💐 May 💐 is 💐 here!!! 💐
Those exclamation marks and emoji bouquets are sincere and deserved. I don't know about you, but I'm more than ready for May flowers.
Plus, you've got to love a month that starts with a celebration.
May Pole Dance via GIPHY
After the May Day dances are done, the commemorative days just keep coming. There are well-known ones, like Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day, and Memorial Day, as well as some more obscure ones, like Pick Strawberries Day, Be Millionaire Day (if only!), and my favorite, Eat What You Want Day.
But even with all these (and more!) celebrations, there's still time to make some money-saving May tax moves. Let's get to it!
May 1: While
May Day isn't a big holiday in the United States, globally the first day of May is a time for celebrating workers' contributions. But that can apply here, too, in connection with some employment-related tax tasks. If you got a big refund or owed more tax than you expected when you filed (or got an extension) last month, today's the perfect time to do
adjust your paycheck withholding.
May 5: ¡
Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
Fiestas are always en vogue in Tejas, but the epitome of them is this Mexican holiday. No, it is NOT Mexican Independence Day, and May 5 tends to spur more festivities here north of the border, especially when it comes to imbibing margaritas. With every Cinco toast, remember that the cost of state and federal alcohol taxes are included in the mixing. Your state tax collector also will raise a glass to your fiscal contribution, since sin taxes usually are a revenue bright spot for many states.
May 10: Do you work as a server at a restaurant or at any other establishment where gratuities from customers are part of your compensation? I hope you got lots of financial thanks for doing your job well, especially from those Cinco celebrants. But don't forget that those tips are taxable income.
Whether you're dining in or, still COVID leery and getting food delivered to your home, if a tip isn't included on your restaurant or delivery bill, click the image above to calculate how much to tip the person who brought it to you.
And you, as the server or delivery person, must account for those tips. If you got at least $20 in gratuities in April, you must report the amount by today by using
Form 4070 to let your employer the total of the tips you took in last month.
May 14: Happy Mother's Day!
If you're just this year making up for pandemic paused family visits (side note: May 18 is Visit Your Relatives Day), give your mom a longer hug on her special day. Love, flowers, and the best of health and happiness to every mother, from the new ones just discovering the joys,
tax and otherwise, of new parenthood to those gracefully maneuvering their Golden Years while getting some
tax-advantaged help from their families.
May 22: Just because you got an extension to file your 2022 tax return doesn't mean you have to wait until the Oct. 16 deadline to finish it. And you might be able to complete all those forms at no cost.
Free File, the online preparation and electronic filing web page for eligible taxpayers created by the IRS' partnership with the Free File Alliance is still operational for, as its name says, free.
This year, the income threshold is adjusted gross income (AGI) of $73,000 or less, regardless of your
filing status. You should be able to find a software that works for you from the
seven tax prep companies that are participating.
May 26: If you're heading out early today to further extend the already long Memorial Day weekend, be sure to plan for added costs, like the price of getting to your holiday destination. Most travelers this weekend that marks the unofficial start of summer will hit the highways, so even though gasoline prices are at the exorbitant levels they were this time last year, pump prices still will take a bite of travel budgets. Maybe that will get you to look more closely at getting an electric vehicle (EV) before your next road trip. Check out the tax rules to see if your new EV comes with a
$7,500 tax credit May 29: This Memorial Day as you honor the military personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice, don't forget about their families. There are some
tax considerations offered survivors of lost soldiers, sailors, and air crew.
Small Business Tax Calendar: Important
filing, deposit and record keeping dates throughout the year that your company needs to know. You can get more tax calendar information at the IRS'
online calendar page and view the full year's important business and individual tax dates in
IRS Pub. 509.
With all the tax bill excitement this week, the 47th Carnival of Personal Finance sneaked into town right under my nose. Just goes to show you how noisy those Senators and Representatives are when they can drown out the sound of such a boisterous bunch of financial bloggers!
Thanks!
Posted by: jim | Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 08:43 AM