 International Expat News relating to the AMERICAS
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SEATTLE -- Former investment guru,
author and financial seminar leader Wade Cook and his wife have been
sentenced in a tax evasion case.
Cook was sentenced Thursday
in federal court to seven years and four months in prison for
repeatedly defrauding the Internal Revenue Service.
U.S.
District Judge Thomas Zilly also ordered Cook to pay $3.75 million in
back taxes on roughly $9.5 million of underreported income generated by
sales of Cook's financial advice books, tapes and seminars.
In
February, Wade Cook was convicted of tax evasion, filing false tax
returns and obstructing justice. The jury was deadlocked on all counts
against his wife Laura, who kept the books.
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 Figuring out what you want and how to get it….
No matter how well you can picture your dream American house and communicate that idea to a Realtor, (that’s real estate agent to you and me) the house you finally fall in love with, may have little resemblance to the picture you started out with in your head. But you have to begin somewhere, and a detailed wish list is a great start. Let's say your wish list in order of priority, looks like this:
* Two bedrooms, two bathsImage
* Safe, quiet neighborhood
* Garden
* Ability to add on
* No major repairs needed
* Close to downtown
* Craftsman-style detached home
* Lots of natural daylight
* Parking
* Good investment with excellent resale potential
* Affordable property taxes
* Neighborhood matches family personality, culturally and politically
* Enclosed laundry area
* Walk-in closet in master bedroom
* Gas hookup for stove
* Back deck or patio
* Close to work, schools, church
* Finished basement for office or guest room
* No threat of commercial encroachment
* Within 1/2 hour of the airport
* Hardwood floors
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 Rio Grande do Norte
Its growth potential should come as little surprise when you consider that the country produces its own oil along with half the world’s exports of ethanol (a valuable additive to motor fuel).
It already has the ninth largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power and is on the verge of becoming one of the leading recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Latin America(OECD).
Along with a blossoming economy (the largest in Latin America), the fifth largest country in the world is also benefiting from a dramatic expansion of tourism-related real estate investment. Until relatively recently local banks had not been offering large-scale lending to customers but with the stabilisation of Brazil’s economy they have seen the opportunity for investment. In 2006 property lending doubled in Brazil and the construction industry is booming. |
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 Visa and MasterCard have unveiled seperate plans to install contactless payment technology in New York taxi cabs and at airport car parks.
Visa has teamed with New York-based taxi technology company Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT) to equip thousands of cabs in the city with its contactless payWave payment readers.
The new readers are able to accept both Visa payWave payments as well as traditional swipe transactions. Passengers are able to include a tip to the price of the fare and no signature is required for transactions under $25.
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 The Caribbean is a playground of the rich and famous. It is also seen as business-friendly, so it may come as a surprise to learn that some Caribbean countries have strongly restrictive, almost socialist-style housing market systems.
In a recent study, the Global Property Guide examined the landlord and tenant systems of 19 Caribbean countries and territories in terms of rent control, security deposits and tenant eviction.
With contributions from local law firms, each economy was rated as strongly pro-tenant, pro-tenant, neutral, pro-landlord or strongly pro-landlord.
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 Ottawa - Canada's Capital City
Addressing the Toronto Board of Trade on Monday, Flaherty announced that: "When multinational corporations use this tax loophole, Canadian taxpayers are indirectly subsidizing their international operations. Our goal is to improve the fairness of our tax system and further reduce taxes for hard-working Canadians while preserving Canada’s overall tax advantage for our globally successful companies."
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When the USA pops up in conversation, there is a high likelihood it will be in relation to one of the two hot topics of the moment: the ongoing property meltdown or the strength of the pound against the dollar
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