-usw^caribbeantodj..c.. CARIBBEAN TODAY SLO c n i Photograph by Sharon Bennett Five recipients were cited for outstanding service to the community at the annual Sons & Daughters of Jamaica (S&DoJ) Ancestral Heritage Awards presented during last month's celebration of Black History Month (BHM) at the Jamaican Consulate in Manhattan, New York. Photograph shows, from left, Junior Jawara Blake, radio host of The Meeting In The African Village Square-WVIP, 93.5 FM; Hyacinth Simms, president of Simms Tax Services of Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Violet Russell-Forrest, fashion designer; Aubrey Campbell, from the Jamaica Information Service, N.Y., who represented recipient Dr. Basil K. Bryan, Jamaica's consul gen- eral; and E. Wayne McDonald, artistic director of the Caribbean Cultural Theatre, Inc., Brooklyn. The BHM celebration was co-spon- sored by the Jamaican Consulate and S&DoJ, Inc. Go online for your 1099 tax form With tax season well on its way, millions of taxpayers in the United States are busy gather- ing all the forms and docu- ments needed to file federal, state and local tax returns. Some people who receive Social Security may have to pay taxes on a portion of their benefits. For them, a Social Security Benefit Statement (Form SSA-1099) is an impor- tant tax document. The SSA-1099s for tax year 2006 were all automati- cally mailed to beneficiaries by Jan. 31, 2007. Anyone who receives Social Security but has not yet received a Form SSA-1099 for 2006 can request a replacement online at www.socialsecurity.gov BENEFITS The SSA-1099 shows the total amount of benefits received in the previous year and is used to find out if any benefits are subject to tax, and to complete a federal income tax return. Basically, the fed- How to adopt a no and getting a job (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7) especially for immigrants con- cerned or unsure of issues per- taining to United States immi- gration law. It aims to answer some of our readers'frequent- ly asked questions and provide responses from qualified immigration attorneys and advocates lobbying for the U.S. immigration cause. The eral tax laws about Social Security benefits state that: Up to 50 percent of Social Security benefits may be sub- ject to income tax for individ- uals with a combined income between $25,000 and $34,000, or for couples with a com- bined income between $32,000 and $44,000; and Up to 85 percent of Social Security benefits may be sub- ject to income tax for individu- als with a combined income above $34,000, or for couples with a combined income above $44,000. (Note: "Combined income" means adjusted gross income, plus nontaxable inter- est, plus one-half of Social Security benefits.) Less than a third of cur- rent Social Security beneficiar- ies have incomes that exceed the thresholds, requiring them to pay taxes on a portion of their Social Security benefits. For more information on taxation of Social Security benefits, call the IRS's toll- free telephone number, 1-800- 829-3676 and ask for )n-U.S. resident; or work permit answers provided here are for information purposes only, and does not create attorney- client relationship, nor is it a substitute for "legal advice", which can only be given by a competent attorney after reviewing all the facts of the case. Publication 554, "Older Americans' Tax Guide". The publication is also available from the IRS website at www.irs.gov For more information about Social Security, or to request a replacement SSA- 1099, visit www.socialsecuri- ty.gov Or call Social Security's toll-free number, 1-800-772- 1213 (TTY1-800-325-0778) and ask for a replacement SSA-1099. 0 March 2007 Antigua demands 'tangible results' for world's women WASHINGTON Antigua and Barbuda has called for greater efforts so that there would be "more tangible" results for women. In her first address before the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), as president of the Inter-American Commission (CIM), Antigua and Barbuda Labor, Public Administration and Empowerment Minister Jacqui Quinn-Leandro said these results should make women "enjoy their rights to the fullest extent." The OAS Permanent Council, which comprises member state diplomats, is chaired by Uruguay's Permanent Representative Maria del Lujin Flores. Quinn-Leandro said the empowerment of women and gender equality "are prerequi- sites for achieving political, social, economic, cultural and environmental security among all peoples." In quoting a statement at the historic 1995 World Conference on Women, in Beijing, China, Quinn- Leandro said "the advance- ment of women and the achievement of equality between women and men are matters of human rights and conditions for social justice." She said every effort should be made to ensure that women play a pivotal role in the decision-making process in the public and private domains, and that they have access to resources and bene- fits of development, an OAS statement said. "The CIM objectives of equality must be fulfilled, not only because they are man- dates but also because they are an indispensable component of the devel- opment process of our coun- tries," said Quinn-Leandro Quinn- Leandro, who was elected last November to head CIM for a two-year term. Street Address: 9020 SW 152nd Street, Miami, FL 33157 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6010 Miami, FL 33116-6010. Telephone: (305) 238-2868 (305) 253-6029 Fax: (305) 252-7843 1-800-605-7516 Jamaica: 654-7282 E-mail: caribtoday@earthlink.net Send ads to: ct ads@bellsouth.net Vol. 18, Number 4 MAR. 2007 PETER A WEBLEY Publisher GORDON WILLIAMS Managing Editor DAMIAN P. GREGORY Deputy Managing Editor SABRINA FENNELL Graphic Artist DOROTHY CHIN Account Executive SUNDAY SELLERS Account Executive JULISSA RAMOS Accounting Manager Caribbean Media Source Media Representatives TOM JONAS 353 St. Nicolas Street, Suite 200 Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 2P1 Tel: (514) 931-0422 Fax: (514) 931-0455 E-mail: tom@cmsworldmedia.com Jamaica Bureau MARIE GREGORY (876) 925-5640 P.O. Box 127, Constant Spring Kingston 8, Jamaica Opinions expressed by editors and writers are not necessarily those of the publisher. Caribbean Today, an independent news magazine, is published every month by Caribbean Publishing Services, Inc. Subscription rates are: US$20 per year (Bulk); 1st Class $35 per year. Caribbean Today is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photos. To guarantee return, please include a self- addressed stamped envelope. Articles appearing in Caribbean Today may not be reproduced without written permission of the editor. HONORING OUR HERITAGE ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN Photograph by DerrickA. Scott Lissette Wade, left, a Jamaican who resides in Lake Park, Florida, shows off an award he recently received from United States President George W. Bush to Jamaica's Ambassador to the U.S. Professor Gordon Shirley. Wade was the only Jamaican among the 100 African Americans who were honored as business and community leaders for "Black History Month" at a recep- tion held at the White House in Washington D.C.