Just Went Through Bankruptcy, Are Bad Credit Loans For Me?

By: Melissa Kellett

Those who have gone through a bankruptcy process find it very difficult to obtain finance from regular sources. This is due to the fact that a bankruptcy stain remains on your credit report for many years and scares lenders away easily. However, since now bad credit loans are wide available you may wonder if you can get finance by requesting a bad credit loan even if you have a past bankruptcy on your credit report.

There are many issues that need to be cleared in order to answer such a question. Mainly, the time when the bankruptcy was discharged constitutes vital information and your recent credit history will also influence the approval process. Besides that, you’ll also need to compare your needs and qualification with the offers available and their requirements.

Time Of Discharge

Most bad credit loans will require a two year period since the bankruptcy has been discharged in order to even consider a loan application. However, there are some types of loan that you may obtain just after the discharge and others that may require smaller type spans. Nevertheless, your credit behavior since the discharge must be impeccable.

The kind of loans you can obtain within a short period after your bankruptcy has been discharged are secured loans. Bad Credit Refinance Home Loans and Home Equity Loans might be available right away. But unsecured bad credit loans won’t be within your reach until after a long period of time with the sole exception of payday loans and cash advance loans that require no credit checks.

Recent Credit History

The last few months of your credit history need to be free from stains. If possible all your credit history after your bankruptcy was discharged needs to be impeccable so you can have more chances of getting approved for a bad credit loan. You need to show to the lenders that your credit behavior has improved since your last bankruptcy.

You need to avoid stains on your credit history and having too much debt and open credit lines. If possible you need to avoid late payments and missed payments though some of these may be tolerated. However, too many late or missed payments and defaults on your recent credit history will ruin your credit and won’t let you get approved for a bad credit loan.

Requirements Needed To Get Approved

Given that you’ve gone through a bankruptcy and that you are seeking a bad credit loan, instead of concentrating on credit requirements, you’ll need to focus on your income. Lenders will require that you show proof of a steady income suitable for affording the amount of the monthly payments that these loans imply. Thus, you’ll need to have available income to meet the bad credit loan’s installments without sacrifices and being able to face any additional unexpected expense that may rise.

Though a co-signer is not required, providing one will increase your chances of getting approved. Of course, the co-signer needs to have a better (preferably good) credit score and has to be able to afford the monthly payments on his own. That way, the risk for the lender will be reduced and he will consider your loan application with ease.

Melissa Kellett is an expert loan consultant who can help you get approved for Unsecured Consolidation and Credit Loan Unsecured. Just visit http://www.speedybadcreditloans.com/ where you'll find all the information you need.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

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Business Tax Deductions: How to Deduct Expenses Without Keeping Receipts

By:Wayne M Davies

No receipt, no deduction, right? Generally speaking, yes. The mantra of small business bookkeeping has been relentlessly burdensome for decades: "No Receipt, No Deduction."

My own tax clients are quick to remind me of this basic recordkeeping rule. Over the years I've heard this countless times: "But I don't have any receipts. I guess I can't take the deduction, right?"

What's my response to the "No Receipt, No Deduction" lament? "Not so fast! Wherever there's a tax rule, there's an exception to the rule."

In certain situations, taking deductions without a receipt is actually sanctioned by the IRS. Here are three legal exceptions to the "No Receipt, No Deduction" rule.

EXCEPTION #1: Vehicle Expense You are allowed to deduct your vehicle expenses to the extent that you used your vehicle for business. If you drove your car 100% for business, then 100% of your vehicle expenses are deductible.

And you have two options for determining those vehicle expenses: 1) The Actual Expense Method 2) The Mileage Method

Our focus here is on Option #2 -- because with the Mileage Method your vehicle expense is simply the number of business miles times the official IRS mileage rate.

For 2009, this rate is 55 cents per mile. In 2009, if you drove your vehicle 10,000 miles for business, you can report a deduction of $5,500 -- without having to keep any receipts for gasoline, oil changes, repairs and maintenance, insurance, etc.

You do have to document your business mileage via a written log of some sort, but this is usually much easier than saving all those receipts for actual vehicle expenses.

EXCEPTION #2: Meals While Traveling When traveling out-of-town on an overnight business trip, you can deduct the actual expense of your meals (by keeping the receipt), or you can rely on the little known "Per Diem Method" (which requires no receipt).

The Per Diem Method gives you a daily meal allowance for each day of the trip, depending on what part of the country you visit. For example, the per diem meal rate for Birmingham, AL is $44; for San Francisco, it's $64 (as of 9/30/08).

To find the per diem amounts for every state, go to: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p1542/ar02.html

EXCEPTION #3: The $75 Dollar Rule Here's another easy way to avoid the hassle of saving receipts -- this one involves your business meal and entertainment expenses. Believe it or not, the IRS does not require a receipt when your business meal or entertainment expense is less than $75 per expense.

Sound too good to be true? Well, there is a "catch", of course: you still must maintain a record of the following five facts related to the deductible event:

1) WHO did you eat with or entertain? i.e. the names of the people and the nature of their business relationship to you

2) WHEN did the entertainment occur? i.e. the date

3) WHERE did the entertainment occur? i.e. the name of the restaurant or other venue

4) WHY did you meet? i.e. a description of the business purpose of the meal or event

5) HOW MUCH did you spend? i.e. the dollar amount

You should record these five facts in a log. Your daily appointment book or day-timer is the perfect place to jot this down in less than a minute. Having met the IRS substantiation requirements, you can then throw away the receipt. In the event of an audit, you'll be covered.

Two final comments: Exception #2 applies to overnight travel situations, regardless of whether you eat your meals alone or with business associates. Exception #3 applies to meals and entertainment expenses incurred when you are with someone with whom you have an existing or prospective business relationship, regardless of whether you are in town or in overnight travel status.

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Wayne M. Davies is author of 3 ebooks on small business tax reduction strategies. For a free copy of his Special Report "How To Instantly Double Your Deductions", visit http://www.YouSaveOnTaxes.com .

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