Ive spent a good bit of time digitizing paperwork over the past couple of years. My primary weapon in this battle has been a sheet-fed scanner, though I sometimes snap pics with my iPhone and turn them into scanned pdfs using JotNot.

While it feels to good to be working toward a paperless financial world, however, the issue of whether or not these scanned documents would be acceptable has always bothered me. Having a store refuse a return because I didnt have the original receipt would be annoying; having the IRS reject my documents could be a disaster.

So Does the IRS actually accept scanned documents?

As it turns out, yes Theyve actually accepted electronic documentation since at least 1997, when they issued IRS Revenue Procedure 97-22, which states:

This revenue procedure provides guidance to taxpayers that maintain books and records by using an electronic storage system that either images their hardcopy (paper) books and records, or transfers their computerized books and records, to an electronic storage media, such as an optical disk.

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If I were any good at the two minute sound byte interview, I would have summarized this about the superiority of the current US private rail system vs. the systems in Europe and Japan:

Link here (sorry, for some reason the link did not show up the first time, probably something to do with my iPad)

While the month is almost over, one thing is certain: January is a great time to buy just about anything. With the holiday season behind us, retailers slash prices on what is left of their merchandise. This means that, provided you have money left after the holiday gift-giving season, you can save a lot of money. While the usual caveats about not spending money on things you don’t actually need apply, there are a number of areas where you can save and save big if you make your purchases in January.

For some reason, January is the traditional month for white sales. This tradition began in 1878 with retail pioneer and Postmaster General, John Wanamaker. Apocryphally, it is said that he wanted to buttress the sale of raw linen at a time when linen wholesalers were having trouble selling. Whatever the reason, you can get linens for a song during the first month of the year.

Sporting goods are a popular Christmas gift. O

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Project financings for infrastructure have always had their ardent admirers. Noncyclical, reliable and perceived as virtuous, the performance of infrastructure project ratings underlines the sector’s versatility in even the toughest of markets. But the one-size-fits-all days of bank-driven infrastructure finance are long gone, and new projects will need to use alternative forms—and sources—of funding.

Demand for infrastructure in emerging markets will triple to $1 trillion annually until 2030, according to a recent RBS report—The Roots of Growth: Projecting EM Infrastructure Demand to 2030. But at a time of a dramatically rising demand, banks are finding it increasingly difficult to make the loans that have been the traditional lifeblood of the sector. This cou

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If you are unprepared when an emergency occurs, you may find yourself having to resort to expensive debt to handle the problem.  This can quickly lead to financial devastation and great difficulty repairing your finances for years to come.  It is better to prepare yourself financially ahead of time so that you can handle any emergency that occurs without having to resort to borrowing money from anyone.  Here are some steps that you can take to prepare yourself.

Start A Savings Account

The best thing that you can do to be prepared for financial emergencies is to start a savings account and begin diverting money into it from your paycheck.  This will provide you with a financial cushion that can be used when unexpected expenses arise that are more than your regular paycheck can handle.  Having the savings available will ensure that you do not have to use a credit card to handle the issue, where interest charges and financing fees can cost you tons of money before the balance is paid off.

Keep Financial Records

Keeping accurate financial records will help you keep track of how much money you are spending and whether spending can be cut anywhere to provide more money for saving.  All financial transactions into and out of your bank accounts should be noted with the date, the amount, and a label for the transaction.  Tracking your transactions shows you where money is being wasted so that you can formulate a plan to turn those wasted dollars into saved money.

Create A Budget

Creating a budget will help you get a handle on your finances quicker than any other method of financial management.  The budget should include all of your expenses for the month and the amount that you are paying for each expense.  This will decrease the risk of you overspending in any category and may even identify areas of saving that you did not identify before.

LONDON — Europe’s banks and regulators are at odds about how financial institutions should increase their capital reserves.

Authorities want European banks to tap existing shareholders and reduce employee bonuses to find a combined $147 billion to increase their core Tier 1 ratios, a measure of a firm’s ability to weather financial shocks, to 9 percent by June. Citigroup estimates that Europe’s financial institutions, minus the Greek banks, had raised at least 40 billion euros, or $51 billion, as of the fourth quarter of 2011.

Banks, however, would prefer to sell or write down unprofitable operations, as well as adjust their balance sheets, to free up cash to meet the new requirements.

One solution could be to increase capital reserves through rights offerings, which allow existing shareholders to buy new stock at a discount. But vol

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