It’s tax time again. As freelancers, April 15th one of four big days we need to pay attention to from a business perspective. Why four? Because unlike our corporate counterparts, freelancers need to pay estimated taxes on a quarterly basis. If you’re only just now getting your freelance tax act together, this article will show you 5 last-minute freelance tax deductions you may not have considered yet.

Disclaimer: These are suggestions based on my three and a half years as a successful freelance writer and web consultant. Please consult a tax professional for your specific tax needs.

Tip #1: Books and Subscriptions

If you work as a writer, designer or other creative professional, all those books and subscriptions you bought to help keep your skills current are tax deductible. These should go on your Schedule C under Other Expenses and itemized in part V.

Tip #2 Mileage For Client Visits

If you work from home but occasionally need to visit clients at their place of business, you can deduct 55 cents per mile in 2009, plus any costs for parking and tolls. Make sure you keep a detailed journal of all business-related mileage plus a record of the overall annual mileage you put on your vehicle.

Tip #3 Shelter Your Profit With A SEP Retirement Plan

A SEP (Simplified Employee Pension) plan is very similar to a traditional IRA, and a great way for freelancers to shelter 20% of schedule C net income up to a maximum of $49,000 in 2009. If you haven’t opened an account yet, you have until April 15th to do so. Once in place, you or your representative will be responsible for directing investments and maximizing contributions.

Tip #4 Deductions For Internet Access and Other Communications

Many home-based workers use a dedicated cable or DSL internet connection for business purposes, while others use a household service that is bundled with household telephone and television services. Whichever you use, make sure to deduct the portion used for business. Don’t forget to include monthly data plans for smart phones or backup networks such as laptop network cards.

Tip #5 Home Office Deduction

If you work from home as a freelancer, you may be able to deduct expenses related to the business use of your home. These expenses can include mortgage interest, insurance, utilities, repairs and depreciation. The home office deduction isn’t just for homeowners – you can take advantage of it even if you rent.

To qualify, make sure you pass these two requirements: 1) You must regularly use part of your home exclusively for conducting business, and 2) you must be able to demonstrate that your home is used as your principal place of business. Most home office deductions are based on the percentage of your home used for business, so you’ll need to figure out the amount of space dedicated to your business. For example, if your home office takes up 250 square feet of a 2500 square foot home, you can deduct 10% of all qualified costs. But be careful with depreciation, as you’ll need to recapture it upon the sale of your home.

Pay Your Taxes, But Don’t Pay More Than You Have To

Deductions can mean the difference between profit or loss in your small business for a given tax year. The IRS knows you’re in business to make money, so if you show a loss over multiple years they will classify your business as a hobby rather than a going concern. Take your deductions honestly, but don’t pay more taxes than you have to.

Credit: Stylee (via Flickr)

The biggest healthcare overhaul in decades has been endorsed recently by the US House of Representatives and the bill finally moves to the Senate, with 219 Democrats and 1 Republican voting for it. The lone Republican supporter was Anh Cao of Louisiana. Thirty-nine Democrats voted against the bill.

The bill could only be passed after an amendment was included, which imposes strict bans on using federal funds to finance abortion. This amendment was put forward by the anti-abortion Democrats and their Republican supporters. It was only after that dozens of Democrats came forward to back the health care package.

The anti-abortion amendment was put forth by the Democrat of Michigan, Rep. Bart Stupak, which read, “No funds authorized or appropriated by this Act … may be used to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion.”

Exception can only be made in cases where the woman could die if the abortion is not performed, or if the pregnancy is a result of incest or rape.  Opponents feel that this amendment would affect lower-income working-class women by drastically reducing access to abortion.

Democrat of California, Nancy Pelosi, who was a longtime supporter of abortion rights, talked to Democratic abortion rights advocates in an attempt to gain their support for the amendment, in order to get the bill passed, but many of them walked out of her office because of the strong anti-abortion suggestions in the bill.

However, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement urging Catholics to lend their support to the healthcare bill, which they said was “unambiguously pro-life.”

President Obama in a speech after the vote said, “Thanks to the hard work of the House, we are just two steps away from achieving health insurance reform in America.  Now the US Senate must follow suit and pass its version of the legislation.  I am absolutely confident it will.”

This bill is expected to expand coverage to nearly all Americans and eradicate insurance practices such as not covering people with pre-existing conditions.

While Democrats are excited with the outcome, most Republicans criticized the bill, talking about the new taxes on the wealthy and they also expressed that this was excessive interference by the government in the private health sector.

According to Republican representative, Roy Blunt, “We can’t afford this Bill. It’s a 2,000 page road map to a government takeover of healthcare.”

The Republican National Committee released a statement, “Today with help from their liberal House allies, President Obama and Nancy Pelosi finally got what they have been creating behind closed doors these past months — a government-run health care experiment that will increase families’ health care costs, increase the deficit, increase taxes on small businesses and the middle class, and cut Medicare,” the statement said.

This overhaul is expected to spark the biggest changes ever in the $2.5 trillion US health-care system since the beginning of the Medicare government health program in 1965 for the elderly.

The bill will also lower the federal deficit by $104 billion by the year 2019.  These savings would be a result of deep cuts to federal programs, especially to Medicare. The bill includes a mandate that individuals and families have to obtain insurance or end up paying a penalty, which guarantees funneling of millions of dollars to insurance companies in the form of new customers.

While insurers will not have a right to deny coverage or charge more for premiums for individuals with pre-existing conditions, there are no restrictions whatsoever on what they can charge overall.

Many are of the opinion that while Obama took a stance for universal health care during his presidential bid; in just one year, he now supports a legislation that would leave millions of Americans without insurance. Instead of a right of the people to healthcare, it would give the insurance companies the right to collect premiums and charge what they wish to.

When will the bill turn into law?  This remains to be seen.  It’s not clear when the Senate will vote on this health care legislation. If the Senate passes its bill, then the House and Senate bills will have to be reconciled into one document and there will be voting on that again.

Credit: JT (Via Flickr)

There are several helping natured people who give back to the needy. With so many unemployed residents, there is always need for a helping hand.  This helping hand is provided by the following businesses for the unemployed in their communities.

Free Dry Cleaning

National Drycleaners in Seattle is offering laundry service free for people who have an interview coming up, and there have been many takers.  The owner, Erstad is of the opinion that there are several ways of helping people in the neighborhood.

They got good feedback from people and he encourages other business owners to do the same and offer their services to the unemployed.  This not only helps the customers but also their businesses in the long run, as it generates a lot of good will while providing great publicity from local media.  Erstad says that although he could not afford to advertise on television, with this gesture, he managed to get his name out there.

Free Stay At An Inn

The Rabbit Hill Inn in Lower Waterford, Vt. has a “Pink Slip Giveaway Getaway” program, which targets people who have been unemployed for at least six months.  This works by taking a monthly drawing with the winner enjoying a free two-night stay at this inn that belongs to Leslie and Brian Mulcahy. They let people know about this program by using press releases in the local media.

They are doing this because they themselves went through unemployment earlier and understand how bad it can get. This offer is open up to Jan 2010 and they have experienced immense success with this, with hundreds of entries coming in.

This promotion led to increase in business in terms of higher number of customers as well as referrals.

How About Getting A Pair Of Shoes Free?

Hells.com is a Charlotte, N.C. based online retailer that is giving away professional shoes to job-seeking women in that area.

The director said that they surprised women by giving away brand-new shoes free of charge, to give them more confidence during their interviews.  This company wanted to offer something positive to people when everything around us seems to be negative at this point. They have received numerous messages of gratitude from women who got the jobs.

Out of Job?  See How A Martial Arts Class Can Help

Bayonne Karate in N.J. is owned by Patrick Cunningham, who came up with an exciting idea for the unemployed.  He invited the local unemployed to get rid of their miseries with karate. The studio offered a Bruce Lee style aerobic workout every Tuesday and Thursday morning for three months in a row.

Cunningham is extremely pleased with the fact that the participants who came in sad and tired went back home with a smile on their faces. They felt more positive towards life and were all charged up to go out and find work.  The best part is that most of them found employment.

This wonderful gesture spread so fast through word-of-mouth that the center picked up several customers after that.

Free Haircut In St. Petersburg, Fla.

The unemployment rate in this area is about 11% and this promoted Albie Mulcahy, a salon owner to give the unemployed something to make them feel better.  He understands the importance of what a confidence booster looking good can be; especially when attending interviews. He offered 150 unemployed people a free hair cut and style at the salon on a weekend.

He revealed that he was sympathetic to the stories he keeps hearing from his clients about losing their jobs and wanted to give something back to the community.

People who took advantage of this free haircut got to know of this through news and the local blogs. Some of them couldn’t hide their emotions and cried when given a haircut.

The local media coverage benefited the business by driving in more customers.

With times being hard and cash hard to come by, it can get quite depressing for the unemployed. Their emotional status is usually so low that they end up not giving their best even in their interviews due to lack of confidence.  Every small gesture of love and understanding makes a huge difference.  These businesses have achieved in doing their bit and bringing cheer to their faces. This is what a community is all about.

Credit: Casa Branca (via Flickr)

The Group of Twenty (G-20) is a forum of central bank governors and finance ministers of the biggest industrialized and developing economies created to discuss key issues affecting the global economy.  The G-20 countries account for two-thirds of the population in the world, 80% of world trade and 90% of global GDP.

Reason for forming the G-20

In the year 1997 and 1998, the Asian financial crisis led to fear of an economic meltdown globally and the need for a platform to discuss these issues and look into the improvement was felt by world leaders.  Thus, in 1999, the G-20 was created in response to this need.

How does the G-20 work?

Although, there are no criteria for membership, the group has nineteen of the world’s largest economies as members. Along with the G-7 industrialized nations, the group also consists of emerging economies like India, China, Brazil, Russia, South Korea, South Africa, Argentina, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Australia.  The last member (20^th) is the European Union, where the country holding the current EU presidency acts as its representative at the G-20.   Right now, it is the Czech Republic that holds the presidency.

Apart from this group of twenty, the World Bank and the IMF also attend G-20 meetings.

The first meeting was held in the year 1999 and the chairmanship rotates each year, with Britain heading the G-20 for 2009.

How the G-20 has evolved

G-20, as we have seen was formed in a crisis situation to discuss ways of averting a global meltdown.  Over the years, the range of issues discussed have increased, with the inclusion of domestic reforms, commodity markets, global energy resources, clean energy and a host of others.

In 2008, at the Washington summit, there was yet another change introduced, where along with the central bank governors and finance ministers, a leader level meeting was also conducted to discuss the financial crisis of 2008.  The Washington summit was followed by the London summit on April 2, 2009.

Details of the London Summit

With the current global economy in the dumps, the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President, Nicolas Sarkozy took the initiative and asked for the meeting, to discuss this pressing issue.  They had also invited Thailand, which is the chairman of Asean (the Association of South East Asian Nations) and Ethiopia, which is the chairman of Nepad (the New Partnership for Africa’s Development).

Although, there were huge expectations from the London summit; locally, it is being seen more as an attempt by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, to boost his popularity at home. Critics are also not convinced of Brown’s stand that it is an initiative for the leaders of world’s major economies and important institutions to discuss and take the necessary action to stabilize the world economy and secure jobs.

Commitments to strengthen the financial system and resources of around 1.1 trillion dollars to support jobs and growth across the world, were made at the London Summit.

G-20’s future issues

With the world economy and financial markets facing serious global challenges and the severity of ongoing uncertainties, there is need for urgent action.  The G-20 is now driving forward to work between advanced and emerging economies to handle this crisis situation sensibly, restore financial stability worldwide and lead the international economic recovery. To be able to secure the future of all countries, it is important to identify and understand the root causes of the current international financial crisis to ensure this does not repeat again in the future.

Another agenda on the G-20 to-do list is the long-term issue of climate change.  The main challenge for the G-20 was financing the global carbon emission reductions and helping developing nations that are worst affected by the climate change.  Poor nations asked for funds to help them develop sustainability to the expected increase in warming.  The question remains as to what the world leaders will think of this.   Countries like the US and Japan are doing their best to combat this.  In the US, tighter energy efficiency standards are being passed and in Japan, deep emission cuts are being pledged.   But there is not much time left. Environmentalists hoping for some sort of a concrete action on climate change remain disappointed, and G-20 has a big task on its hands.

G-20 is the coming together of the nations to collectively look into the needs of the world today and find solutions to key issues.

How difficult is saving money?  It’s not easy and there are very few people who understand the art of saving.  I often see people giving tips on saving money, but not many of them target youngsters and that’s the intention of this article, to give some ideas to both students and working people.

People talk about refinancing mortgages, but young people don’t have one.  Another commonly talked about thing is not to use ATMs because of the fees, but how many college students actually pay ATM fees?  Most banks provide free withdrawals.

Here is a compilation of a list of things to do to save at least about $200 per month, and that too – without ever feeling deprived.  If you do things right, you will never feel like you’re missing out on something.

Dinner  - Going out for dinner with a group of friends can be loads of fun.  But after eating your fill without bothering to look at the prices, paying the bill is certainly not fun.  If you spend around $50 per meal, you’re down $100 with just two dinners.

You can reduce that by ordering smart.  Instead of ordering an entrée for $20 or so, order a dinner salad for $10 or $15.  Just limit yourself to one cocktail instead of two.  Split a desert with a friend or don’t have one.  Saving on eating out can really make a difference and you don’t have to stop eating out.

Coffee Outings – Lattes anyone? I know you love them and you drink at least one per day.  At $5 each, it amounts to $35 per week – just for coffee.  A simple change can help here.  Instead of buying them, make them yourself.  Just buy a mug and keep some milk in the refrigerator.  Mix 3 parts coffee and 2 parts milk.  You can flavor your latte with a Sugar Free Caramel Syrup.  You don’t really need espresso, as this itself tastes wonderful.  Some days, when you feel desperate to have one, coffee house is certainly open for you.

Bars – Drinks and friends go together and it is no fun drinking alone. But going out for a drink can be really expensive!  Especially so when you spend a night out and forget the number of drinks you have.   Why not have a couple of drinks at home before hitting the bars.  A couple of drinks less in a bar means you save a lot, even if you party just twice a month.

Cell Phones – This is where most people go wrong – paying for plans with too many minutes than is actually required.  Get into plans that provide unlimited nights or weekends and talk to your heart’s content during that time, at no cost to you.  Remember, going over the minutes provided in the plan can be very expensive.

DVDs – Buying DVDs is something we all do but renting them can work out cheaper.  Even if you buy a couple of DVDs every month, renting will be cheaper, as there are many rentals offering them at around $9 or so a month.  If you want to go to the movies, try and do that when there are promotions running.  Just a little control can take you a long way in getting into the habit of saving, which will help you throughout your life.

If you can put in just a little bit of effort to bring in these lifestyle changes, you will be able to save on dining out, bars, coffee, cell phones and movies/DVDs.  Enjoy everything you have always done.  Go to the movies, use a cell phone, drink coffee, visit the bars with your friends and have drinks but still manage to save at least $200 per month.  Believe me, if you consciously try and implement these subtle changes, you will soon find that you’re not missing out on anything at all and you are not feeling deprived either.

Now, there are lots of things you can do with the savings.  Want to buy a new outfit?  Saving to buy a ring?  Need to pay for something? The options of spending that money you saved are limitless.  Go out and enjoy – while you save.

If you think economics and CIA are poles apart, you cannot be more wrong. Financial knowledge is a must for the CIA, especially so in the current global crisis.  Producing daily economic intelligence briefing for the president of the United States calls for a great deal of knowledge and CIA has been doing this since February, in addition to providing him with regular intelligence reports every day. This briefing is also different from the one provided to him on a daily basis by his National Economic Council.

To cater to such demands, CIA is going all out and making the most of the financial meltdown by recruiting financially literate spies – ex financial geniuses from Wall Street.

This is not the first time CIA is doing this kind of recruiting.  It has always employed economic analysts and during the Cold War period, they studied the Soviet economy to gain an understanding into how much military spending it was able to support.

“Economics, finance and business professionals – if the quest for the bottom line is just not enough for you, the CIA has a mission like no other. Join CIA’s directorate of intelligence and be a part of our global mission as an economic or financial analyst.  Make a difference in your career and for your nation,” says one radio advertisement.

CIA currently needs analysts who are completely in tune with the world’s financial markets and able to assess their impact on the United States. Governments get destabilized due to financial problems.  According to Gordon, Director of global research at the Eurasia Group, this need arises due to the global financial crisis, as it has emerged as the top national security threat facing the US.

There are two key areas of interest for the CIA; one is the assessment of how other countries respond to financial pressures and the risks they generate internally and secondly, they would like to know how terrorists, drug gangs, enemy states, such as Iran and North Korea are acting financially.

The importance of highly trained Wall Street pros cannot be undermined.  They are adept at analyzing markets, identifying appropriate investment opportunities and making deals to make money.  CIA wants to tap this potential and is using radio ads to ask them to consider using their invaluable experience for the benefit of national security.

CIA is at an advantage to attract the best of the talent from Wall Street due to the current job scenario.  A spokesman for recruitment and retention at the CIA, Ron Patrick, said that they have received hundreds of resumes from applicants this year, including students and laid-off bankers from Wall Street.  Patrick said “It’s going to be a very different use of their skill set than perhaps they’ve used on Wall Street.”

There are ex-investment bankers from Wall Street who are already working for the CIA.  One of them says, “There’s no question that an understanding of the global financial system and how money moves from place to place and sort of the economic motivations of the bad guys that we look at are all important skills that I’ve been able to transfer from investment banking.”

All applicants will have to go through a battery of checks, which includes a lie-detector test, rigorous medical and background checks.  The applicants will have to show that they are motivated by service to the nation and not just to their wallet.

Starting salaries are certainly not comparable to the high pay of Wall Street and are expected to be between $60,000 for a fresh graduate and $100,000 for an experienced person.  They can reach as high as $160,000.

Recently, there has been an increasing interest in CIA careers and the proof lies in the resumes they received this year, which is the most they ever received.   With thousands of young professionals looking for new jobs, this recruitment may prove to be much more than what they have been looking for, providing them the opportunity to serve the nation while earning a decent pay; in spite of it not being what they were paid at Wall Street. These are perfect jobs for people who have a passion for the country and want to make a difference.  That is the kind of person CIA is looking for!

With the economy the way it is, there are so many of us who have been laid off and trying to find an alternative employment, and trying to make ends meet. If you are one of those even remotely thinking of or interested in working from the comfort of your home, you will be excited to learn of the number of opportunities that exist.

Being laid off is no longer one of life’s injustices – who knows it could just be a blessing in disguise.

In spite of the scams that exist online in the name of work-at-home opportunities, there do exist legitimate wage-earning telecommuting jobs, which is what most people want to get into. Many of these jobs are in the fields of virtual assistance and customer service and some of them even offer limited benefits in the form of withholding taxes or sending out 1099 forms.

In spite of these jobs being genuine, they don’t pay very well and they are hard work. In most cases, you will have to get your own equipment and spend for electricity, and these expenses are not reimbursed. In fact, the hourly wages are not competitive enough. However, this works out for some people and if you are one of them, sure go ahead.

But frankly, if you want to work from home, you don’t really need a job, all you need is an idea and the willingness to try it out. Starting a service based home business is easier than most people realize and can be done without any investment. All you need to do is find a few good clients, get paid and share your income with Uncle Sam – as simple as that.

Here are ten home-based businesses that are very easy to start:

Web Designer – Every small business owner knows the importance of having a web presence but many have no clue how to go about setting up a website. Web sdesigners earn thousands of dollars and you can too, if you have the skill. You can offer your services through your own website or through any of the freelance sites online. This can earn you some good money.

Freelance Writer – Lots of online content is outsourced. If you have a passion for writing, you can pick up several writing jobs online. Sites like www.guru.com, www.elance.com or www.odesk.com are just a few of the freelance sites. Many writers earn a full-fledged income just following their love for writing.

Local Travel Guide – If you happen to live in a tourist location or if you are good at hiking fishing or hunting, you can offer your services as a guide and pursue your hobby while earning money. One of the most popular are walking tours in historic places and you need nothing to get started, except of course your eagerness and some knowledge.

Dog Walking or Pet Sitting – Your love for animals can be translated into a profession. You will have to find good clients and show that you care for their pets, and you will have pet owners falling all over themselves to get you to help them.

Personal Assistant – You can offer your services to run errands for professionals or families, who have no time to take care of things. These tasks can be anything from making travel arrangements, shopping, paying bills, party arrangements etc.

Teacher – Are you great with a piano? What about math? English or some foreign language? Teach people how to do what you are good at and earn money by doing so. You can make as much as $30 for a half-hour session, and if you spend about 4 or 5 hours a day, just imagine the kind of money you could be making.

Cook – If you are interested in or have a talent for cooking delectable food, then you might as well become a chef. There is no investment as you are not going to buy anything, as the kitchens you cook in belong to your clients. Many personal chefs cook for an entire week, label the meals and freeze them. You can take up a few clients this way.

Gardener – Organic vegetables are gaining popularity and you can take advantage of this. Even if you don’t want to install and maintain your own garden, which may require some work, you can always do that for others. To find clients, you can have your business card posted at the local garden centers.

Event Planner – Weddings, parties and celebrations of all sorts need a great deal of planning and people who can afford it, hire out these jobs to specialists. You can be the go-to-person who takes care of everything related to major events and if your clients are satisfied, your name will spread like wild fire through word-of-mouth and you will end up with more work than you can handle.

Baby Sitting – This is something that has been around for a long time but there is always the need for more babysitters, with people getting busier. If you love kids and have the time to take care of them, this could be perfect for you. The rich are willing to pay any price to find a good and honest person to look after their children while they are away. Land yourself some rich clients, and your life is made.

There is really no need to work for others, when you can earn a high hourly wage doing what you love. I don’t say this is going to be any easier, as there are all sort of clients and some weeks, you may be having more work than can be handled, but it is still worth it for the great rewards. You can double or even triple your hourly wages you earn at your job. You also get to meet a lot of interesting people and improve your connections, which could come in handy. And the best part is that you can “fire” your clients, if you are not happy.

It’s no secret that the U.S. economy is in bad shape. The housing bubble burst. The stock market crashed. People lost a lot of their retirement savings. The federal government has been bailing out big industries like banks and auto makers. State governments are feuding over state budgets. People are losing their jobs with some of the highest unemployment rates young professionals have seen in their lifetime.

Who’s to blame for the recession we’re in? It’s a hotly debated topic, and there really is no single right answer. The economic recession didn’t stem from a single group or a lone action. But to help you understand how the current economic situation came about, let’s look at three groups that had a hand in it:

The Federal Reserve – For years, the Fed kept interest rates low. Low interest rates help to grow the economy–they make borrowing (and therefore spending based on that borrowing) more attractive to consumers. Low interest rates also benefit banks making loans, because it’s easier for them to attract new customers as they advertise that low interest. The problem is that low interest leading to growth is good when the economy needs a boost; not so much when it’s already booming. That can lead to rapid inflation like we saw for years with the skyrocketing housing prices around the country.

Banks - You would probably be hard-pressed to find any American who didn’t hold banks at least partly to blame for the credit crunch-turned-recession. The fact that their tax dollars then went to bail out the banks with little oversight certainly didn’t help matters. And they would be right. Banks played a major role in the current crisis–a role stemming from greed.

To explain it as simply as possible, banks knowingly loaned money (through mortgages for over-inflated housing prices) to people who couldn’t afford it. They did it for the sole purpose of earning more money–they can charge much higher interest on sub-prime loans to people at the most risk of not paying them back.

Why did banks take that risk? Well frankly, they didn’t consider it to be that much of a risk at the time. They had at least two back-up plans:

1. They had insurance (through companies like AIG) to help cover their potential losses.
2. The housing market at the time showed no signs of slowing down. Therefore, if they foreclosed on a home, they had a good chance of selling it back on the market for an even higher price.

Everyone knows that markets fluctuate through inflation and recession, and that every bubble will eventually burst. The problem with banks is that they just didn’t care. They wanted to make as much money as possible in the short-term with little regard for the long-term.

Credit: Steve Woods

Consumers – Yes, even consumers just like you played a role in the current economic recession. Let’s be honest about it. If people lived within their means without a sense of entitlement to more, they wouldn’t have racked up debt they couldn’t afford.

In their defense, the average consumer is somewhat easily sucked in by promises of low interest and great deals (if the marketing messages and sales pitches didn’t work on many, people wouldn’t use them across most sales-oriented industries). Banks basically promised high-risk consumers something they never thought they’d have–a house of their own. People who otherwise would have stayed in their smaller homes or continued to rent strove for something better, but something they ultimately knew they couldn’t afford.

No single person, or even a single industry, led to the collapse of the housing market or our overall economic recession. While it may be easy to place blame on whoever the media or government is targeting on any given day, when you really think about the situation critically you see that there’s plenty of blame to go around. While you can’t say any one person caused the recession, you can be sure of one thing–the economy will rebound. It may not happen as quickly as we’d like, but it always does. Following every boom there comes a bust. And after every bust we rebuild.

The rising unemployment woes are giving way to some cheer, thanks to the retail giant, considered to be an unscathed entity in the current financial turmoil – Wal-Mart Stores.

At a time when the major retailers, including Costco, Target and Best Buy are struggling to beat the recession and the retail industry seeing extensive layoffs, Wal-Mart is at the other end of the spectrum, all by itself.

The news that Wal-Mart has decided to recruit people for about 150 new or expanded stores’ in the United States comes as a pleasant surprise. The company will be creating more than 22,000 jobs for Americans during this period of economic hardship. Although, this figure is less than that of 2008, it is extremely impressive in the current scenario that leaves thousands of people jobless each month.

The economic crisis in the US has seen thousands of people lose their jobs, as employers started trimming their workforce in the past year, as a way of cutting costs. The official unemployment rate is said to be above 9 percent.

According to Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman of Wal-Mart, “Job creation is just one way in which we’re working hard every day to help people across this country live better.”

Wal-Mart would be taking employees for different positions; including store management, human resource managers, pharmacists, customer service associates, sales associates and cashiers. The company is planning on generating jobs in various states; 1,300 jobs in Arizona, 1,300 in Florida, 1,200 in New Jersey, 1,000 in California, 1,500 in Michigan, 1,200 in Utah, 1,000 in South Carolina, 1,100 in Virginia and others.

In spite of being considered as one of the best employers, Wal-Mart has been facing its share of criticism, mainly for the low pay and benefits as well as for preventing its employees from forming unions. This may be true to some extent, but the fact also remains that Wal-Mart is one of the very few large companies in the U.S. that contributes to improving national employment.

Now, with the announcement made to provide thousands of jobs, Wal-Mart has also improved its employee benefits, in the form of health insurance coverage, which is available at cheap rates for both full-time as well as part-time employees; a 401(k) plan, profit sharing bonuses annually, stock purchases and discounts for its workers making in-store purchases. It was only recently that this employer has given out more than $2 billion in bonuses, payments into the 401(k) plan and profit sharing. There are few other companies that put money in to the 401(k) plan without the employee also putting in money.

Satisfied employees who work at Wal-Mart talk about several other benefits they enjoy, such as getting cancer, dental, short and long-term disability and others. They also say they are guaranteed a 40 cent an hour raise every year just for coming to work and doing their job perfectly. They get discounts on child care, gyms, car purchases, cell phones, travel etc.

Yes, there is a section of society who is unhappy with the way Wal-Mart looks after its employees. There are several people who love to hate Wal-Mart. But the fact remains that a job is better than no job. Some pay is certainly far better than stretching hands in front of the government. A hiring employer is better than one laying off. There will always be detractors but as long as the basic essentials are provided at affordable rates for families who cannot afford to spend much in the current situation and thousands of unemployed are being given jobs, then there can be nothing to complain about.

Regardless of everything else, a majority of Americans agree that Wal-Mart is a trendsetter and this is good news for the American economy. This retailer will provide thousands of Americans a career again and help them get back on their feet. These positions could be filled by housewives looking to earn extra income for the family or they can even be taken up by students looking for help to make their way through college.

Google, Intel, General Electric and Hewlett-Packard may lose tax credits and be forced to pony up more in the form of tax dollars to Uncle Sam.

If you’re wondering what these companies have in common – they all have operations outside of the United States. Barack Obama reiterated in no uncertain terms that there will be no tax breaks for companies creating jobs outside US.

Recently, at a White House meeting that was meant to reveal the tax reforms to ensure American multinationals start paying corporate taxes and keep jobs within the US, President Obama spoke strongly about the existing US system, giving the example of India. He said, it encourages paying “lower taxes if you create a job in Bangalore, India, than if you create one in Buffalo, New York.”

Under the existing US tax code, American companies with subsidiaries in foreign countries, do not have to pay US taxes on the profits from their subsidiaries until the time when money is transferred back to the US. As long as the money earned is put back into the foreign subsidiaries, they can avoid paying taxes and US businesses take advantage of this “loophole” as many call it, in the tax code. This means creating more jobs in other countries where the subsidiaries exist.

The change in plan, revealed by Obama is to prevent US firms from enjoying foreign tax credits on income that is not subject to US taxes. Also the firms that are now able to shift income legally from one foreign subsidiary to another, to avoid taxes, cannot do so anymore.

According to Obama, the existing tax code acts as an incentive for US companies to invest overseas instead of providing jobs within the US. The government hopes to raise $210 billion in tax revenue in ten years, with the implementation of the new plan.

Under the new plan, US companies with foreign subsidiaries will lose all tax credits and will be have to cough up more tax.

Obama said during the White House announcement, “I want to see our companies remain the most competitive in the world. But the way to make sure that happens is not to reward our companies for moving jobs off our shores or transferring profits to overseas tax havens.”

Experts say that a wide-range of companies will be impacted by the changes, from banking institutions to hedge funds, from technology companies to pharmaceuticals.

Drew Lyon, a principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Washington office who is a tax policy advisor for Fortune 500 companies says, “It’s really hitting most Fortune 100 companies that depend to a great deal on growth of foreign markets for growing their total earnings. About half of multinationals companies’ income is earned abroad.”

Proponents of these tax changes say that they have also been expecting the top U.S. corporate tax rate to be reduced, since most other countries have lower corporate tax rates. They feel that foreign tax credit changes alone will most likely be a discouragement for companies to invest in the US. There also has to be a reduction in corporate rate, which would help create jobs in the United States because then there would not be a huge advantage for businesses to move to countries that are tax friendly.

Tax policy experts agree with this and say that these measures, unless accompanied by a reduction in the corporate tax rate, will only have the opposite effect of companies moving their operations, as well as jobs, overseas to more tax friendly countries.

Opponents within the Obama government and several business groups have already started lobbying against this to kill any attempts at increasing taxes on overseas profits. They say that such a move would only make American companies less competitive.

Foreign companies are not really worried with this stance taken by the President and heave a sigh of relief. This is because these tax proposals have nothing to do with off shoring or outsourcing. They say that the proposals appear to be aimed at addressing the tax rate differentials that exist across the world. It will impact only American headquartered companies with operations overseas.

Several analyst firms in the US are of the opinion that it is shortsighted to think that outsourcing is reversible and cutting tax breaks will help in the creation of jobs in the US. They feel that the consequences of such a move engulfing different countries can be larger than the current recessionary scenario.