“The Newlywed Game” host Bob Eubanks is calling. It’s unmistakably his golden pipes on the end of the line, which sound so intimidating I nervously call him “Mister,” but I’m distracted and hoping he at least once says “whoopee” or plugs Rice-A-Roni and Turtle Wax, the parting gifts often awarded to “Newlywed” contestants.

Instead, Eubanks is explaining why the IRS filed a $39,000 tax lien against his company this month.

Eubanks, 73, is a game-show icon. His resume includes stints on “Card Sharks,” “Trivia Trap” and something called “Rhyme and Reason.”

He’s also a Flint native, as anti-Semitic joke and “Roger & Me” fans will recall.

What’s owed:

• The IRS filed a $39,567 lien against Bob Eubanks Enterprises Inc. on Oct.

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Today credit cards have become a part of American society. Actually according to statistics the average American has at least 2-3 credit cards in his or her wallet. This strong demand for credit cards has led to providers offering increasingly more options. One of the most useful are balance transfer credit cards. But what are they and what benefits do they offer?

Balance transfer credit cards work like any other credit card account, for the most part. These small plastic pieces with the information on a magnetized strip can be used for purchases and cash advances as well. Read all post…

The chancellor’s autumn statement was generally dull from a tax point of view, says Carl Bayley in Business Tax Saver, but there was one “bit of excitement”: the seed enterprise investment scheme (SEIS). The details are yet to be revealed, but its benefits could be “significant”.

It will apply from 6 April 2012. It will offer income-tax relief at 50% to individuals, regardless of their marginal tax rate, who invest up to £100,000 per tax year in qualifying companies. And if you reinvest a capital gain in SEIS shares during the same tax year, it will be “completely exempt” from capital gains tax.

So if you had a total taxable income of £100,000 for 2012/2013, your income tax bill would be £29,884 – a bill that you could eliminate by investing £59,768 in qualifying SEIS shares. If you can fund that investment via a big enough capital gain – say of £70,638 – £59,768 of those gains would be exempt from CGT, leaving £10,600 covered by your annual exemption. The CGT saving of £16,735 means that the net cost of that £59,768 investment is £13,149.

Dont you love how God uses tiny, seemingly insignificant verses in the Bible to blow you away sometimes?

Whenever he does this, its kind of like finding a diamond in the rough.

He did this not too long ago for me with a little verse in Ezekiel, and I was reminded of it again yesterday.

It has to do with the city of Sodom.

Every memory I had of Sodom from the Bible was their self-indulgent sexual lifestyle.

Sodom was the Las Vegas of the ancient world.

What happened in Sodom, stayed in Sodom.

They were the epitome of disobedience.

And because of their disobedience God eventually rained down fire and brimstone to punish them.

I always thought Gods judgment was a result of their immoral lifestyle, but reading through Ezekiel I saw a different picture.

And it relates perfectly to us today in regards to our money.

Heres what Ezekiel 16:49-50 (ESV) says:

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. Th

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Major indices were all down by over 1 percent today, as the announced European fiscal pact failed to inspire confidence in investors. In addition, Moody issued an alert about the potential negative impact of the Euro crises on the Chinese economy, sinking all New York listed Chinese stocks. In corporate news, Intel (INTC)  has revised down its Q4 outlook in response to supply shocks resulting from the flooding in Thailand. Amazon’s (AMZN) price checker app, which gives users 5 percent off any product they buy on Amazon after scanning it in a physical store, has drawn fire from a Senator who believes it hurts small business. Read all post…

His mitts hid Janet Jackson’s naughty bits on the cover of Rolling Stone. Now, the state of California wants Rene Elizondo Jr. to use those hands to scratch a check for $44,000 to cover his tax debt.

Elizondo, 49, was secretly married to Ms. Jackson if You’re Nasty from 1991 until he filed for divorce in 2000.

What’s owed:

• The state of California filed a $44,217 tax lien against Rene Elizondo on Nov. 10 with the Los Angeles County Recorder of Deeds.

The address on the lien is this oceanfront Malibu spread:

His side:

Elizondo could not be reached for comment. There was no answer at his publicly listed telephone number.