Shutterstock If you're celebrating the end of 2021 and welcoming 2022 with an adult beverage at midnight, enjoy! When you bought your booze, you might have noticed it cost a bit more, especially if you go bubbly. Apparently, says Wine Searcher, "The much-vaunted Champagne drought of 2021 is real – and it's starting to show in the retail sector." Wine Enthusiast says here in the United States, we're in the early stages of a Champagne shortage that is expected to last several years. When things are hard to get, the ol' law of supply and demand means the price tag... Read more →
December 2021
I hope your 2022 welcoming plans are on track this New Year's Eve eve. But as the time tick tocks away, some folks need to think a few days further into the fast-approaching New Year. Specifically, their focus should be on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. That's the day that some California residents whose lives and/or businesses were impacted by wildfires need to file certain 2020 returns. The first workday of the New Year also is the deadline for employers and self-employed individuals who deferred paying part of their 2020 Social Security taxes. California disaster delay: Mother Nature was not kind... Read more →
Photo by olia danilevich via Pexels For the past two years, COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on tax deadlines. In 2021, Mother Nature joined in the chaos, with major disasters changing due dates in several states. But there's still a calendar tax constant. Dec. 31. That last day of the year remains the deadline to take care of some tasks that could affect your full year's taxes. Here are some common end-of-year tax timing situations. Getting married: If you say "I do" on 12/31, then the Internal Revenue Service considers you married for the whole year. That means when you file... Read more →
The fallout from the deadly Dec. 10-11 tornado outbreak across the South and Midwest continues as 2021 comes to a close. So does federal relief, including from the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS today announced that affected Arkansas individual and business taxpayers in five counties now have until May 16, 2022, to file returns and make payments for various tax situations. But they are not alone. The IRS also announced today that residents and business owners in two Alabama counties get similar tax relief and a new Feb. 28, 2022, deadline. The Alabama tax move is in connection with severe... Read more →
You made it through the hectic December holidays. Congratulations. But don't slow down now. You still have to accomplish a few final year-end tax tasks. I know, not how you want to spend the last few days of the year. But these 6 year-end tax moves could save you some money, either when you file your 2021 return next year or down the tax road. 1. Don't miss the RMD deadline. You're enjoying your well-deserved retirement thanks to all those years of savings. Don't mess things up now by missing your required minimum distribution (RMD). This withdrawal from tax-deferred retirement... Read more →
Yes, I know I've used this cats and Boxing Day meme before, most recently last Dec. 26. But c'mon. It's a great image that every cat lover immediately recognizes. Happy Boxing Day! While this holiday is not formally celebrated in the United States, many places across the rest of world embrace the day after Christmas as a way to keep the giving going. The great image of felines' fixations on boxes notwithstanding, just how did Dec. 26 come to be known as Boxing Day? One widely circulated accepted origin story is that when it began back in the United Kingdom's... Read more →
Merry Christmas! If you're checking out a tax blog post on Dec. 25, that can mean only one thing. You've managed to escape momentarily from a contentious family gathering. Been there, hated that. It's never fun tip-toeing around politics and, with COVID still raging, polarizing health topics. That tension goes double during the holidays. Maybe this will help. Here are some festive factoids you can use to redirect the conversations to a merrier destination. Plus, as an internet present for you, there are some tax links in this post's copy. Hey, you're the one who clicked over to the ol'... Read more →
Merry Christmas Eve! For the few of you checking in today, I hope that however and whatever you're celebrating this time of year, it's joyous. The hubby and I are pretty well set for tomorrow's big day. Decorating is done. Yes, that's an artsy shot below that I took of our tree. Plus, Christmas cards are long mailed and gifts bought. All that's left is the cooking. So today, I'm knocking off early to do some of that food stuff. And stuffing. Or, more accurately, make my Mam-ma's dressing. And pies, which actually are the hubby's job, one he does... Read more →
The South Carolina statehouse in Columbia soon could be the site of a legislative effort to cut the state's individual tax rates and end business taxes. A South Carolina lawmaker wants to cut the state's individual tax rate in half and eliminate taxes on businesses. Some Palmetto State residents see the proposal as a potential post-Christmas present. Others, however, are worried about how the state will pay for projects. Spartanburg State Sen. Josh Kimbrell has been working of the bill since the summer and officially filed it this month. His plan would cut South Carolina's top income tax rate from... Read more →
The deadly and destructive effects of Hurricane Ida, a Category 4 storm that was the second-most damaging and intense ever to make landfall in Louisiana, weren't limited to the Pelican State. Ida's remnants also caused widespread tornadic destruction and catastrophic flooding across the northeastern United States. You can see Ida's complete path and intensity levels at Fleur DeOdile's WikiProject tropical cyclones tracker. Apparently, the Internal Revenue Service also is feeling the Christmas/New Year crunch. The tax agency is giving taxpayers (and its staff) some end-of-year breathing room by further extending some Hurricane Ida tax deadlines beyond early 2022. Victims of... Read more →
Tornado damage caused Dec. 10-11 to an Amazon warehouse building and high-tension power lines between Pontoon Beach and Edwardsville, Illinois. (National Weather Service-St. Louis/Wikipedia Commons photo) While most of us are rushing this week to complete Christmas plan, some are trying to salvage what, if anything, they still have after a deadly line of tornadoes struck earlier this month. As part of this recovery process, the Internal Revenue Service has announced tax relief for residents in parts of Tennessee and Illinois. This includes a new deadline of May 16, 2022, for filing 2021 federal tax returns. Specific counties designated: The... Read more →
Photo by Dima D from Pexels It's Christmas week and you still have some shopping to do. Don't worry. Here are some financial gift ideas for those of all ages on your personal Santa list. A few even offer tax advantages. Christmas is the season that brings out the kid in everyone, but let's start with some gifts that would be great for hard-to-shop-for youths. Open a Roth IRA for a young worker. If you have a young friend or family member who worked this year, help him or her get started on those way down the road retirement. Open... Read more →
A lot of families were smiling the last half of 2021 as they received early Child Tax Credit payments. (iStock) On Dec. 15, the Internal Revenue Service distributed the last of 2021's Advance Child Tax Credit (AdvCTC) payments. The monthly tally came to just more than $16 billion. Since the $300 per child for kiddos age 5 or younger and $250 for youngsters ages 6 to 17 started going out in July, nearly $93 billion has been issued to qualifying families, according to the U.S. Treasury. Recipients of their portions of those early billions can claim the Child Tax Credit... Read more →
Photo by Norma Mortenson from Pexels For the last couple of COVID years, more of us have been getting more home deliveries. So we're already used to tipping the folks who bring us our groceries and prepared meals and prescriptions and books and just about everything else. But with the holidays here — Christmas is just a week away! How in the heck did that happen? — we also should consider tipping other people who help make our lives more pleasant. These include our garbage and recycling workers, hairdressers, childcare help, and more. Rather than list all the possible tip... Read more →
UPDATE, June 9, 2022: When retail gasoline prices skyrocketed this summer, the Internal Revenue Service acted to reflect the increased expense. On July 1, it hiked 2022's optional standard mileage rates by 4 cents per gallon through the end of the year. That means for the last six months of 2022, business travel may be claimed at 62.5 cents per mile, and travel for medical reasons is calculated for those final six months at 22 cents per mile. You can find more on the midyear revision and the double deductible driving record keeping it requires in my increased 2022 mileage... Read more →
Running the retirement, and IRA, numbers. The Biden White House's Build Back Better (BBB) plan and its tax changes are, at best, in limbo right now. UPDATE, 6:30 p.m. EST, Dec. 16, 2021: BBB will not be taken up by the Senate this year. But there's one tax move some might want to consider by year's end regardless of what eventually happens to BBB — converting a traditional IRA to a Roth account. Roth conversion changes ahead…maybe: As Congress continues to explore ways to pay for myriad programs, owners of large retirement funds are a popular target. The BBB act... Read more →
This holiday season, some families are getting an added gift: their final Advance Child Tax Credit payment for 2021. An estimated 36 million families will see their final Advance Child Tax Credit arrive in their bank accounts today, Dec. 15. The bank deposit will be labeled CHILDCTC. Those getting the early 2021 tax year payments by mailed paper Treasury checks should have their money soon. Then what? Today's end of the pre-payments is the start of another process. When filing season starts next year, eligible families will claim the remaining Child Tax Credit (CTC) amounts for this year on their... Read more →
An aerial view of Mayfield, Kentucky, one of the hardest hit communities during the Dec. 10-11 tornado outbreak in the western half of the state, shows the devastation of the community. (Photo by State Farm via Flickr CC 2.0 and Wikimedia) Kentucky residents who were in the path of last weekend's deadly tornadoes have a later 2022 federal tax filing deadline. The Internal Revenue Service today announced that Kentucky taxpayers in, so far, eight counties will have until May 16, 2022, to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. UPDATE, Dec. 16, 2021: The Kentucky Department... Read more →
If you use the standard deduction, this tax break can help cut your tax bill, but only if you make your donations by Dec. 31. And if charitable organizations get their wish, the tax break will be extended past 2021, and worth as much as $4,000 ($8,000 for couples). During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, more Americans needed help than ever before to pay bills, feed their families, and generally just try to retain their pre-pandemic lives. To do that, many turned to nonprofits for help. Unfortunately, charitable organizations found themselves in similar straits. "2020 should have been... Read more →
Some of the damage from tornadoes that hit Western Kentucky the night of Dec. 10-11, right after it happened. (Photo: Kentucky Emergency Management) There never is a good time for a disaster to strike, but deadly tornadoes during the December holiday season is especially difficult. My heart goes out to all those who lost loved ones and property when a supercell system moved through six southeastern states and into the Midwest late Friday, Dec. 10, and early Saturday, Dec. 11. Western Kentucky was hit the hardest, with at least 70 people believed killed in the storms. Kentucky Division of Emergency... Read more →