European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 5, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday april 5, 1991 the. Stars and stripes a Page 17�?T Money matters today s tip the current Issue of Money Magazine includes a report on the 48 Urban areas where jobs Are expected to be plentiful until the mid-1990s. The magazines employment Survey was conducted by the Washington d.c., economics firm Woods is Poole. The top 10 communities on the list Are los Angeles Anaheim Calif. Washington Dallas fort Worth Atlanta san Francisco Chicago Nassau county . Phoenix and Tampa Fla. Average annual household income in those communities ranges from a Low of $45,500 in the Tampa area to More than $89,000 in Nassau county the Survey says. Conversion rates London up thursdays closing rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars a a a Gold was quoted at s35s.75 at ounce Silver at $4.09. British  Mark,.,.,Trench .franc.,dutch Guilder. Belgian  , Swiss  .i.,. Greek drachma. Turkish lira saudi arabian Riyat Spanish peseta. A portuguese escudo. Canadian dollar.-.,�?�. Austrian schilling.,a norwegian Krone. Danish Krone., these Are unofficial rates As reported by wire service and banking sources and they Are listed to give some idea of daily currency fluctuations. / a the Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1.64 through Friday based on thursdays noontime Price fixing. New York Exchange april 3 .1.7765 april 4 1.7845 .1.6720 Quot 1.6710 5.6740 6.7005 .18915 1.0935 .34.4575 a 34.6175 1,246 50&Quot 1249.30 ,.1,4205 a 1.4025 182.30. 182.55 3.699 so 3.710.80 ,.3.7503 3.7503 .,.,103.98 104.05 ,.-147,60 147.60 i,i55o"1.1558. A a or. 11,826.5310. 6 5415 a 6.4460 new York Impi a York Stock Exchange stack Psi resources. Citicorp Philip Morris a Silicon graphic Quot Amer express. A  Manhattan ism corp severity in Terr a a genl electric. Digital equip it ban America. Get corp a Quot the 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on wednesday. Sale 3,094,200 2.512.700 2.249.500 2,118,800 2,075.900 1,854.600. 1,840,900 1,821,600 .1,633.900 1,631.600 1,628,800 1.575.500 last 17% Quot 15 68 a 38 29 or 16 i. 113 % 11 % 71 % 63 % 37%. 32% Nat chg. Ott a. Up % off 1 a it off 4 %. Unch a up % off % up off % off up i up i american Exchange new York up a the 10 most Active stocks in american Stock Exchange composite trading wednesday. Slock a.  inc  com _ Hill Haven corp a Echo Bay mines Energy service  fruit of loom Sale 1.240,400 798.200 651,100 606.200. 573,500 435.400 374,700 last 4 9-16 15% 3% 9 % 2 i. 21 i. 14. Net chg. Up i up i up % up % unch up up % Dow Jones i re 3n try 2 j t /  eve 0 Erk i up Joy a Dow Jones closing Range of averages v n ies High 2970.54 1131 35 217.87 1q52.47 Low 2915.34 1107.72 215-17 1033.33. Close charge 2925.73 Ott 18.32 1116.18 Upo-70 216 30 off 0.44 1038.62 off 3 70 overseas should t by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a a Federal appeals court ruling in a six year Battle has said the overseas housing allowances that defense department civilians receive Are not subject to social Security and medicare taxes. A a a j to a a the March 21 ruling by a three judge panel of the Federal circuit court of appeals affirmed a lower court decision. The lower court ordered the internal Revenue service to cease the tax withholding and reimburse More than 50,000 affected employees. A. Quot v / a a a a a the government has until mid june to decide whether to Appeal to the supreme court. The irs has. Advised the defense department to continue withholding the tax until the Case is finally settled a Pentagon official said thursday. The appeals court ruled that overseas allowances Are not wages for tax purposes because they Are not intended to be compensation. Instead they Are a a reimbursements for additional expenses incurred because of the employees Job Quot the court said. I Revenue service officials would not discuss their next move. A a it a too Early to Tell yet a a said irs spokesman Henry Holmes. Attorney Richard him originally filed suit in 1986 for the overseas education association which decided to test the taxation policy on behalf of 18 department of defense dependents schools teachers in Bermuda. But the ruling affects All overseas employees who have had the taxes withheld Hirn said. An average of $340 per year and As much As $2,000 per year have been improperly withheld front employees allowances he said. Employees can file refund claims for each year they received allowance payments that were taxed As far Back As tax year 1987. Forms should be available at military Legal offices irs offices at various . Embassies and Large consulates overseas. A a a a. A. Irs officials said claims can be made retroactively for Only three years. Quot claims for tax year 1987 Are valid if they arc filed by april 15 of this year a an official said. Hirn said that a was Long As the Case is technically still in litigation the irs will deny All claims. But if you have them on file you can get reimbursed when the Case is finally  employees must document their claims through their personnel offices which should be Able to provide information on How much tax was withheld from their allowances he said. V soon after a lower court ruled in favor of education association in August 1989, the Pentagon announced that it would file Blanket refund claims on behalf of its overseas civilians for tax years 1986 through 1989 in the event the irs lost the Case. Personnel offices were directed to distribute consent forms  to give the Pentagon permission to file the claims. Separate consent forms to allow the defense department to cover its employees for tax year 1990 Are being prepared now officials said. Anyone who signed a consent form  hot have to file refund claims individually officials said. But Hirn advised employees to do Soas a backup  overseas civilians May see the withholding policy As yet another reason to Gripe about the i is it was the de sense department itself a specifically the Navy a that initiated it. Hirn claims that Congress has Long exempted housing allowances from taxation because they were intended to be reimbursements for costs incurred not direct compensation. A but when lawmakers imposed social Security and medicare taxes on Federal employees in 1984, they made no specific mention of How the allowances were to be treated for those taxes. The Navy began the withholding in late 1985, based on the services interpretation of the new social Security Laws that had taken effect the year before. When in ploy pcs began complaining the Navy sought an opinion from the irs which concurred and said in March 1986 that such taxation was proper a. In october of that year the Pentagon a general counsel directed the other services to follow suit. Despite internal opposition withholding for overseas civilians began in the air Force in january 1987 and in the army in january 1988. Ironically the state department which handles payroll for All overseas Federal civilians outside the defense department has never taxed allowances a so iks pm Floyces overseas have never been subjected to the withholding him said. On showing firms How to sell overseas by Stuart Auerbach _ the Washington Post Washington a the Commerce department has hit the Road. Since february top Commerce officials have been travelling to sell american businesses on the importance of developing markets overseas. The officials headed in most places by Commerce Sec rotary Robert Mosbacher will be on the go through june in cities such As Atlanta Tampa Fla. San Diego Phoenix and Anchorage Alaska. The programs gather experts from inside the government and from businesses to teach companies How to make High. Quality products that will sell overseas they also explain How to gather timely marketing information As Well As the financing they will need to mount a successful exporting drive. Quot its taking the Federal government s resources out to the grass roots a said assistant Commerce Secretary Susan c. Schwab. Cities that will be visited Are not Home to major corporate Headquarters they Are generally smaller regional centers that focus on manufacturing or the Deli cry of services. And the focus is on Small and medium size businesses Many of which Are reluctant to move overseas but which serve As suppliers to the giants of american Industry. Recognizing that overseas sales a the brightest spot in an otherwise lackluster-. Economy a accounted for 85 percent of the country s growth last year Mosbacher has made Export promotion a major objective for the department. In the departments proposed $2.6 billion budget Trade promotion efforts were allocated an additional $10.9 million for fiscal 1992 on top of an approximate $8 million increase in the 1991 budget. A i can do great things with $1 million a said Schwab director general of the foreign commercial service. The extra Money in fiscal 1992 allows for expanding the Commerce departments overseas presence in Japan the Pacific rim nations latin America and the soviet Union. It should also help provide More help Iii the Field to . Exporters. Over the past two years the foreign commercial service has opened offices in Prague Czechoslovakia Berlin and the european Community Headquarters in Brussels Belgium. It also has added to its staff in Japan and Taiwan. This reflects both the new open Market philosophy in Eastern Europe and latin America and the new competitiveness of Western Europe As it moves to forge a truly common Market. While the additional Money in the budget went to open posts abroad the heart of the Commerce departments Export promotion program is the 20 conferences that officials Are holding in cities around the country. Mosbacher or other High ranking Bush advisers such As Michael j. Boskin chairman of the presidents Council of economic advisers act As cheerleaders. Other government officials and business executives provide nuts and bolts information on How to sell overseas. And Heads of various agencies such As the Small business administration the Export import Bank and the overseas private investment corp., Tell what they can do u help . Companies get needed financing. A /. A a a a. A what we Are doing with substance and a Little hoopla a is taking the Export Effort from Washington to the people that 1 Hope will be exporting a Mosbacher said. A the Point we Are trying to make is that the government has to work with the private sector in building  . Businesses with a continent wide Market to fill too rarely focus on Selling overseas Commerce officials maintain. As a result exports account for just 7 percent of the . Economy compared with an average of 19 percent for most of americans trading partners. Things Are changing however with . Companies that once Felt secure in their Home Market now finding themselves challenged by foreign competitors shipping products into the United states to combat that Mosbacher said . Companies have to learn How to move into foreign markets. A we never had to get sophisticated about foreign Exchange Bills of lading foreign distribution and All the other aspects of exporting a Fol Asbacher said. Quot but now we see a burgeoning interest in exporting and we see a real Aero she Board interest in  the push for overseas sales reflects a priority of president Bush who emphasized Export promotion in his state of the Union address this year and who thinks exports can help pull the country out of recession. A a