The Daily Spectrum from Saint George, Utah • 34

Sunday, February 22, 1998 Page D4 The Spectrum Travel Business Questions and answers on ways to help pay for an education cent of the cost of tuition up to in tuition payments made. This translates into a maximum tax credit of 1 ,000 per person each year. Remember, these without consulting your tax pmfession-al to apply the laws to your specific situation. Sound financial decisions are generally ones that are made by considering all the pertinent facts and circumstances surrounding an issue including, but not limited to, tax consequences. William W.

Olsen is a columnist for The Spectrum. The opinions expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily of The Spectrum. expenses including tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies. TAX TIP: If your AGI is too high to give to a child's Education IRA. You can gift the $500 to the parent or grandparent and let them fund the IRA if their AGI is under the limits.

Submit tax questions to Taxabilities by phone, (435) 656-8138; fax, (435) 656-8 139; or e-mail, wwocpa Tax tips are in no way meant to be follow ed as a matter of tax advice IRA if the child is close to 18. The $500 per year will not have had enough time to really grow to be worth losing the ability to take the Hope credit during the child's first two years of college. 's TAX TIP: The Hope and Lifetime credits are for tuition and certain fees such as lab fees. No credit is available for books, room and board or athletic fees. However, the Education IRA tax-free distributions can pay for all education are credits against taxes, not just deductions.

The only downside to these two credits is that William W. Olsen, CPA Taxabilities each lo each grandchild? How does this work? ANSWER: Anyone can fund an education IRA for any child. Each child can have only one of these and only S5UU per year can be contributed to it for that child until he or she reaches the age of 18. There are no benefits to the contributor to the IRA as there is no tax deduction for the contribution. It is designed to benefit only the child's education.

The IRA's earnings are tax-free as well as the distributions if used for education. Even though there are no benefits to the contributor, there is an AGI limit applicable to the contrite utor to the IRA 1 50.000 for married persons filing jointly ($95,000 for singles). TAX TIP: The Hope and Lifetime credits are not available for any student who takes a tax-free withdrawal from an Education IRA in that year. Therefore, don't set up an Education Ql'ESTION: My daughter wants to go to Dixie College and 1 will end up paying for it. Are there any tax benefits that I can take advantage of? ANSWER: Yes there are.

The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 opened a few doors for education. It provided for a two-part higher education tax credit. The first part is called the Hope credit. To qualify for this credit, your dependent child must be in his or her first two years of a college education. You can take a credit of 100 of the first SI, (MX) spent on tuition and 50 of the next $1,000.

This translates into a maximum tax credit of SI ,500 per child for each of those two years. The second part is called the Lifetime learning credit. Any post-high school education (includes continuing education courses for jobs) qualifies for this credit except for those expenses for which the Hope credit is being taken. One can take a credit of 20 per- PERSONNEL BRIEFS UTAH New orthodontics president named they may not be available to everyone. If you have an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $80,000 or more and are a married person filing a joint tax return (S40.000 for single filers), you are subject to "phase-outs" of the credit and it disappears completely if your AGI goes above $100,000 ($50,000 for singles).

QUESTION: I want to begin funding one of the new education IRAs for my grandchildren. Can a grandparent set one up? Can both of us give $500 imtci PENTIUM 233MHz wMMX 1 ,549.00 39 MR RnRAM 4.3 GB Ultra DMA I 32 MB SDRAM 4.3 GB Ultra DMA ill Hard Drive I I I 11 Flowers was chosen by Attorney General Janet Reno to join 30 other officers to propose model policies for missing child investigations. MESQUITE, Nev. Pihl named Oasis Employee of the Year i f- 5vJA Monitor xuu-rum unve 4 MB 3D PCI Video Card-56k VoiceFAX Modem 3D Yamaha Sound Card 80W Speakers Mouse Keyboard-Windows 95b-Groilers '98 Mutimedia Pack WASHINGTON COUNTY Employees attend regional convention Washington County residents Robin Sanderson, Nikohle Larsen, Dana Miller and Annie Unrein recently attended the Creative Memories' 1998 Regional Convention in Salt Lake City. Creative Memories is a national company that teaches photograph preservation in scrapbooks and sells supplies.

ST. GEORGE Clark named customer service manager Dr. Robert W. Prince, a St. George and Beaver area orthodontist was recently named President of the Utah Association of Orthodontists.

The association is the state dm iAs. Si Redd's Oasis Resort Hotel and Casino was voted No. 1 for outstanding customer service by the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce during customer service week in Prince Pihl 32 MB $95 COLOR FLATBED SCANNER VIVITAR $95' Aflr Manufacturers ma. Rabat Heather Clark was recently named customer service manager at the Snow Canyon office of Zions Bank. She has been employed at Zions for five years and lives in Santa Clara.

January. Morris Pihl of Land Maintenance was named Employee of the Year for 1997. He was awarded $500 and a one week paid vacation to any RCI location in the U.S., Mexico or the Caribbean, including airfare and car rental. Maida Campos of Food and Beverage received $300 for first runner-up, and Paula King of Accounting received $200 as second runner-up. HARDWARE PRINTERS REPAIRS SERVICE SOFTWARE A 799 South Bluff St.

St. George 656-1975 In the AlbertsonsK-Mart Commercial Center Clark By The Spectrum (ZfoBtf Use Proxy Investing Create Cash Flow And Much, Much Morel Capitalize Profits Build A Great Portfolio Write Covered Calls Profit From Rolling Stocks immum component of the American Association of Orthodontists. Prince has practiced in Southern Utah for 15 years. ST. GEORGE Flowers selected by Reno for training center St.

George Police Chief Robert Flowers was recently selected to participate in the highly specialized new Jimmy Ryce Law Enforcement Training Center at the National Center for Missing and Exploited children in Arlington, Va. BUSINESS IN BRIEF ItTl I' MESQUITE, Ner" NevStar gets loan for Star Hotel and Casino NevStar Gaming and Entertainment Corporation recently received a construction loan of S5 million for the Mesquite Star Hotel and Casino in Mesquite from the First Credit Bank of Los Angeles. The Mesquite Star Hotel and Casino is now more than 55 percent complete and will open this spring. UTAH Business resources now available on the Web The Utah Business Resource Network recently launched a World Wide Web Site that provides information and assistance for small businesses. The new home page offers various types of small business assistance and service providers including government agencies, financial institutions, recently announced they have formed an independent media and publishing company, Silver King Media Corporation.

LThe new company plans to market a broadsheet newspaper and a quarterly lifestyle magazine targeting the affluent in Salt Lake City and other areas of Utah. Offices will be in the historic Keams Building on Main Street in Salt Lake City. Silver King Media plans to capitalize on the growing "cultural mix" in Utah that is searching for information that reflects their upscale lifestyle. By The Spectrum pass Come to one of Wade Cook's Financial Clinics where one of his hand-picked, hand-trained instructors will personally reveal Mr. Cook's revolutionary stock market Strategies.

Call now to assistance for improving grazing lands or riparian areas through the Environmental Quality Improvement Program. Through the program, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service may give landowners up to 75 percent cost share for fencing, water developments, vegetative rehabilitation and other management techniques if their land meets certain criteria. For information: Washington County, 673-4896, or Iron County, 586-2429. UTAH REMAX tops franchise growth in Utah Denver-based REMAX International, which has 13 affiliated offices in Utah, is the fastest growing real estate franchise in the United States, according to Entrepreneur magazine's 19th Annual Franchise 500 survey. REMAX ranked 27th overall among franchises, based on criteria of financial strength, stability, growth rate and size.

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I STOCK MARKET fr MIRAGES 1 ft I SMSQ1 Mmmm Available in bookstores everywhere Hnanoal Planning Home Equity Credit lino Money MaiJut Funds IRAsSEIV401Ki Mutual Funds IRA Rollover I ax -free Bonds Long Tarn Health Care Insured Estate Planning Trust Services AnnuitiesLife Insurance The difference in Merrill Lynch. For more information, call us today 634-9991 or 800-367-1396 non-profit organizations, associations, universities and chambers of commerce. The web site address is http:www.ubrn.org. UTAH Public relations firm takes to the Web Politis Communications, a Utah-based public relations and marketing communications agency, today announced the completion and posting of its World Wide Web site. The site provides users with information about agency clients, public relations sites and a business ire.

It is located on the internet at http:www.politis.com. UTAH First Security will buy California State Bank First Security Corporation recently announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire California State Bank headquartered in West Covina, Calif. Under the agreement, shares of First Security Corporation common stock will be exchanged for each share of California State Bank The transaction will be accounted for as a pooling of interests and expe-'ed to close by third quarter 1 9S. UTAH Grazing land assistance available in southwest Landowners in Southwestern Utah may now be eligible for cost share fl HAVE a IMNG-miiNOlUWEaAT? First Security presents a free educational seminar. ESTATE PROTECTION PRESERVATION 1998 Tax Changes Estate Planning Questions Answers Benefits of Trusts Wills Corporate Trust Services Topics: Trustee Duties Obligations Investments K-JL Proctors: Ron Farnsworth, Trust Officer, First Security E.

Scott Awerkamp, Estate Planning Attorney -Braa-Uxfc Ban km Nofcp Joai. Two Sessions: 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Merrill Lynch A tradition of trust. Wednesday, March 4, 1998 St George Hilton 850 South Bluff Street St George, UT GirrerttiyGvirgim Member F.OIC 50 East 100 South Suite 107 St. George, U.ah.