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April 2018 Daily Tax Tips
Spring, and the tax deadline, has sprung!

Tax_tip_icon_pencil_point

It's here! Uncle Sam's favorite month. Those of us who put off filing our taxes tend to do so because we owe the U.S. Treasury. That ends on Tax Day.

True, we can file for a six-month extension. That, however, is more time to file your forms. When you submit your Form 4868 you also must send a good estimate of any tax you owe.

Since you have to do some calculating anyway and get your extension into the Internal Revenue Service by the April due date, which is April 17 this year, you might as well finish the job by then.

These tax tips can help. You'll find the weekday pieces of tax advice, like January's and February's before them, will be highlighted in the upper right corner of the ol' blog.

After a Monday-through-Friday day in the spotlight through April 17, this month's tips will find their new permanent home on this page.

And if you need more tips because you're just now getting started on your Form 1040, you can find them in the previously posted monthly tax tips pages. You'll find those links at the end of this page.

Tax planning, too: If, however, you are done with your annual tax filing, good for you. Now you can get to work on ways to trim your 2018 tax bill.

That will be a bit more of a challenge now that new tax laws, courtesy the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, are in place. The tips about the tax changes, some of which have already been posted, will help here.

But for now, it's time to focus on finishing up your 2017 taxes. So let's get to the tips.

  1. Don't overlook these tax breaks — Tax Day is almost here. You're in a hurry. You're overwhelmed. You're scared. Take a breath. Then check out these 12 often overlooked tax breaks. (April 2, 2018)
  2. Above-the-line tax deductions don't require itemizing — Most taxpayers claim the standard deduction. Even more are likely to in 2018, since those amounts have been dramatically increased for the 2018 tax year under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. But even if you use the standard deduction, you still might be able to reduce your tax bills by claiming some income adjustments, popularly known as above-the-line deductions, that are found directly on tax Forms 1040 and 1040A. (April 3, 2018)
  3. When to send the IRS an ID theft affidavit — Folks who are victims of tax-related identity theft may wonder when they should file a Form 14039. Here's the scoop from the Internal Revenue Service on when to send it this official ID theft affidavit, which you now can submit online. (April 4, 2018)
  4. Many and varied online state sales tax laws — The Supreme Court this month will hear arguments on interstate taxation of online sales. Whatever the decision, there will be post-ruling confusion. Check out where your state stands as far as collecting tax on remote sales. (April 5, 2018)
  5. Take a pre-disaster inventory — Hurricane season doesn't officially start until June 1, but it's not too early to get ready for what is predicted to be an active tropical storm season. One component of hurricane season preparation should be an accurate inventory of your property. (April 6, 2018)
  6. 6 tips for new taxpayers — Filing a 1040 form for the first time? Don't panic. Here are six suggestions to help you make it through your initial contact (and future ones, too!) with the Internal Revenue Service. (April 9, 2018)
  7. Maximizing itemized deductions — If you itemize deductions, make sure you make the most of what can be claimed on your Schedule A for the 2017 tax year. It'll be the last time, at least for a while, for some of these deductions thanks to tax law changes that took effect in 2018. (April 10, 2018)
  8. Don't make these 12 costly tax mistakes — Taxes are complicated, so it's no surprise that taxpayers make mistakes now and then. But some errors seem to show up regularly. Here are a dozen common tax filing errors that you should take care to avoid making. (April 11, 2018)
  9. 10 tax tasks to take care of by Tax Day — April 17 is THE big day for taxes, with millions of filers working toward that tax filing deadline. But finishing up your annual Form 1040 is just one of 10 tax tasks that many Americans must take care of by Tax Day. (April 11, 2018)
  10. Take advantage of a filing extension — Sometimes taxpayers find themselves unable to file their taxes by the April due date. In these cases, turn to Form 4868 to get a six-month extension to file your federal tax return. (April 13, 2018)
  11. Get your part of $1.1 billion in unclaimed federal tax refunds — Lots of folks are anxiously awaiting their 2017 tax refunds, but more than a million taxpayers also are due money from Uncle Sam in connection with tax returns they didn't file three years ago. But to get your part of the more than $1 billion the IRS wants to refund, you must file your 2014 return by the Tuesday, April 17 tax deadline. (April 16, 2018)
  12. 5 delivery tips for paper return filers — Are you a committed snail mailer (or private delivery service user) when it comes to your taxes? Here are some tips to help you get your old-school paper tax return to the IRS on time. (April 17, 2018)
  13. E-file and e-pay options — If you're thinking of finally joining the majority of taxpayers who take care of taxes electronically, and you have through today, April 18, to do so thanks to the added filing day, here's a look at your e-file and, if you owe the Internal Revenue Service, e-payment options. (April 18, 2018)

Want more tax tips? You are in luck! You can find the previous two month's collected tax wisdom by clicking the following links. (April to be added when that month arrives.)

January 2018 Daily Tax Tips

February 2018 Daily Tax Tips

March 2018 Daily Tax Tips

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Today's Tax Tip

  • Shopping tips for August's 16 back-to-school tax holidays — Is your state one of the 16 holding a sales tax holiday this month? Before you head out to make tax-saving purchases, check out these 6 shopping tips. They could help you make the most of your state's no-tax August event. (Aug. 5, 2022)
  • Tax Tip; click pencil for all tax tip links

  • The 2022 Tax Tips offer ways to file your annual return, along with post-filing advice, important tax news and, of course, ways to cut your current tax year bill. You'll find the monthly assemblages on their own respective pages: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December. Remember, tax tasks and tips don't stop after you file your annual return!

COVID-19 & Taxes

  • COVID-19
    Coronavirus has wreaked havoc
    on the 2020 and 2021 tax seasons.
    These three Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Taxes pages have details:
    March-July 2020,
    August-December 2020,
    January-December 2021, and
    January-… 2022
    You can find medical coronavirus resource links further down this column.

All About Kay

  • OK, some about Kay
    Open sign
    Kay Bell — Native Texan (the blog title totally makes sense now, right?). Professional journalist. Tax geek.

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Tick ... Tick ... Tick

  • Tax Season 2022 continues!

    Tax Day 2022 is finally over … unless you're one of the millions who have more time to file — looking at you taxpayers abroad and those in major disaster areas — or you got an extension to file your 2021 tax year return. That's fine. In fact, the Internal Revenue Service appreciates some of us spreading out our filings, especially when we and the agency still are dealing with all the complications of COVID-19 and taxes.

    That's why the ol' blog's focus now is on all y'all still working on returns. But I haven't forgotten my organized taxpayer readers, who are already looking for ways to reduce their 2022 tax year bills. Yep, that amount is adding up, but there are moves you can make. The monthly tips and reminders a little further down this column can help everyone, regardless of which tax year you're working on.

    Those on extension should keep a keen eye on the countdown clock below. It will help you track the days tick, tick, ticking off toward that absolutely final fall filing due date of Oct. 17. Yep, it's a few days later this year.
    Note: I'm in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.


Time for Tax Tasks


  • monthly tax moves


  • The Dog Days of Summer
    are here!

    For many of us, that means taking it easy like the pup below during these hot, sultry August days as summer winds down.

    via GIPHY


    But we can't dog it too much.
    Making some potentially money-saving tax moves this August can really pay off. So let's get to it!


    Aug. 1: School soon will be back in session. That means students need supplies. Good news for them and their parents: this month 15 states are holding back-to-school sales tax holidays. These no- or reduced-tax events are in Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

    Aug. 5: The tax holidays will help ease the high cost of school supplies and other qualifying purchases a bit, especially in these inflationary times. But some taxpayers are agetting more help. Sixteen states are issuing inflation relief payments. If you're in one of them, make sure your state tax department has your correct information, since that's how most of the inflation aid money will delivered.

    Aug. 10: Restaurants are still recovering from the challenges of operating during a national health crisis, especially now that new COVID-19 variants are spreading. If your favorite eatery is now seating diners indoors, still take precautions, aka mask on until that meal arrives, please! If you're still doing take-out and deliveries, those business owners appreciate that support, too. And regardless of whether you're eating out or still getting food brought to your house, remember to tip your server or delivery person.

    restaurant check tip iStock
    If a tip isn't included in your food delivery charge, click the image above to calculate how much to tip the person who brought it to you.

    As for servers who now are back on the job, remember that your tips are taxable income. If you worked at least some of July at a job where you got gratuities, you need to account for them today if they came to at least $20 last month. Use Form 4070 to report your tips today to your employer.

    Aug. 17: Did you get an extension back in April to file your tax return this fall? Well, that new due date — Oct. 17 — is now just two months away. But you don't have to wait until that day is, well, just days away. You can get to work on your tax paperwork now and be done with it any time before then.

    Whenever you do get around to finishing your tax return, the IRS recommends you do so electronically. Check out ways to e-file at no cost, including via Free File, which is, as its name says, free. The official electronic filing webpage is Free File on IRS.gov is available to qualifying taxpayers until midnight, Eastern Time, on Oct. 17.

    IRS Free File; click image for details

    Free File this year is available for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is $73,000 or less. That income level applies to all filing statuses. This year, 8 software programs are available to eligible filers. Spoiler: The two biggies, Intuit's TurboTax and H&R Block, are not among the choices. The two leading tax prep programs decided to end their participation in the program.

    Aug. 22: The early part of the 2022 Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico hurricane season was, thankfully, not that bad. But August is when things tend to literally start heating up. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Hurricane Center says that most tropical storm activity occurs between mid-August and mid-October. If you haven't yet prepared — physically, financially, and tax wise — it's time to do so

    Hurricane satellite image

    Uncle Sam's official forecasters at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center expect 2022 to bring as many as 21 named storms, with six to 10 possibly becoming hurricanes. Three to six of those could reach major status, which is category 3, 4 or 5 with winds of 111 mph or higher. Regardless of the count, it only takes one to wreak havoc. The countdown clock below 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.
    These multi-page collections of posts offer tax advice on preparing for, recovering from and 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.

    Aug. 26: The stock market has been up and down, then up and down, then … You get the idea. All the gyrations mean it's time to review your portfolio. Periodic rebalancing to meet your financial goals also could provide a tax break. If some of your taxable holdings have dropped in value, you can sell them and use the loss to offset other assets' gains. Remember, though that this tax loss harvesting strategy should be used only is you really want to sell the asset, not just use it to cut taxes. As the old (and apropos this month) saying goes, never let the tax tail wag the financial dog.

    Aug. 31: If you've already filed your 2020 taxes, were you surprised by either the size of your refund or how much you owed? If so, now's the time to make sure that doesn't happen next year. The IRS' online estimator can help you more accurately adjust your payroll withholding.

    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.

State Tax Help

  • Don't forget your state taxes!
    Forty-three states and D.C. collect personal income taxes. But even if you live in of the seven states without an income levy, you still face other state (and local) taxes.

    State Tax Departments provides links to your state's Web page. The companion page, Tax Tidbits, is the compilation of blurbs about each state's tax laws. And for more state tax news, check out all our state tax bloggings.

Tax Forms

  • Tax Forms
    Thanks to our increased use of tax preparers and computer software, many of us don't see our tax forms until we sign and file them. But knowing what's on these documents, either in paper or digital form, and why the IRS wants it is key to understanding our tax system. And knowledge definitely is power, especially when it comes to tax savings. Find this valuable information in the ol' blog's special Talking Tax Forms page.

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I gotta tell ya ...

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    I am not a professional tax preparer.
    The content on Don't Mess With Taxes is my personal opinion based on my study and understanding of tax laws, policies and regulations. It is provided for your private, noncommercial, educational and informational purposes only. It is not a recommendation of any specific tax action(s) you should or should not take. Similarly, mentions of products or services are not endorsements. In other words, my ramblings on the ol' blog are free advice and you know what they say about getting what you pay for. That's why when it comes to filing your taxes, I urge you to get additional, professional, paid-for guidance from an accountant, Enrolled Agent or other qualified tax preparer who is familiar with your individual tax circumstances.

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  • While it's easy to rail at the IRS, for the most part we can thank — or blame — our tax laws on Congress and the White House. So if you have an issue with tax legislation or want a tax bill passed, you need to let your federal legislators and the White House occupant know of your concerns. You can find out who in Washington, D.C., to contact (and how), as well as get information on your local lawmakers for matters, tax or otherwise, closer to home, at USA Gov.

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