Business Briefs As We Count Down To The New Millennium

Hispanic Times Magazine, Oct, 1999

GOING SHOPPING.COM

Cyberspace is here. Purchases via the Internet have exceeded expectations -- and it appears the Web has provided alternatives to traditional retailing that foresees a changing market.

It conjures up the question -- is the mailing of America over and done? The prognosticators say "Not really." Buying over the Internet is an upward trend, showing that consumers are increasingly comfortable and sophisticated about shopping in this convenient way from their homes of offices. They apparently sense enough security to tap their credit card numbers onto computer forms, perhaps with more confidence than handling their plastic to a store clerk who may carelessly toss the store's receipt with its customer numbers unto an unsecured pile.

Should consumer enthusiasm for cyber-shopping continue to grow -- it signals a change in shopping patterns, which may reflect a worry for traditional retailers. Internet shopping is not yet the war of the retail world, but it has surely set off a few strikes.

UPDATED ON Y2K

Beware the Millennium Bug. We've heard it over and over, and with the countdown approaching the target, it appears there is good news and bad.

It's the potential glitch (in case you've been long-time sleeping) that threatens computer systems when the time clock is supposed to roll over from year 1999 to year 2000. We're told that most corporate entities, banks financial institutions, and government agencies, such as Social Security Administration, will be on schedule without interruption. But the problem derives from the continued use of old computer codes that list years with two digit instead of four. It means that computers might interpret "00" as 1900, not 2000. We'll know the damage soon, won't we?

HOME OFFICE DEDUCTION

Starting this year, it may be possible to declare a deduction on your IRS return for your home office. But the requirements are still strict.

A home office must still be used regularly and exclusively for business. If you balance the family checkbook on the business computer or use the office as a guest room during the holidays, you don't qualify for the deduction. You can claim part of a room as a home office, as long as none of the office equipment or furniture is also for personal use.

In addition, the office must be used regularly to meet with clients or be the principal place of business. An employee who claims this deduction must have his employer stipulate that the home office is for the company's convenience from home, or you won't be able to take the deduction.

TORTILLAS DE-REGULATED

Mexico has scrapped a decades-old subsidy on corn tortillas, the mainstay of the country's diet. The subsidy kept the food-stuff within daily reach of the country's extremely poor. In fact, it has been estimated that 95 percent of Mexico's population get most of their dietary intake from corn tortillas.

The country's trade ministry said the ending of the subsidy would allow more funds to be channeled into the Progresa welfare program for low-income people. It is expected to also allow for the modernization of mills.

The regulated price for tortillas before lifting controls was 30 U.S. cents per kilogram, or 14 cents per pound in Mexico city, where the minimum wage is $3.40. The new de-regulation does not affect tortillas made of wheat, which are unsubsidized.