In three days residents in Champaign County will be subject to a new public health ordinance requiring face coverings, specifically masks that cover the face and nose, to be worn. With thousands of University of Illinois students expected to return to campus in the four days and the subsequent expected rise in the number positive Covid-19 cases, the Champaign-Public Health District is taking a preemptive move to keep residents in the county safe.
The ordinance, which can be found here, applies to "all persons, businesses, workplaces and any other organizations within the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, which are the boundaries of Cunningham Township and of City of Champaign Township, Champaign County, Illinois." It further states that individuals shall be responsible on behalf of themselves and business on the behalf of their employees and customers are ordered to comply with the new law that goes in effect on August 24.
The new public health rule requires any individual over the age of two and able to tolerate a face covering to wear one when social distancing of six feet or more can not be maintained both indoors and out.
All businesses or facilities open to the public are mandated to require everyone, including employees and management, on their premises to wear properly-fitted masks. Masks may only be removed when eating or drinking. Individuals who refuse to voluntarily cover their face may be asked to leave the property.
Illinois became one of the first states in the country to enhance the penalty for assaulting a retail employee who request customers put on a mask or leave the store premises. Anti-maskers who become violent can be charged with a simple battery, a misdemeanor, which could possibly result in up to a year in prison and fines up to $2,500. Attacks could be charged as aggravated battery. It is a felony that can result in a sentence of up to five years in prison. The offender, if they have a criminal record, could pull as much as 10-year stint and/or fined up to $25,000.
Schools will observe the same measures as businesses. Students also permitted to remove their masks when outdoors and social distancing or while playing an instrument.
The final restriction makes it clear that gatherings of 50 or more people is prohibited until further notice or for 150 days.
For the majority of investors, taxation should never be the main driver behind an investment. However, taxation should absolutely be considered in an efficient investment portfolio. At the end of the day, how much money you keep is more important than how much money you earn.
The Internal Revenue Source (IRS) has written a painfully long book called, "The Internal Revenue Code" otherwise known as the tax code. The tax code isn’t painfully long and dense because of the many different ways the IRS can collect taxes. In fact, the collection of taxes is rather simple. If you make “X”, then you pay “Y.” Rather, the tax code is so long because of the many ways you can legally reduce your tax liability.
Individuals are able to reduce their tax liability if they perform actions that the government likes. One of the government’s favorite actions is providing housing to the public; therefore, there are many great tax benefits for real estate investors. One of the great real estate tax benefits is depreciation.
Real estate depreciation allows you to deduct the costs of a property over its useful life (as determined by the IRS) which reduces your taxable income. This is known as a “paper loss” because on paper it looks like the value of your investment decreased when, in reality, the value of your property likely increased due to appreciation and you collected monthly cash flow from the property if your income was greater than your expenses.
The tax benefits of real estate are very powerful and warrant their own article; however, this is how the wealthy stay wealthy. They buy real estate and legally reduce their taxable income, so they keep more of their money and then use that money to buy more real estate. It’s not complicated, and it’s 100% legal.
When it comes to taxation, real estate is the belle of the ball; however, stock market investors are able to place investments in tax efficient accounts and control the timing of their capital gains. The main tax benefit available to stock market investors is the ability to defer taxes through retirement accounts such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and IRAs. Additionally, you are able to choose the timing of the taxation by electing the account to be a “traditional” or "Roth" retirement vehicle.
With a traditional IRA, you are able to deduct your contributions in the year they are made, but you must pay taxes on them once you withdraw the funds. This is ideal for someone who thinks they will be in a lower tax bracket once they are retirement age. You contribute after-tax dollars to a Roth IRA, so this is ideal for someone who thinks they will be in a higher tax bracket once they retire. If you hold a specific stock for longer than a year, then you are no longer subject to the highest capital gains tax and this will allow you to keep more of your earnings.
Baseball, softball and cross-country teams are cleared to start practice on August 3 and can play in their first game or contest on starting on August 15. All meets and games previously schedule on or before the 15th must be canceled or rescheduled. The new plan also limits team to a maximum of two contests per week with no tournaments or events with more than three teams. Baseball can play three games a week if one contest is a doubleheader.
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