A SPECIAL ONE TIME TAX CREDIT ON YOUR 2006 TAX RETURN

This is from CNN Money.com. http://money.CNN.Com/2006/05/25/news/
telephonetax_refund/index.htm

When it comes time to prepare and file your 2006 tax return,
make sure you don't overlook the "federal excise tax refund credit."

You claim the c redit on line 71 of your form 1040.

A similar line will be available if you file the short form 1040A.

If you have family or friends who no longer file a tax return AND they
have their own land phone in their home and have been paying
a phone bill for years, make sure they know about this form 1040EZ-T.

What is this all about?

Well the federal excise tax has been charge to you on your phone bill
for years.

It is an old tax that was assessed on your toll calls based on how far
the call was being made and how much time you talked on that call.

When phone companies began to offer flat fee phone service,challenges
to the excise tax ended up in federal courts in several districts of
the country.

The challenges pointed out that flat fee/rate phone service had nothing
to do with the distance and the length of the phone call.

Therefore, the excise tax should/could not be assessed.

The IRS has now conceded this argument.

Phone companies have been given notice to stop assessing the federal
excise tax as of Aug 30, 2006.

You will most likely see the tax on your September cutoff statement,
but it should NOT be on your October bill.

But the challengers of the old law also demanded restitution.

So the IRS has announced that a one time credit will be available
when you and I file our 2006 tax return as I explained above.

However, the IRS also established limits on how BIG a credit
you can get.

Here's how it works.

If you file your return as a single person with just you as a dependent,
you get to claim a $30 credit on line 71 of your 1040.

If you file with a child or a parent as your dependent, you claim $40.

If you file your return as a married couple with no children ,
you claim $40.

If you file as married with children, you claim $50 if one child,
$60 if two children.

In all cases, the most you get to claim is $60 - UNLESS you have all
your phone bills starting AFTER Feb 28, 2003 through July 31, 2006
(do not use any bills starting Aug 1, 2006.), then you can add up
the ACTUAL TAX AS IT APPEARS ON YOUR BILLS AND CLAIM THAT FOR A CREDIT.

Now if you have your actual phone bills and come up with an
ACTUAL TAX AMOUNT, you cannot use line 71 on your tax return.

You have to complete a special form number 8913 and attach it to your
tax return.

Individuals using the special from 1040EZ-T will have to attach this
form 8913 also.

One final point - this credit is a refundable credit.

That means you get this money, no matter how your tax return works out.

If you would end up owing the IRS a balance, the refund will reduce
that balance you owe.

If you end up getting a refund, the credit will be added and you get
a bigger refund by that $30 to $60, depending on how many dependents
are on your return.

Feel free to pass this on or make copies for family and friends who
don't have computers.

http://www.blackwebportal.com/

As some of you might know, a dynamic young African-American Internet duo,
Rob and Roz Rucker have created a brand new search engine and portal site
called The BlackWebPortal.

The site is designed with African-Americans in mind. Right now their
viewership is the low thousands. They need to cross the hundreds of
thousands barrier to have any real chance of keeping this site online at all.

Some of you are thinking...why does it matter?

It matters because BlackVoices is wholly owned by the Tribune Company;
Black Families by Cox Communications; BlackPlanet.com by an Asian company;
and Soul City HBO by AOL-Times/Warner.

The BlackWebPortal is the only
site that is 100% African-American owned.

The BlackWebPortal needs all of us to start emailing our friends, relatives,
etc., all over the world to start using the resources at the BlackWebPortal.

The important thing is that they need the help getting the word out about this
site.

Let's help this site out by visiting and seeing what they have to offer.
So please tell EVERYONE about the Black Web Portal.

Don't just bookmark it for yourself. Spread the news!

This is a new millennium! We must begin truly supporting black technology
efforts in the same way we cheer on our movie and athletic stars.

If we don't, they'll end up having to do the same as other black web sites by getting assistance from elsewhere, thereby losing the original flavor they have.

PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD! BlackWebPortal

Nursing Program @ UDC

Nursing Program/free tuition

If you know of anyone between 18-28 years old,
interested in the Nursing field,
University of the District of Columbia (UDC)
is offering FREE tuition, FREE books,
a $250 monthly stipend, and guaranteed job
placement as a nurse at Providence Hospital
upon graduation (it's a 3 year program)
with a starting salary of $40,000.

The program is recruiting new students now!!
Please contact Ms. Beshon Smith (202)266-5481
or email Bsmith@urbanalliance.org

Thanks to Mr. Harry Banks for passing on this
valuable info.

What is Google Pack?

The Google Pack is a collection of free, very useful software
programs from Google and other companies.

The Google Pack software helps you browse the web faster, remove
spyware and viruses, organize your photos, and more.

You can download and install the entire Google Pack, or select
only those programs you want with just a few clicks.

The included Google Updater keeps the Google Pack software up-to-date
and advises you of new programs as they become available.

Programs included in Google Pack are:

Google Earth

This program enables the user to view any location on the earth using
satellite imaging.Just type in a location and click and Google Earth
takes you there as if you were flying. You can zoom in on a specific
address or an area of interest.

What you see are actual satellite photos of the location.
Google Earth is great for viewing driving directions, trip planning,
finding a business, house or apartment hunting.

The "layering" feature allows you to see available lodging, restaurants,
and schools, etc. in your area of interest.

Google Earth is truly an "armchair adventurer's" dream. See the all the
exotic places on earth without leaving your P.C.
Uppgrades are are available with even more powerful features for a
reasonable price.

It's also MAC compatible.


Google Desktop - Desktop companion

It"s not just a screen full of folders and icons. Not only can you
quickly search your computer for files, emails, and web history,
you can view news, photos and more anywhere on your desktop.

Google Desktop comes with Sidebar where you can get all of your
personalized information in one place. Google Desktop is fully
integrated with most of Google. Just add Google Gadgets to customize
your desktop and Sidebar to work the way you want it to.

Google Desktop will even suggest new gadgets you can use based on
topics you are most interested in.

AGoogle Gadgetis a software code that allows you to customize
your desktop, sidebar, or Google Homepage.

There are gadgets for calendars, favorite videos and movies, and adding
and searching webclips, and much more.


Picasa - Photo organizer

Picasa allows you to instantly locate and organize, edit, and share all
the photos and pictures on your computer in seconds. You can even remove
red eye and fix photos easily.

Picasa finds the pictures you forgot you had by scanning the images on your
computer and automatically sorts them by date. With Picasa you can organize
your entire collection while you watch.

Move and re-name a picture or a group of pictures in seconds by simply
dragging and dropping pictures from one folder in Picasa to another.

Then make a label for your photo or groups to make viewing and sharing easier,
and for making slide shows, movies,or for emailing.

You can even give your photos a gold star rating to easily find your favorites,
and you can password protect those photos you want to keep private.

Google Pack Screensaver - Photo screensaver

After you have organized your photos from your personal collection with Picassa, load them into the Google Pack Screensaver - Photo screensaver and view pictures full screen or as a collage, or turn photos from your personal collection into a screensaver.

Configuration is easy and you can set the selection, transition, and timing of
the rotation of your images.

Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer - Search toolbar

This program installs in seconds and enables you to search from any web page, autofill forms with one click, and block annoying pop-ups.

View the button gallery and add buttons to the Google Toolbar to search your favorite sites, bookmark frequently visited pages and access them from anywhere,
and translate pages into English instantly.

Add the spell checker button for your email.There's even a button for sharing
web pages with friends using a blog, email,or SMS.Google Toolbar is available
in Enterprise Edition and Firefox versions

Mozilla Firefox with Google Toolbar - Web browser

Google touts Mozilla Firefox with Google Toolbar as a "A Better Web Experience".

Firefox is easy to install and import your favorites. It comes with many
useful features like tabbed browsing, Live Bookmarks, an integrated Search bar, quick page loading, and easier navigation for everyone, including those who are visually or motor-impaired.

Firefox delivers Web pages faster than ever and keeps you more secure when
you’re browsing the Web by blocking viruses,worms, spyware, and popup ads.

The new Software Update feature makes it easy to get the latest security and
feature updates to Firefox which are automatically downloaded in the background
and prompts you when they are ready to be installed.

This is just a small list of features Firefox has.


Ad-Aware SE Personal - Antispyware utility

This software program helps to protect your privacy by safely detecting and
removing spyware.

Ad-Aware SE Personal comes with powerful features that provide advanced
protection from known data-mining, aggressive advertising, Trojans, dialers, malware, browser hijackers, and tracking components.

Ad-Aware SE Personal scans fixed and removable drives, memory and Windows
registry, logs information about scans and malicious content removals, and
it uses the Code Sequence Identification (CSI) technology to detect known
and unknown variants of malware.


Norton AntiVirus 2005 Special Edition - Antivirus utility

This well known virus protection program from Symantec protects your PC
from viruses, worms and Trojan horses and Includes a 6-month subscription
to protection updates.


Adobe Reader 7 - PDF reader

Adobe Systems' PDF (portable document file) reader allows you to view,
print, and search PDF files and launches up to 50% faster than Adobe Reader 6.0.

There are optional software programs you can add to Google Pack such as:

Google Talk - Voice and IM application-Call or send instant messages
to your friends for free.

All you need to make free calls is an Internet connection,
a microphone, and a speaker.

Google Video Player - Video player- Play videos purchased and
downloaded through the Google Video website.

RealPlayer - Media player - Play popular media formats, organize music
and videos and transfer music to iPod and other portable media players.

GalleryPlayer HD Images - acquire, organize and display the world's
finest art and photography from the world's finest museums and galleries.

For as little as $0.99 per image, you can bring great masters like Monet,
van Gogh, Degas and Andy Warhol into your home or office. Perfect for your screensaver or desktop.

Well, there you have it , an overview of Google Pack and it's components.
This is truly a great value for anyone seeking to enhance their web experience,
r add to their computer's capability. Best of all it's Free

OOPS

If you have been trying to post a comment and couldn't
because a password was required, you can now do so.
You still have to use the word verification. That helps keep
our blog from being spammed by people posting
links to sites that may be offensive,or to generate hits to their
affiliate programs.

Your Comments Are Needed

Fellow classmates,
Let's start the New Year with new ideas,and content for our blog. Please use the comments link to offer suggestions on what topics you would like to see posted.

Maybe you could write an article on any non inflammatory topic,or provide links to sites with interesting content or helpful information.

Our respective interests will vary, but that does not mean others will not appreciate your input.

By the way,
Have you been prompted by Windows Update to download Internet
Explorer 7 (I.E.7)?

If you did, you may have noticed your computer "acting differently", starting more slowly, or having problems processing your emails.

It is possible I.E 7 is the problem. It depends on your brand
of computer.

The best way to solve the problem is to do a System Restore
back to a time just before you downloaded I.E.7.

To find System Restore, click Start>AllPrograms>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore. Follow the directions on the page.

It may be best to wait until Microsoft works out the bugs before before downloading I.E.7.