April 1: The first day of April definitely is not a day to fool around if you must make a required minimum distribution (RMD). This year's deadline is for folks who turned 73 in 2024 and decided to delay their first RMD.
April 5: You made it through April 1 and the month's first full week unscathed by foolish pranksters, but tax misconceptions persist year-round. Don't fall for any of these 10 tax myths as you work on finishing your return. Similarly, make sure you don't make any common filing mistakes, or overlook any tax breaks.
April 8: Tax Day is just a week away. You really tried to do your taxes yourself, but you've realized you need help. It's probably too late to find a tax professional who'll do your taxes by April 15. Sorry. They tend to book up earlier in the tax year. But there's still help available, especially if you're older or don't make a ton of money. Check into Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs in your area. These IRS-trained volunteers are happy to help eligible taxpayers fill out and file returns at no- or low-cost.
April 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.
And if you got at least $20 in gratuities in March 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.
April 12: It’s the last weekend before Tax Day. If you plan to send your completed Form 1040 to the Internal Revenue Service by next Tuesday, buckle down now. The prior months tax tips — January, February, March, and the ones so far on the April page can help.
April 15: This is it! Tax Day 2024 is here.
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The main task today is, of course, filing your 2024 tax year return. The IRS recommends we file electronically, which will speed up processing of returns and issuance of any refunds. And again this year, millions of taxpayers can do their taxes and e-file for free.
First, there’s the IRS-Free File Alliance partnership, which again offers no-cost online tax preparation and electronic filing to taxpayers whose adjusted gross income (AGI) is $84,000 or less, regardless of filing status at the official IRS.gov Free File website. The same eight software companies that participated last year are back for the 2025 filing season.
If your income is too high, you still can file for free by using Free File's Fillable Forms option.
You also might want to check out IRS Direct File, the IRS’ own free online tax prep and e-filing program if you live in one of the 25 states where the free online tax preparation and e-filing is offered. In addition, Direct File offers more options that apply to more taxpayers’ situations this year.
If you find you just can't get your 1040 finished today, file Form 4868 to get an automatic six-month extension. Note, however, that while this will give you until Oct. 15 to file your tax forms, you must pay any tax you owe when you file your extension form today.
April 15 also is the deadline several other tax tasks. They include:
Making your first 2025 tax year estimated tax payment. There's no extension allowed here.
Adding to your IRA, either Roth or traditional, and have that amount count as 2024 tax year contribution. Note, too, that a traditional IRA contribution is deductible for some taxpayers as an above-the-line tax deduction on your current return. Contributions for 2024 to either type of IRA also could provide eligible filers a claim of the Saver's Credit, a $1,000 dollar-for-dollar offset of any tax owed.
And if you live in a state that collects income tax, you likely must file that return today, too.
April 21: Whew! Now that filing is done (except for tax procrastinators on extension) and you've had a few days to get settled, it's time to take care of your tax records. You need to hang onto some filing paperwork just in case the IRS has follow-up questions.
April 30: Yay! We made it through the year's biggest tax month! Did you get or are expecting a big refund? Or did you end up owing Uncle Sam a lot? Either way, with your filing fresh in your mind, it's a good time for a paycheck checkup to see if you should adjust your paycheck tax withholding.
Small Business Tax Calendar: Important filing, deposit and record keeping dates throughout the year that your company needs to know. The IRS is updating the online version. Until that link is operational, you can get the full year's important business and individual tax dates in IRS Pub. 509.
You're wise to build up the short-term, emergency fund first. In this economy, most of us will probably need to dip into it at least a bit. There will still be stock values later.
Posted by: Kay | Sunday, October 19, 2008 at 11:51 PM
I've also heard that the feeling one has when something bad happens is greater than the feeling one has when something good happens. This means that the negative feeling are more intense than positive feelings. For this reason, folks are more likely to sell their stocks when they are going down than just riding it out.
Our big debate is whether we should tap into our short-term savings to take advantage of the market. The issue is that Doug's job isn't very stable and if he's laid off in the next month, we will need that short-term savings.
Posted by: dquack | Sunday, October 19, 2008 at 05:35 PM