Hello 2022!
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Oh, 2022, I cannot tell you how happy we are to see you! I know, I said that about 2021, but last year didn't live up to my — our — expectations, tax or otherwise. So here's crossing fingers and toes that you, New Year 2022, will be much, much better on all fronts.
And just to make it clear, that hope and wish and prayer for 2022 is not a challenge. Don't you dare try to outdo the craziness of the just-passed COVID Continuation Year! We want a healthier, happier, and less tax complicated next 12 months!
Jan. 1: Happy New Year! One way to make things more enjoyable on the tax front is to get organized this month. It will help you keep track of the myriad tax documents —
W-2 earnings statements,
1099 forms, charitable donation receipts, year-end account statements — that will soon be on their way to your email or snail mail box. You'll need those (and more) to file your 2021 tax return as soon as the Internal Revenue Service starts accepting them.
Jan. 3: If you're a boss, including a
self-employed business operators, who took advantage of the COVID relief option to defer the employer's portion of the Social Security payroll tax (that's 6.2 percent of each worker's wages), then you don't want to miss
today's deadline. You must pay half of that deferred amount is
due this Jan. 3. Advance tax planning alert: The other half is due by Jan. 3, 2023.
Jan. 6: If your job made it through the tough last couple of years, good for you and your company, and welcome to the New Year's first work week. It's the perfect time to
refine your payroll withholding. Adjusting your withholding now will give you 52 weeks to spread it across, making the per-paycheck bite less painful.
The IRS'
online withholding assistant or your tax pro can help you with your withholding amount and other tax numbers, but you can get a preview of what your tax bracket is this New Year by checking out the
2022 annual inflation-adjusted amounts. That post is the first of the ol' blog's annual 10-part tax inflation series; you'll find a directory to the other nine items at the end of it.
Jan. 10: The Delta and now Omicron COVID-19 variants have played havoc with eateries. Restaurants closed, then opened, then closed again. Others started and stuck with take-out and deliveries. Whether you're able dining in or still getting food brought to your house, remember to tip your server or delivery person.
If a tip isn't included in your food delivery charge, click the image above to calculate how much to tip the person who brought it to you.
As for servers who now are back on the job, remember that your
tips are taxable income. If you worked at least some of November at a job where you got gratuities, you need to account for them today if they came to at least $20 last month. Use
Form 4070 to report your tips today to your employer.
Jan. 14: The IRS and its Free File Alliance partners today begin offering no-cost online tax preparation and electronic filing at IRS'
Free File web page.
The fully online tax prep and filing option is available this year for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is $73,000 or less. That income level applies to all
filing statuses. This year,
8 software programs are available to eligible filers. Spoiler: The two biggies, Intuit's TurboTax and H&R Block, are not among the choices. The two leading tax prep programs decided to
end their participation in the program.
Jan. 17: Every
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, millions of people commit to a
day of service.
Click image to find out ways
you can volunteer on MLK Day. Taking time on the Rev. Dr. King's holiday to volunteer at a charity isn't tax deductible, but some costs associated with
volunteering could help reduce your tax bill if you itemize.
Most filers, however, claim the standard deduction and a new tax law gives them a tax break, too. On your 2021 return, you can claim up to
$300 in cash donations if you're a single filer, or twice that if married filing jointly, directly on your Form 1040.
Jan. 18: The final
estimated tax tax payment for the prior year, 2021 in this case, is due today for most taxpayers. While it's the last one for 2021, you'll face three other estimated tax deadlines this year (in mid-April, June and September). Run your estimated tax calculations carefully, so that you don't underpay and end up owing penalties and interest.
Jan. 24: The IRS starts accepting and, more importantly,
processing 2021 tax year returns today. Before you submit yours, make sure you entered all the applicable information, especially all your earnings that the IRS already knows about via copies of tax statements you got. Check out
this list of the statements, documents, and forms you'll need before you start work on your return.
Jan. 31: Wow! The first month of 2022 is over? Time really does fly when you're having tax fun. To ensure that fun isn't interrupted by an unhappy IRS, if you didn't make your Jan. 18 estimated tax payment, file your 2021
Form 1040 to avoid any possible
penalty from a missed last installment payment.
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.