Moneylines: News Briefs for Businesses and Individuals

Target Audience: Business Owners, Risk Managers, Forensic Accounting Consulting Firm Assistance, Tax News and Business Updates Interest, Retirees, Content Management Systems Interest, Quality Control Management

Does your company have a tax risk management strategy?

Getting hit by an unexpectedly big tax bill can turn a profitable year into a lackluster, or even disastrous, one. Yet many companies don’t seriously consider tax risk management. In fact, of 546 high-ranking businesspeople who responded to a survey by the Tax Governance Institute, 60% admitted that their businesses don’t have formal strategies for tax risk management. And with tax laws and other forms of corporate governance constantly evolving, this threat has become more severe than ever.

Recent study uses Secret Service cases to shed light on identity theft.

Late last year, the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection at Utica College released a federally funded study about identity theft. In it, researchers were able to glean information from more than 500 identity thieves arrested by the U.S. Secret Service between 2000 and 2006. The good news is that you probably have little to fear from your family and friends — only 8% of the criminals apprehended were relatives or social acquaintances of their victims. The bad news: Watch your garbage can. About 20% of the crimes committed involved thieves stealing mail or finding discarded information in the trash.

The forecast calls for floods (of e-mail, that is).

Are you and your employees overwhelmed with e-mails? Well, don’t look now, but it may get worse. A recent study by market researchers The Radicati Group found that the amount of e-mails corporate users received rose 55% from 2003 to 2006, and they predicted workers will spend 41% of their time managing e-mails by 2009. If you haven’t started educating yourself and your staff about ways to efficiently manage e-mail use, it may be time to start.

Finally, some good news about prospective retirees.

Read anything about the financial state of Americans headed for retirement and it’s likely to be negative. Some positive words, however, came out of the Boomers Ready To Launch study conducted late last year by GFK Custom Research North America. It found that 50% of respondents (baby boomers turning 62) have a 401(k) or IRA. More important, only a third reported planning on taking Social Security when they turn 62. The study shows that many boomers have responded to the outcry about the importance of planning for retirement — a call people of all ages should hearken to.

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