Finance Globe

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced on Friday the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a larger credit for larger families that offers greater relief for people who struggled through difficult financial times last year.EITC is one of the federal government's largest benefit programs and is now in its thirty-fifth year. Last year, almost 24 million people received $50 billion in benefits, and the average credit was more than $2000."As part of the economic recovery efforts,...

The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis on Friday released the advance estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) for the fourth quarter of 2009. Real GDP rose 5.7% at an annual rate, the second consecutive advance and the strongest increase since the third quarter of 2003."Today's strong GDP showing represents important economic progress that must now be translated into new jobs," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. "Further Recovery Act spending, measures like the $5,000 small...

Sales of existing homes fell in December after a rising surge from September through November. The drop was expected after a rush of buyers raced to meet the original tax credit deadline in November, the National Association of Realtors reported today.However, home prices rose from December 2008 and annual sales in 2009 improved. There were 5,156,000 existing home sales in 2009, 4.9% higher than the 4,913,000 homes sold in 2008. 2009 showed the first annual gain...

A mortgage broker, who was charged in December 2008 by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for throwing consumer's credit reports and other sensitive documents in a publicly-accessible dumpster, was ordered to pay a $35,000 civil penalty to settle the FTC charges.The broker, Gregory Navone, was also ordered to employ a comprehensive information security program for sensitive consumer information, and to hire an independent, third-party security professional to review the program every year for 10 years to...

The percentage of employees who were members of a union was 12.3% in 2009, virtually unchanged from the rate of 12.4% in 2008, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today.The number of wage and salary workers belonging to unions declined by 771,000 to 15.3 million, largely reflecting the drop in employment due to the recession. As a comparison, in 1983 - the first year that comparison data was available - the rate of...

If you have a mortgage, you may have received a letter from a company offering to "help" you pay your home off faster by enrolling you in a bi-weekly mortgage program. Their pitch may sound very convincing and probably seems to make a lot of sense.Here's how it works: On the traditional payment schedule you make one payment a month, equalling twelve payments a year. On the bi-weekly schedule, you make a half payment every two...

The IRS announced today that e-file, the electronic tax return delivery service, is open for business January 15. The most popular method of filing taxes, e-file debuted 20 years ago, delivering 4.2 million tax returns. Last year, IRS e-file delivered 95 million tax returns and is used by two-thirds of the nation's taxpayers."Electronic filing is more and more popular every year, and most taxpayers now e-file. IRS e-file means faster refunds. It means the option to...

This article is a continuation of credit card Rules Part 1. Here's a look at key changes you can expect when the new credit card rules take effect February 22, 2010. Rules about once-common practices that penalize cardholders who pay their bill on timeCard issuers will be prohibited from charging interest on debt that is paid on time. The "double-cycle billing" practice penalizes cardholders for carrying a balance in past months even if they paid off...

New credit card rules take effect February 22, 2010, and information will be covered in two articles. Let's take a look at how key points in the new law will affect you, the consumer. New rules on terms and interest rates Card issuers must give you 45 days notice before they can: raise the card's interest rate.make changes to certain fees (such as annual fees, cash advance fees, and late fees)make other significant changes to the...

The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday approved a final rule amending Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) to protect consumers who use credit cards from a number of costly practices. credit card issuers must comply with most aspects of the rule beginning on February 22, 2010."This rule marks an important milestone in the Federal Reserve's efforts to ensure that consumers who rely on credit cards are treated fairly," said Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth A. Duke. "The rule...