Sept. 1: Today is Meteorological Fall, the three months from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30 when days get shorter and cooler, but not cold. It's also the start of the annual National Preparedness Month. This year’s theme is “Start a Conversation,” since it's important to talk with your loved ones about potential emergencies. It's also critical to be prepared, as the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico hurricane season usually peaks in September.
We’ve already had three tropical systems do enough damage to prompt Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) major disaster declarations. The 2024 tropical storm season’s second named storm, Hurricane Beryl, landed as “just” a category 1 on the Texas coast, but still took 38 souls and left Lone Star State residents facing an estimated $30 billion in damages.
Hurricane Debby made two U.S. landfalls, in the Big Bend area of Florida and then again in South Carolina before moving up the Eastern Seaboard, producing disaster declarations all the way up to Vermont. Tropical Storm Ernesto, followed, slamming the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as spawning deadly rip tides along East Coast beaches as the storm moved toward Bermuda.
And, coinciding with Meteorological Fall, we’ve still got three months of the 2024 hurricane season to go!
That has coastal residents on edge, since Uncle Sam's official forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center say we could get 17 to 25 total named storms, which are those with winds of 39 mph or higher. Of those, eight to 13 are forecast to become hurricanes, meaning winds of 74 mph or higher. Four to seven becoming major hurricanes; that’s category 3, 4 or 5, with winds of 111 mph or higher.
Regardless of the count, it only takes one to wreck your world. If you haven’t already, get ready for not just tropical systems, but whatever dangerous weather that’s common where you live. 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 special 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.
Sept. 2: Happy Labor Day! This annual celebration of workers' contributions is a federal holiday and day off for many.
When you get back to work after this three day holiday, take a few minutes to check the federal tax amount that’s coming out of your paychecks. If you need to adjust your withholding so that you have the most accurate amount of taxes withheld, now is the time to do that. Submitting a new W-4 early this month will mean any changes are spread over the last four months of the year, making any impact less noticeable.
Sept. 3: If you live in Auglaize, Crawford, Darke, Delaware, Hancock, Licking, Logan, Mercer, Miami, Richland, or Union counties in Ohio, today is your Tax Day. The Internal Revenue Service granted individual and businesses in those counties tax relief since they were declared major disaster areas following a tornado outbreak in March.
Sept. 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 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 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 August 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.
Sept. 16: Today is the deadline to pay your third installment of estimated taxes. This tax is due on income that’s not subject to withholding, such as investment earnings or contract work. Most estimated tax filers make the payments four times a year. The September payment is for such earnings received in June, July, and August. It’s usually on the 15th, but since that was Sunday, the deadline is pushed to the next business day — today!
Sept. 23:
Sept. 22: The Autumnal Equinox arrives today at 8:44 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time in the Northern Hemisphere, marking the first day of Fall for all us who don't follow the meteorological fall calendar. Adjust for your time zone, since the equinox occurs at the same moment worldwide. It's also a go-to day to think about home maintenance that will help you weather the coming colder weather. The Inflation Relief Act includes extension of older and addition of new energy-related tax breaks, including some for residential energy improvements.
Sept. 30: Wow! Where did September go? That’s a good question to ask if you got an extension to file your 2023 tax return earlier this year. The last day of this ninth month means that your absolutely final Oct. 15 due day is another month closer. So you might want to get to work on that Form 1040 now. The easiest way to do do is to use tax software and electronically file.
If your adjusted gross income is $79,000 or less, you should check into Free File, the no-cost online tax preparation and electronic filing program offered by the IRS and its Free File Alliance partners. It’s open through the Oct. 15 extension deadline. This year, eight tax software companies offer programs to qualifying taxpayers.
Note that the Free File $79,000 or less income threshold applies to all filing statuses. If your income is too high, you still can file for free by using Free File's Free Forms option.
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.
David Stockman wasn’t the architect of Reagan’s tax policies. He was important as a budget-cutter, but he never had much to do with tax policy. As far as I can tell, he never really supported or understood Reagan’s tax policies.
If Stockman wants to criticize Republicans for their failure to cut domestic spending, great. The federal government is too big and too expensive. On the other hand, if he wants to complain about low taxes, I say: “What low taxes?”
Posted by: John Knight | Sunday, November 28, 2010 at 01:07 PM
THE FOLLOWING IS FROM OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES*************************************
Why do I have to pay taxes?
Oliver Wendell Holmes, former Justice of the United States Supreme Court, said,
"Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society." In some respects, a "civilized society" is the rationale for government in the first place. The signers of the Declaration of Independence set out to establish a new form of government for the "protection of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". To this end, the framers of our constitution enumerated the proper fiscal functions of government as "to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States". Taxes are simply the preferred method for paying for these governmental functions, the other methods being the issuance of public debt and the issuance of money."
Posted by: Dominick J. | Monday, November 08, 2010 at 10:15 AM
"Optimism is not necessarily bad. Delusion is." That one is going in the quote book.
We voters want it all, don't we? Low taxes. Free government services. World peace.
Wonderful post.
Posted by: Lauren @ Richly Reasonable | Monday, November 01, 2010 at 02:19 PM
Taxes haven't been the problem. The discussion always hides the issue that we can't cut spending.
And not a soul in DC can tackle: too much military spending, too much entitlement spending, too much foreign aid, too much education spending, etc, etc.
Our current problem had it roots when foreigners decided were were like the rock of Giblatar on a national level that our spending has gone wild. They loan us money with basically no strings attached. It's not helpful to our national discipline.
"That means accepting some taxes, even those that don't provide directly for what we personally want. "
I do, but please be careful with this. I think 90% of us can agree that roads need to be built. Not all of us agree, however, that sending even minuscule amounts to the arts and certain social programs is fair or a good idea.
IMO, anytime you tax someone, you take away a little bit of their freedom. Even if they didn't earn the money, it is not my right to take it away for something I or we "feel" is right. It needs to be of the highest order of common good.
I guess what I'm saying is that I don't condone tax protesters but I understand their point of view. I understand the frustration. I just wish that it was directed in more effective manner.
Posted by: Amy | Monday, November 01, 2010 at 07:13 AM