Business briefs

Advertiser Staff

Program offers tax-return help

Free tax return preparation sites, staffed by volunteers, are being sponsored by the IRS, the state Tax Department, AARP Tax-Aide and other groups.

Seniors, the disabled, low-income persons and those with limited English proficiency qualify for help.

For locations and hours, call (888) 227-7669, Aloha United Way's Help Line at 211, or the IRS at (800) 829-1040.

Donkey ad wins by a nose

The donkey and horse raced neck-and-neck down the straightaway, but the donkey won by a honk.

That victory was among the results of The Advertiser's informal online survey of favorite Super Bowl ads.

About 1,400 votes were cast for the football game commercials, which ranged from raunchy animal tricks to Muhammad Ali's entreaty to shake up the world.

Of the ads in the game's first half, the donkey interviewing for a job as a Clydesdale horse nosed out the Bud Light's horse-and-sleigh ad, 133 to 130. In the second half, the Aloha Airlines incidental-fees commercial got 151 votes versus 103 for the Pepsi commercial featuring a young Jimi Hendrix.

For full survey results, see the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Feb/03/bz/bz04a.html.

Federated says net income up

Federated Department Stores Inc.'s fourth-quarter net income rose to as much as $2.47 a share, better than expected, as shoppers bought more suits at its Macy's and Bloomingdale's chains.

Excluding a tax benefit, profit in the period ended Jan. 31 rose to as much as $2.27, Cincinnati-based Federated said in a statement.

SEC scrutinizing index fund fees

The Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday that it is cracking down on exorbitant index fund fees. Index funds are portfolios of stocks or bonds that track a particular index.

The SEC launched the investigation because "you'd expect the fees would not be terribly disparate and yet if you look at the range, it's wide," says SEC enforcement chief Stephen Cutler.