor’s list of 54 goods produced by forced labor to know where the risks are highest. Our personal and business purchases of everyday items like phones, clothing, shoes, food and toys may be tainted with forced labor.
Search for your favorite brand’s “California Transparency in Supply Chains Act” disclosure statement to read about their policies to maintain a supply chain free of forced labor.
Assess, update and strengthen your company’s procurement policies and practices whether for travel, IT, janitorial, construction, landscaping or security.
Federal contractors should meet the updated compliance obligations specific to trafficking, especially with enforcement now ramping up.
Train your employees about your policies and so that they can be eyes and ears in the community.
Donate in kind services and volunteers to anti-trafficking organizations in the area.
Equip teenagers with information about personal safety and workplace rights.
Seek training on how to identify trafficking if you are within criminal justice, education, health and mental health, immigration or social services. These professionals are most likely to come across trafficking in the course of their daily work.

Any of these simple actions can contribute to identifying or preventing human trafficking and your help is needed right here in Arlington. Learn more at www.GlobalFreedomCenter.org.
human trafficking, forced labor, labor trafficking, community, law

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The New (But Maybe Not Improved) Home Office Deduction

8/15/2013

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by Jay E. Reiner, Managing Member, Jay E. Reiner CPA PLLC

If you want a great commute and low overhead, working from home is a good thing. Being able to save on taxes by doing that is just icing on the cake.

If you’re in business for yourself, the expenses you incur that are directly attributable to your business are deductible. For example, the supplies you buy at Staples, the lunch with the prospective client, and the Metro fare to get to that lunch are deductible.

There are additional hoops to jump through when claiming a home office deduction, so I’ll lay some of them out, and also tell you about the newest way to claim the deduction.

Trade or business - A home office deduction can only be taken for a trade or business activity. You can’t claim it for something personal, such as trading stocks/managing investments for yourself.

Regular and exclusive use - The room or separate area of your home that is used for your business must be used only for that business. For example, if you operate your business from your dining room table, but also use that room for family meals, it’s not being used ‘regularly and exclusively’ for the business, and a deduction wouldn’t be allowed. If you have one bedroom in your home that’s your dedicated office, and your family uses the other rooms for personal purposes, that one bedroom would qualify.

Principal place of business - If you conduct your business at more than one location, you must consider the relative importance of each location you operate from, to determine if the home office is your principal place of business. If the home office is where you regularly carry out your administrative activities (and you have no other fixed location to do it), the home office will qualify.

Employee - If you work for somebody else, there’s a potential to claim a home office deduction, but the office must be used for the convenience of your employer, not your convenience. For example, if your employer’s main office is in California, but you’re the Virginia sales rep and there’s no VA office, you may be entitled to a deduction. If there’s an office in VA but you choose to work at home, no deduction.

Say you’ve jumped through all the hoops and you’ve determined that your home office qualifies for the deduction; what are you actually able to deduct? Good question!

Deductible items can be direct and indirect. Direct expenses are ones that are paid just for that home office space, such as a repair in that one room. Indirect expenses are the most common, and are expenses that apply to the entire home, and need to be allocated. Some common ones are mortgage interest, real estate tax, rent, and utilities. Indirect expenses are allocated based on what percentage of your total living space is used regularly and exclusively for business. For example, if you rent an apartment that’s 1000 square feet, and the one bedroom you use for biz is 250 square feet, 25% of your indirect expenses would be deductible as the home office deduction.

As you can imagine, there’s a bunch of recordkeeping involved to be able to claim the deduction, and you may not want to go through the hassle. You could still be in luck, since IRS changed the rules, effective for the 2013 tax year. There’s a new, simplified method of computing the home office deduction, which is $5 per square foot of home office space, to a maximum deduction of $1,500. You have the option of picking whichever method gives you the larger deduction, but given the housing costs in this area, the new method may not be improved, since it would probably yield a lower deduction than the old method. Regardless of which method you choose, you need to maintain sufficient records to uphold the deduction in case of audit.

Saving money on taxes is a great thing, but what would be even better than claiming the home office deduction is if your office is big enough to host a future Business After Business!

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Should You Take a Pension Buyout?

8/1/2013

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This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local financial advisor.

Have you recently received a pension buyout offer? If so, you need to decide if you should take the buyout, which could provide you with a potentially large lump sum, or continue accepting your regular pension payments for the rest of your life. It’s a big decision.
Clearly, there’s no “one size fits all” answer — your choice needs to be based on your individual circumstances. So, as you weigh your options, you’ll need to consider a variety of key issues, including the following:

Estate considerations — Your pension payments generally end when you and/or your spouse dies, which means your children will get none of the money. But if you were to roll the lump sum into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), and you don’t exhaust it in your lifetime, you could still have something to leave to your family members.
Taxes — If you take the lump sum and roll the funds into your IRA, you control how much you’ll be taxed and when, based on the amounts you choose to withdraw and the date you begin taking withdrawals. (Keep in mind, though, that you must start taking a designated minimum amount of withdrawals from a traditional IRA when you reach age 70½. Withdrawals taken before age 59½ are subject to taxes and penalties.) But if you take a pension, you may have less control over your income taxes, which will be based on your monthly payments.
Inflation — You could easily spend two or three decades in retirement — and during that time, inflation can really add up. To cite just one example, the average cost of a new car was $7,983 in 1982; 30 years later, that figure is $30,748, according to TrueCar.com. If your pension checks aren’t indexed for inflation, they will lose purchasing power over time. If you rolled over your lump sum into an IRA, however, you could put the money into investments offering growth potential, keeping in mind, of course, that there are no guarantees.
Cash flow — If you’re already receiving a monthly pension, and you’re spending every dollar you receive just to meet your living expenses, you may be better off by keeping your pension payments intact. If you took the lump sum and converted it into an IRA, you can withdraw whatever amount you want (as long as you meet the required minimum distributions), but you’ll have to avoid withdrawing so much that you’ll eventually run out of money.
Confidence in future pension payments — From time to time, companies are forced to reduce their pension obligations due to unforeseen circumstances. You may want to take this into account as you decide whether to continue taking your monthly pension payments, but it’s an issue over which you have no control. On the other hand, once your lump sum is in an IRA, you have control over both the quality and diversification of your investment dollars. However, the trade-off is that investing is subject to various risks, including loss of principal.

Before selecting either the lump sum or the monthly pension payments, weigh all the factors carefully to make sure your decision fits into your overall financial strategy. With a choice of this importance, you will probably want to consult with your financial and tax advisors. Ultimately, you may find that this type of offer presents you with a great opportunity — so take the time to consider your options.

finance, retirement, pension, buyout
Financial Planning

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ChAmber Blog

Human Trafficking in Arlington?

The New (But Maybe Not Improved) Home Office Deduction

Should You Take a Pension Buyout?

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