Make a List and Check it Twice to get Ahead of Taxes

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Organize taxes to keep good credit scores

Organize taxes to keep good credit scores

With less than a month before Tax Day, it’s harder to get ahead but not yet impossible and there are a whole host of reasons to not wait for an extension. If you have procrastinated up to this point but want to get your taxes done and your refund in hand sooner, the experts at Equifax have some great tips for pushing forward to tax success in the new article, “

Five Tips to Jumpstart Filing Your Taxes.”

While the days are fewer, there is still time to gather up your forms and paperwork neatly and set out to either do or have someone do your taxes for you. But it will take organization and an investment of time (and possibly money, if you need help from software or a professional) to get started. First of all, set a goal or a deadline so you have a reason to start working and write it down. Do a little each day so that gathering receipts and filling out forms is progress that can be tracked rather than a mountain of work. And then don’t be afraid to ask for help – taxes are daunting and while it’s possible to do them yourself, it’s also possible to build a house yourself piece by piece – but it can be a lot easier and more precisely completed to get a professional homebuilder to do it for you.

To learn more, including tips about taxes,

credit scores and everything else personal finance, check in with free expert advice from Equifax.

Equifax is Looking to keep your Privacy Private

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Protection from identity theft

Protection from identity theft

The Personal Solutions line of consumer protection products and services from Equifax has a powerful new tool to help keep you safe: privacy monitoring. This service scours the indexed web and finds traces of your personal information, and can either simply alert you or can remove these traces that can lead to solicitations and online identity theft.

Equifax offers this new service at no additional charge to subscribers of the Equifax Complete series. The new system is in partnership with Reputation.com, a company which has proven its service to clients in more than 100 countries since 2006. The service seeks to find and protect the personal details of users, including their full name, age, gender, family members’ names, connections to relatives, and their general contact information, including email addresses and telephone numbers to increase

protection from identity theft.

To learn more about this exciting new way to keep safe and stay protected from online identity theft, visit the Equifax.com personal solutions page. You can also find frequently-updated personal finance advice resources on the Equifax Finance Blog. Finally, Equifax makes it easy to stay in the know when it comes to personal finance by having easy access on social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter to remind you about how to save money, avoid debt and have a plan for money management.

New Website Aids Charleston Home Buyers

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South Carolina homes

If you’re a South Carolina home buyer looking for new digs in Charleston, you’re in luck. Carolina One Real Estate and the Historic Charleston Group have teamed up to launch www.CharlestonBuyersGuide.com.

Visitors to the site will find an advanced MLS search, interactive map, information on local communities, all kinds of useful information for buyers and sellers and a blog. When searching for a home, buyers will be sure to love the site’s access to Microsoft’s Bird’s Eye View as well we Google’s Streetview. Buyers will also be able to view comprehensive listings that can be saved for future reference, and they can request for property information that matches their predetermined criteria to be emailed to them. The additional information provided in the community listings, market reports and blog is also of use to buyers, sellers and real estate professionals alike.

“CharlestonBuyersGuide.com was designed to fill a niche in the Charleston, SC real estate market,” John Lisi, the site’s co-founder says. “There was really no other website out there that emphasized the buyer and also utilized special technologies.”

According to Zillow, home values in Charleston have risen 7 percent in the last year to a median sale price of $249,300. This is higher than the national average sale price which is currently around $160,000. In addition, the market in Charleston is primarily made up of single family homes (68 percent), but condos (19 percent) are also prevalent.

For more information on the Charleston real estate market and to view the city’s current listings, be sure to visit www.CharlestonBuyersGuide.com.

New Year Equals New Debt for Many

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New Year New DebtThe New Year is upon us, and with it thousands of New Year’s resolutions are being put into action right now. If you’ve already made your resolutions, you may need to check your mailbox, because there may be another one waiting to be made after you open your credit card statement from December!

Many tend to overspend during the holiday season and then get shocked back to reality in January when the bills begin to file in. Don’t let your holiday spending get you down, let the experts at the Equifax Finance Blog guide you into a debt-free 2013!

In their recent article, “

Paying Off Holiday Debt,” the financial experts offer great tips and advice for holiday spenders to use when creating a plan to pay off holiday debt. One excellent tip is to negotiate for a lower interest rate on your credit card. If you have good credit, or have at least been a good customer of your credit card company, simply ask. The worse they can do is say no, but if they do help, it can make a big difference in your budget for paying off debt.

The experts also suggest a balance transfer to consolidate credit card debt. However, make sure the monthly payment will not be too much for you. Also, check the interest rates before committing, because a good deal may not be so good if the interest rate is extremely high.

The Equifax Finance Blog has plenty of other great tips in this article, so check it out today! Then browse through their other posts concerning

ID theft protection, credit cards, credit reports and other helpful financial information.

Online Shopping Sales Tax and ID Theft Protection

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ID protection for online shopping

ID protection for online shopping

Two things that probably do not enter your mind when shopping online are sales tax and ID theft protection. However, the experts at the Equifax Finance Blog think they should spring to mind with every item your ‘click’ into your virtual shopping cart.

Currently, thousands of Americans have being clicking their paychecks away for this season’s latest holiday gifts. Many gifts are probably shipping from several states away as we speak. In their article, “

Online Shopping, Sales Tax, and You,” the Equifax Finance Blog experts want to remind you to look at your sales total before clicking ‘submit’ on your purchases.

If your total does not reflect a sales tax, it is a purchase that you will need to keep records of for you taxes due in the springtime. This is because many local governments are suffering from the lack of funds being collected in person at local businesses due to the overwhelming influx of online shoppers.

It may not seem like a big problem to some, but for many states who rely on the sales tax for governance funding (which is used for schools, highways, etc.), it is a real concern. If you haven’t been paying sales taxes for your online purchase, check out Governing.com and find out what you should have paid.

When tax season comes some individual tax returns may have a ‘Use Tax’ line on them. This line is where online shoppers will need to fill out their shopping payment information.

Being aware of your online shopping purchases can also become an identity theft solution for some shoppers, because comparing your purchase history plus bank statements regularly is always a smart idea!

For more information about taxes, credit reports,

ID protection and more, please check out the Equifax Finance Blog today!