July 1: The majority of state individual and corporate income tax policy changes follow the calendar year and take effect each Jan. 1. But, notes the Tax Foundation, many sales and excise tax changes take effect today, July 1, which is the beginning of the fiscal year for all states except Alabama, Michigan, New York, and Texas. That’s why that notable tax changes will take effect in several states today.
July 4: Happy 249th Birthday, America!
Most of us will never be totally independent of taxes, but we can celebrate fewer tax hassles by paying attention to what we might owe and how we can reduce that amount throughout the year. As for that owed amount, if you meet most of your annual tax federal obligation via paycheck withholding, now is a good time to review that amount. If you need to adjust your withholding, the amounts will be less noticeable by being spread across 2025’s remaining six months.
July 10: If your job is as a server at a restaurant or at any other establishment where gratuities from customers are part of your compensation, I hope you get all the tips you deserve for doing your job well. Remember, though, that those tips are taxable income.

Whether you're dining at your favorite eatery or getting food, groceries and/or prepared meals, 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.
If you got at least $20 in gratuities in June for your extraordinary services as a food server or hair stylist or parking valet or whatever job where tipping is common, you must report that amount by today. Use Form 4070 to let your employer know the total tips you took in last month.
July 11: Today kicks off the first of the annual summer state sales tax holidays. During these special shopping events, usually touted as back-to-school tax holidays, certain items are exempt from the states’ and usually the local sales taxes. Announced July sales tax holidays are (so far) in —
Mississippi from July 11 to 13;
Alabama from July 18 to 20;
New Mexico from July 25 to 27, and
Tennessee from July 25 to 27.
July 18: If back in April you got an extension to file your 2025 tax return, you don’t have to wait until the final Oct. 15 deadline to do so. You can get this tax task out of the way so you don’t have to think about it for the rest of the summer. You also might be able to file electronically at no cost if your adjusted gross income (AGI), regardless of your filing status, is $84,000 or less by using the official IRS.gov Free File website.

Eight software companies are part of this year’s IRS-Free File Alliance partnership option at IRS.gov. They will be available through the Oct. 15 extension deadline, but again, you don’t have to wait. And if your income is too high, you still can file for free by using Free File's Fillable Forms option.
July 24: Millions of us head to the beach to beat summer’s heat. But when the waters heat up, too, they can feed tropical systems. So far, the 2025 Atlantic (and Gulf of Mexico) hurricane season, which runs through Nov. 30, hasn’t been that bad. But federal forecasters say just wait. They once again are forecasting a more active than usual hurricane season. Before another tropical system forms, now is the time to get ready.
Uncle Sam's official forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center say we could get 13 to 19 total named storms, which are those with winds of 39 mph or higher. Of those, six to 10 are forecast to become hurricanes, meaning winds of 74 mph or higher. Three to five of the storms this season could become major hurricanes; that’s category 3, 4 or 5, with winds of 111 mph or higher.
The countdown clock above can help you keep track of how many more days you have to worry about tracking any size or type of tropical storms. You also might want to check out the ol' blog's Storm Warnings collection of special pages with posts offer tax advice on preparing for, recovering from and helping those who sustain damages from the many ways that that weather goes wild.
July 31: Summer is a great time to make home improvements. And there’s some added urgency this year if you’re relying on tax credits to help cover the cost of energy-efficient residential upgrades. Congress has targeted green energy tax breaks in its massive One Big Beautiful Bill. Many of the tax breaks will expire sooner than originally scheduled, so get your home improvements — and other environmentally friendly moves, like buying an electric vehicle — in under the tax law change wire.
Small Business Tax Calendar: If you run your own company, you know there are myriad important filing, deposit, and record keeping dates throughout the year that your company needs to meet. You also can track key business and individual tax deadlines in IRS Pub. 509.
It amazes me how so many people think government regulation will stop these issues. I worked at a large Headquartes in DC (Coast Guard) so I have seen how the federal government works. Acutally, I should say how it doesn't work.
While self-regulation is an oxymoron, the real regulation is pain. If someone does something stupid with their money, they deserve to lose it. This will focus the party on risk going forward. Expecting the government to protect you is nothing more than expecting the Wizard to help Dorothy.
This current situation is a perfect case in point. The banks, investment banks, and mortgage folks created these stupid subprime, no doc loans. Now they are losing their shirts. The markets have adjusted and you would be hard pressed to find these products today. The involved parties have adjusted their behavior due to the pain.
Even if the government outlaws this kind of loan and installs new government regulators, there will be other blow ups. The markets will find new products to sell. The government will sit by idly as these products gain traction. Then, when they blow up, the government will "come to the rescue" after the losses and pain have been suffered.
The reality is every individual needs to understand what they are doing. They need to actually take care of themselves. Had this happened, we wouldn't be in this mess. The government is too dysfunctional to help you avoid mistakes. You must take the desire to help yourself.
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, April 02, 2008 at 09:49 AM
Gramm? Whos wife sat on the Enron board? Probably saw nothing wrong with energy deregulation either. What a tool.
Economics advisor for the McCain administration? Kind of like putting the Halliburton CEO in charge of foreign policy..oops been there, did that too :(
Posted by: [email protected] | Monday, March 31, 2008 at 03:20 PM
Please Austin folks, go see the movie The Unforeseen! It is a very limited screening that ends this week.
The first 1/2 I found showed some of the negatives the local Austin housing boom build up. It has all happened before, not it is nationwide.
http://theunforeseenfilm.com/blog/
Posted by: Stephen Gutknecht | Monday, March 31, 2008 at 02:57 PM