European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 20, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday. October 20, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 19 Trade deficit makes businessmen jittery hot Springs. A i a business chiefs Marn of to Lini business chiefs a Illicy arc  n Favous i Lxi Ilic cd Imam and consider inc enormous i s  a Cicil inc single Lii pest  for those jitters. La cuts right across All industries ind All or Maui is " says Ruben Meitler. The chairman of try inc when we compete with exports business is weak when we com Pete directly with imports it is extremely difficult " Metal scr also Heads the . Business Council which met Here to discuss the business climate with Leaden of government and Industry. In its fall assessment of inc Economy he Council fore cast another 15 months of slow growth without a recession. But the chief topic of conversation was clearly the nation s Trade imbalance which the Council s economic advisers say will reach $133 billion this year and $141 billion in 1986. And that s in spite of actions by the Rea Gan administration and Congress to try to Squali a the Trade imbalance and to nudge Down the value of the . Dollar. When Deputy Treasury Secretary Richard g. Darman came to discuss president Reagan s tax overhaul Bill a measure that affects . Business directly Many corporate officers suggested that they were More interested in talking about Trade than taxes. The value of inc Dollar and the Trade deficit is a bigger Issue by far Mettler said after the session with Darman. James Robinson Iii. The chairman of the american express corp., said the Trade imbalance has had a tremendous drag throughout the Economy pulling Down econ mail it Mph b it  to full peae Miu arts after booming along in a growth rate of x percent in 1 h4, a myth  expected to be Down m 2 \ permit for All of 1 jux then improve on slightly to ? s pen enl. For i Jyh according to the business. Rouneil s economic fore cast Robinson said  his business is probably less Iffe eted by the Trade deficit than mini after a i Buunk a tuxes overseas is still a Good bargain for  tourists because of the Mill Strong Dollar. He said sales charged in american  cards increased by 15 percent to 17 percent this year. Still he said the use of our card has slowed  marry j. Gray the chairman of United technologies corp., said his firm s semiconductor division is reeling under Competition from Low Cost computer chips mostly from Japan. We re limiting ourselves in that area. We just Don t see a Way to compete too effectively he said business leaders at the conference seemed to hold out Little optimism that the Trade situation will improve Sonn. They cited a Light linkage Between the Trade imbalance and High government budget deficits High interest rates in this country and generally poor . Performance in manufacturing. They said improvements in these areas must come before any marked improvement in the Trade bal Ance can be achieved but most of All the business leaders agreed thai the Strong . Dollar abroad is taking the largest toll and they voiced scepticism that government intervention in currency markets Aluinc would do much to Speed the Dol Lar s fall. The  r. Mill killing us. We have Large operations   1 Dinand t Pratt or. The chairman of f i or inca chemical and drug manufacturing firm the Strong Dollar makes i a products expensive abroad Ami imports  cheap m his country. Pratt said  while the Trade unbalance is clearly the no 1 headache for . Corporations other factors influence business performance especially for .1 business like his Lor us a Pood flu season will cover up any bad Busi Ness  he joked in i related Trade development. Bruce smart Deputy Commerce Secretary for International Trade disclosed that the Reagan administration is considering a fresh Batch of Una ir-1 rude complaints a Ainsle Uther nations. Smart said an inter Agency panel that he chairs identified three up regious and Large areas of unfair Trade practices against . Products. He declined to say which products or which nations. He told reporters that the panel part of a six Agency task Force  last month by Reagan to ferret out instances of Irac discrimination would meet again to firm up its recommendations. He said that As Many As five unfair trading cases might be passed along to the  Force for action. Those would be in addition to cases announced by the president last summer involving barriers against . Tobacco and leather products in Japan insurance in South Korea Telephone equipment in Bra in and canned fruits in the european common Market. Investor s guide by   q. My husband bought Hod shares of Stock Yea ago. He sold All him shares recently and we used Ibe Money of Pur Chase a new car. We know How much we received when the Stock was sold but Home no record of what he paid when inc Slock was purchased. How can we handle this on our joint income tax return a. You re required to list Bulli lie vile Price and inc cml or Oiler basis on sched ule i of the Federal Mcnine lax return you file for 1985, inc  in which the Stock was sold. The difference Between the Pur Chase Price and the  Price is either a capital gain or i capital Luss. The confirmation statement you received from the brokerage firm through which your husband sold the Stock pro Vides the Ai a Price. Like Ninny other people your problem seems to be that you did t keep inc con  statement for the Purchase of that Stock. If you can yet a duplicate confirmation statement from the brokerage firm through which the Stock was bought you la have All the information you need to report the gain or loss. But gelling confirmation statements for old transactions can be difficult some times impossible. Most brokerage firms Don t have those records. You can learn that Stock s approximate Price at the time of your husband s Purchase by going through microfilm records of newspaper Stock tables at a Public Library. If you list thai Price As inc Cost on scheduled take a deep breath and Hope the internal Revenue service does t ques Tion your return. If you re called on the irs carpet it will be up to you to prove that was the Price at which the mock was brought. Without a confirmation slip for the Purchase you won t have that proof. The lesson in this which comes too late for you is a simple one. Keep the confirmation slips and All other records of prices at which securities Are purchased Ami sold. Q. I m told the internal Revenue Venice now receives from brokers information returns listing the prices at which All stocks and other securities Hutc been Pur chased and sold. Is this True if it is. The irs should be Able to automatically Check and accuracy of All capital gains and losses i report on my income lax return. A. It s half True brokers have been required to report the proceeds from sales of All securities since july 1. 1983. That s done on forms 1 we. One copy goes to the customer one copy to the iks to be fed into computers. Under this a Stem the irs Kamms the prices at which you sold stocks Ami other securities but has no Handy record of the prices at which you bought. It s up in Yui As an honest taxpayer to list the Correct Purchase Price Ami report ukr capital gains and or looses . Q. For eight or nine years while employed at a big comp ii 1 purchased Thil company s Slock through payroll Deduc Tion. This was done a rough a share hit Ildeni s plan administered by a broker age firm. Stupidly i did not retain the statements showing my Purchase prices. I now urn concerned about How i would report my capital a if is or Luss if 1 Ever sell this Stock. Any suggestions a. Contact the company s personnel department and the brokerage firm. Ask for u transcript of All your purchases. There s a fair Chance it will be available. Broker age firms Are More Likely to have records of systematic purchases such As yours than records of individual transactions. You might have to pay a fee to obtain that transcript. The brokerage firm will have to pull it out of its computer an operation involving Lime Effort and some expense. Q. My wife recently received a Small inheritance. Docs this have to be reported on our income tax return a. No. Inheritances Are nol income and arc not subject to income Lux. There s no need to report that inheritance on your income tax return. The same Rule applies to gifts. They arc not income either. Q. 1 have a $10,000 municipal Bond that has defaulted. No interest has been paid on this Bond since 1979. I have been told thai it is hopeless to expect anything. Can i use this As a bad debt on my income tax if so How much can 1 use a. Even though a Bond is a debt Security you can t report it As a bad debt on your income tax return. Bui assuming that Bond has no value and cannot be sold you can report it As worthless Security and take a capital loss for the Price you paid for it. You report the Bond As having Cro value As of dec. 31 of the year in which it lost All value and report the capital loss on schedule 1 of your Federal in inc tax return filed for the year. With worthless securities you Are Al Lowed to file amended returns to claim the loss Back for Sun years. King it a Ikpi columnist Dovie ?ii  in Len question i but a Tan provide Aniwa i orgy in rough the column. You can into to him m cure of the Mari and soft Phi. Apo 09211. U s. Forton Lemon Aid puppeteer Kryno Ker shows some of the puppets to be used by Procter & Gamble to introduce its new Joy Brand Dis washing liquid Sud a Lemon. 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