Cash-strapped Americans anxious for tax refunds are increasingly turning to payment advances, prepaid cards or other costly services when getting tax preparation help, according to new federal data raising concerns among regulators about whether consumers are fully informed about the fees.

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NEW YORK — Electric bills have long been take-it-or-leave-it affairs: Pay one rate for all the power you used the month before, no matter when you used it. But some electric companies want to shake-up that rigid business model. They ...

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ANNAPOLIS — Move over, Los Angeles. Production companies are looking to Baltimore as a backdrop for filming locations — thanks in part to state funding used to lure them to Maryland. And film industry people say Maryland’s economy is reaping ...

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HAGERSTOWN — Washington County is offering an unidentified company $100,000 to establish a local operation. The Hagerstown Herald-Mail reported Friday that the incentive was disclosed in an annual report of expenditures from local hotel-motel tax receipts. The funds are listed ...

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A new Wegmans was announced for Owings Mills and a federal agency might hold up the Constellation/Exelon merger. Meanwhile, a legendary Baltimore Sun photographer’s prints are going to auction — much to his daughter’s chagrin — and plans for a ...

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A city task force examining taxpayer incentives to developers is recommending new criteria for the awards, including profit sharing on all projects, independent monitors and possible use of such inducements to help rebuild Baltimore’s middle class. The task force’s report ...

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Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the amount of the rent incentives The Cordish Cos. were seeking. The Baltimore Development Corp. will seek approval from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake next week to give about $3 million in rent ...

Tagged with: Baltimore Baltimore Development Corporation david cordish espn zone incentives Inner Harbor Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake power plant The Cordish Cos.

DETROIT — U.S. auto sales cooled off in May as dealers started running short on some popular, fuel-efficient models and buyers were turned off by sharply lower incentives. Deals aren’t likely to come back until the end of this summer. ...

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HITECH, which is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, establishes a program of incentive payments to eligible professionals who participate in the Medicare or Medicaid programs, and meaningfully use certified electronic health record technology. (EHR — ...

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ANNAPOLIS — In a small office tucked away in the Chesapeake Innovation Center, SemaConnect engineers hand assemble prototypes of electric vehicle charging stations. The future of the roughly 3-year-old Maryland startup is tied directly to an anticipated boom in the ...

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