Welcome to the end of the week and another edition of Happy Hour! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy your end of the week roundup of all things interesting in the land of money.
Facebook Outrage
It’s always a good thing to know the whole story. Earlier this week, Facebook took a lot of flack (should be used to it by now) over their lack of taxation. A result of going public last year provided the company with a healthy tax refund. Nothing out of the ordinary really. This happens all the time. When a company goes public and employees have a vested interest in said company (read exercised stock options), those options are considered a business expense.
Instead of telling the whole story, the media and an advocacy group wants to focus solely on the refund. Which really isn’t a story. In 2011, the IRS issued $318 billion in tax refunds. Yet, somehow, Facebook’s $429 million refund is outrageous.
What wasn’t covered, was the billions in taxes paid due to those exercised stock options. As the tax foundation points out, Zuckerberg alone will pay close to $2 billion in taxes for 2012.
I’m curious if their outraged by their own tax refunds too.
Smarter Homes
Apparently two guys that helped rejuvenate Apple’s success branched out on their own to reinvent…the thermostat. Exciting stuff. Yet it’s been a big success since releasing their new product back in 2011.
Their version learns from the home owner’s behavior and in turn saves money on heating and cooling costs. The best part – it’s cheaper than most high-tech thermostats on the market. Of course, it only works if you let it do it’s job, instead of constantly adjusting the temperature. That said, the tech behind it is impressive.
And they are not done there. Seems, they have plans to expand into other areas of the home. The idea of simple to use, high-tech devices for the home has been nonexistent. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.
Last Call
- The New Capital-Gains Maze – what you need to know about the new capital gains tax due to tax changes this year.
- The High Burden of State and Federal Capital Gains Taxes – had no idea capital gains tax was so high in some states. It just adds one more wrinkle when you’re tax planning.
- Compound Interest and Wealth Accumulation: It’s Not As Easy as You Think – a great post about being weary of excessive growth rate assumptions.
- Roth, Traditional, or Taxable? Why Your Best Answer May Be ‘Yes’ – a good break down on tax diversification for your retirement planning.
- The Healthiest M&A Boom in Decades – corporate spending is worth watch in the months ahead.
