Established in 1929
Health City Sun
The
www.healthcitysun.com
Feb. 15, 2013
New Mexico’s Legal & Financial Weekly
FORECLOSURE SALES: 4
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Vol. 3.84 No. 7
AUCTIONS: 9 SPANISH NOTICES: 0
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How Honest Abe Built Banks To Save America
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The Health City Sun 2012
any Americans may be surprised to learn a little-known fact about Abraham Lincoln that may still be helping them today.
If you’re like most people, you think of a bank as a place to safely store your money or to get a loan. Modern banks do provide such services, but there’s more to the story—and to their history. Then President Abraham Lincoln saw banks as vital to an America prosperous, united and strong.
Over time, they began to see that their futures were tied together. Building a nation required a robust financial system. It demanded a common currency that a nation could exchange with confidence. That’s why Lincoln and Congress created a new system of national banks to power the nation’s economic engine.
In 1863, while the Civil War was tearing the country apart, Lincoln feared that the dream of America as a model of opportunity for all humanity might be lost. So Lincoln and Congress worked to knit the country back together.
Lincoln knew that banks had to operate under strict rules and oversight. To administer this system of banks, he created an independent regulator— the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)—to keep banks safe and sound and make sure they obeyed the laws, so they could support business, consumers and communities.
They sponsored railroads, which reached places unserved by other dependable transportation at the time.
Now
They donated federal lands for colleges, not for the elite but for the many, to promote practical science. From these laboratories came ideas that helped farmers make the prairies bloom “with amber waves of grain.” The new railroads brought that grain, and lots more, to the millions of people in cities, east and west. Farmers prospered and so did consumers.
Today, Lincoln’s federal banking system includes nearly 2,000 national banks and federal savings associations. Most are community banks. They continue to play an important role in the nation’s economy by providing savings, credit and financing to support businesses, communities and families across the country. - (NAPSI)
Mistakes Not To Make On Your Tax Return
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rrors on your tax return can delay your refund. Fortunately, many of the most common mistakes are easy to avoid.
To help you file an error-free tax return, consider these common mistakes and why they matter: • Misspelled names and incorrect Social Security Numbers (SSN) are among the top reasons returns are rejected by the IRS. When processing your return, the IRS verifies names and SSNs with the Social Security Administration’s database. • Don’t forget your credits and deductions. An easy way to make sure you’re getting all your tax breaks is to use a tax preparation solution like TaxACT at www.taxact.com. The program walks you through hundreds of credits and deductions by asking you simple questions. • If you forget to include income on your return, the IRS is likely to find out. It can easily check how much income was deposited into your bank and investment accounts based on your SSN and 1099 forms that financial institutions have to submit to the IRS. You could owe penalties and interest on the unreported earnings. • The IRS has strict qualifying criteria for each of the five filing statuses. IRS Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing
Information, has detailed information about filing statuses. • If you have your refund direct deposited, check the routing and account numbers on your return. An incorrect number can mean several extra weeks of waiting for your refund, someone else getting your money or the refund going back to the IRS. • File on time. If you can’t, file Form 4868 by April 15 for an automatic six-month filing extension. Just remember to pay the taxes owed by April 15 to avoid late-filing penalties and interest fees. If you can’t afford to pay what you owe, call the IRS to discuss installment plans, payment options, extended time to pay and other assistance. Another all too common mistake is paying too much to do your taxes. Fortunately, taxpayers can prepare, print and e-file federal tax returns free at www.taxact.com—no restrictions, no bait and switch. TaxACT Free Federal Edition includes all e-fileable forms for simple and complicated tax returns. You can import data from last year’s return. Instant, personalized help is available every step of the way in the Answer Center, online at taxact.com and with Audit Assistant. You can also e-mail questions to TaxPayer Support Specialists for free answers. For more tax tips and to start your free federal return, go to www.taxact. com. - (NAPSI)