Oct. 1: This month, folks who borrowed money to pay for their college courses must start paying it back after a 3½-year pause that began with the COVID-19 pandemic. If you're one of the 40 million who now must come up with monthly payments, these 4 student loan repayment tips might help.
Oct. 6: The deadline for most procrastinators to file their extended 2022 tax year returns is just 10 days away. If you're going to use this first October weekend to at least start working on that 1040, check out the ol' blog's monthly tax tip links a bit higher up in this column. The January through April ones should be most helpful.
And since you'll probably file electronically, why not do it the least expensive way. For many, that's by using Free File, the online tax preparation and e-filing option that's, as the name says, free for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income (AGI) is $73,000 or less, regardless of your filing status. 
It's still operational. You can select from seven tax prep companies that are part of the Free File Alliance and participating at the IRS.gov site.
Oct. 9: So we're heading into another week and you've still not finished your extended tax return. No judging. I've been there. The good news is that today is the legal, federal Columbus Day holiday or, in many states and cities, now designated Indigenous People's Day. If you don't have to go into work, this is a great day to work on your soon-due tax return.
Oct. 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 got lots of financial thanks for doing your job well. Remember, though, that those tips 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 if you got at least $20 in gratuities in September for doing a good job 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.
Oct. 16: This is it! The absolutely final deadline to file your 2022 tax year return. Not to belabor things, but in addition to the filing tips mentioned earlier in this October tax tasks list, the IRS has some
suggestions on getting the job done.
Oct. 23: Now that you're finally done with your 2022 return, it's time to work on reducing your 2022 tax bill. One easy step to take now is to
review your payroll withholding. If you find, whether you filed this month or back in April, that you owed a lot or got a big refund, you should use the IRS'
online estimator tool to make sure a more appropriate amount of income tax comes out of each of 2023's remaining paychecks. If your withholding tweak gets you more money each payday, consider putting some of it into
retirement savings, either your workplace 401(k) or a traditional or Roth IRA .
Oct. 31: Sure, it's Halloween.
But even scarier than the ghosts and monsters wandering your neighborhood tonight is the knowledge that we still have another month of the Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico
hurricane season ahead of us.
Florida again got whacked by a major "I" storm, Hurricane Idalia, which also did major damage in
Georgia and
South Carolina. Others have churned out in the Atlantic this fall, so
don't let up on storm preparations. The best we can do is
be ready for the next system (or whatever possible disaster is common in your area). And we're likely to get at least one more tropical system, since the season officially runs through November. The countdown clock below can help you keep track of how many more days we have to worry about tracking tropical storms.
If (when) that happens, the ol' blog's special
Storm Warnings pages also can help, whether you're preparing for, recovering from, or helping those who sustain damages from the many ways that that weather goes wild. That includes
claiming uninsured losses from a major natural disaster as an itemized tax deduction.
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.
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