Ellen Roseman: Credit card surcharge battle will ultimately hurt consumers

SUMMARY
  I have read this article, the writer has metions that she went for dinner at a Chinese restaurant, and the owner refused to accept the credit card. As I continued read this arcticle, I realized that merchants have to pay a fee everytime we do a purchased, it costs about 1.5 to 3 per cent of each time purchased. We as a consumer, when we use either use Visa and Mastercard, we don't ever know about these surcharges because they're buried in the prices we pay, whether we use credit cards or not. So this is for cerdit card purchased, but if we use debit card instead, it's still charge fee, but it's cost much less, that's is because Canada's debit card system is run by Interac, a non-profit cooperative of financial institutions.

CONNECTION
  I have read this interesting arcticle and I really like it. In Accounting 12 class, we are on Chapter 14, which is the cash control and banking. Mr.Bach taught us that some merchants would refused for accepting credit card at some store, because merchants are trying to avoid paying a huge amount of fee, as I mention earlier in the summary that merchants have to pay a fee everytime we do a purchased, it costs about 1.5 to 3 per cent of each time purchased. I don't like paying for the cerdit card fee, so I don't want to get a credit card before I turn older. Therefore, it hurts me as a consumer.

REFLECTION   
  Canada has the highest cerdit card fees in the whole world. The credit card company which are Visa and Mastercard are making a lots of money from the cost of retailers and consumers about $5 billion each a year. Credit Card company are trying to make more and more he retailers and consumers. Consumers like me might be not even try to use Credit Card to make my purchased. If merchants keep facing higher credit card costs, many will be forced to raise their prices or stop accepting credit cards altogether. Then it's affecting us as a consumers and merchants, not just in Canada, but also affecting the whole world.

 

Resource: http://www.cbc.ca/money/moneytalks/2010/12/ellen-roseman-credit-card-surcharge-battle-will-ultimately-only-hurt-consumers.html

Loonie gains on jobs report

Resource:
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2011/01/07/dollar-up.html

Report indicates big increase in state sales taxes

  The accounting current event that I read is about the report indicates big increase in state sales taxes. State government have the highest sales taxes in 28 years. The average state sales tax rate was 5.52 percent in the first nine months of 2010, which is slightly higher than the 5.48 percent recorded for last year. Sales taxes generate more money overall than taxes on property or income. The sales taxes rate will be higher by December 2010 said by one of the accountant. Sales and use taxes make up nearly 32 percent of state taxes, the report states. Forty-five states levy this tax, and the outlook for collections is more optimistic than last year. Thirty-four states expect sales tax collections to rise above FY 2010 levels, with Colorado projecting a 14 percent year-over-year increase.

States could receive millions of dollars if they received taxes for online purchases, and the potential revenue source is a subject of political debates this season. In Idaho, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) estimates it could gain up to $103 million from online sales taxes, and a Superintendent for Public Instruction candidate wants online companies to tax customers upfront and send the money to the state, IdahoReporter.com reported. The process has been fraught with legal difficulties in other states, however. Virtually all states were in “survival mode” this year, according to Stateline.org. Collectively, states were forced to eliminate more than $100 billion in funding gaps for the new fiscal year that started July 1.

 

Source: http://www.accountingweb.com/topic/tax/report-indicates-big-increase-state-sales-taxes