| Online tax break tips for arts lovers
An online guide to tax breaks has been launched in an attempt to persuade arts lovers to donate to the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Tate and the National Gallery. Arts & Business, a charity set up to bring businesses and arts organisations together, has launched the site (www.AandB.org.uk/taxguide) to offer tips on how to take advantage of standard tax benefits such as Gift Aid and payroll giving schemes when donating to museums and arts groups. “A lot of people in the UK assume there is no tax break if you give to an arts organisation," explained Philip Spedding, senior programme manager with Arts & Business. “But there are some excellent ones available and they should play a part in why you support the arts." Museums, art and theatre groups rely heavily on donations from individuals.
October 2005 Archives
She talked about how he's an "actor" now. (One hosting gig on Saturday Night Live does not an actor make.) The Tour de France winner even came onstage to bring Sheryl her guitar. Too much! Too much! Too much! I give Gwyneth Paltrow a lot of crap because she refuses to walk the red carpet with hubby Chris Martin. But she's actually smart. Now, any little nugget she does share about her marriage makes headlines. And if they split, she really hasn't revealed anything and there aren't a billion pictures of them sucking face on the press line. She learned from bitter bust-ups with Brad and Ben. And you'd think that Lance would know better. After all, he's the one who gushed about his first wife, Kristin: "If you ever hope to meet someone and fall in love, it should happen just as it did for us -- blissfully, perfectly." Or not.
Related Tickers
Anytime you see a pharmaceutical stock with a P/E ratio in the single digits, it can only mean one thing is about to happen to that company's revenues: The introduction of a superior competing product or impending generic drug launches. Sometimes, drug companies under these types of threats can actually make for great value investments if investors discount its shares too severely or overlook the potential of the rest of the company.Biovail (NYSE: BVF) is one specialty pharma stock that this situation describes fairly well. In its third-quarter results announced last week, the Canadian-based drugmaker derived 43% of its $289 million in revenues from one drug, Wellbutrin XL, which most likely will face generic competition sometime next year, pending legal and regulatory battles. Despite attempts to diversify its revenues away from Wellbutrin, the drug accounted for nearly half of the 13% year-over-year growth in product revenues for Biovail, as its sales grew 13% to $123 million.
Internet France Rules Amazon's Free Shipping Illegal, Amazon Shrugs ...
Amazon.com, one of the largest stores online, offers several features that entice buyers to purchase there, such as "one-click purchasing" and free shipping on many items. While Amazon's multiple attempts to patent "one-click purchasing" has drawn no small amount of ire, the offer of free shipping has been lauded as a beneficial attribute -- until now. Amazon.com's French website Amazon.fr currently stands in violation of a 1981 French law prohibiting certain discounts on books. The ruling by the French High Court contained two fines -- a one-time lump sum payment of €100,000 to the French Bookseller's Union, and a fine of €1,000 per day until the offending "free shipping" promotion is ended. While the proverbial gavel banged on December 12th, a "grace period" until mid-January gave them time to "correct the problem" and respond.
Zappos expects to top $1 billion in web sales in 2008
Online shoe retailer Zappos.com Inc. sees 2008 as the year it will join the $1 billion web sales club. In 2007, Zappos, No. 31 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, expects e-commerce sales to rise by about 34% to around $800 million from $597 million in 2006. After nearly a decade in business, CEO Tony Hsieh expects to top $1 billion in online sales next year. �We are forecasting to do over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in 2008,� says Hsieh. Zappos, which began selling online in 1999 and currently stocks more than 3 million shoes, handbags, clothing items and accessories from over 1,100 brands, keeps growing by emphasizing customer service and keeping its marketing costs to a minimum, he says. �Our growth has been driven primarily through repeat customers and word-of-mouth,� says Hsieh.
Travel Troubleshooter: 'Super Collision' insurance hits traveler's ...
Q I'm trying to get a refund for my car rental insurance. My wife rented a car online through Alamo for pickup in Madrid. The agreement clearly stated that the daily charges, taxes and collision damage waiver were included. We returned the vehicle without a problem. But weeks later, I discovered that we had been charged an extra $300 for something called a "Super Collision Damage Waiver." We never requested this Super CDW coverage and it wasn't reflected in the original rental agreement. In fact, I didn't think insurance of any kind was necessary, because my credit card offers coverage. After a lengthy argument to try to remove the regular CDW feature, the Madrid counter staff insisted that I retain it. And they never said I would be charged for another policy, which, strangely, was submitted as a separate unsigned credit card slip.
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