• Home
  • Table of Contents
  • Tax Tips
  • Credits
  • Deductions
  • Refunds
  • State Taxes
  • Politics/Laws
  • Tax Terms
  • Archives

Don't Mess With Taxes

Translating taxes into money-saving English

Home Table of Contents Tax Tips Credits Deductions Refunds State Taxes Politics/Laws Tax Terms Archives

By the Numbers 2018

The new tax year started off with a bang. We finally got, regardless of whether we wanted it, some major changes to the tax code.

Numbers via 123BFNow comes the fun part, deciphering all the changes, determining what impact they'll have on our taxes and figuring out what we can do to ease any adverse effects.

That's going to take a while, especially since we still have to file our 2017 tax returns using, for the most part, the old tax laws.

All this means that we're going to be awash in lots and lots of tax-related numbers.

The good thing about all these figures, though, is that they provide plenty of fodder for the 2018 version of By the Numbers.

This is the eighth year 2017 for this numerical tradition here at the ol' blog.

And in keeping with the numeric posts of 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, I'll select a new figure.

The figures will range from tax rate percentages to dollar amounts to titles of tax legislation to raw numbers and much, much more. Basically, I'll choose any and every thing that has even a remote tax connection to be featured.

Again as in past years, I'll try to get the relevant figures up each weekend. But sometimes stuff happens, meaning the number goes up early or, more usually, late.

Regardless of the timing, you can always find a link to the new number on the ol' blog's home page under the multicolored numbers box (pictured on this page, too!), as well as on this special page. The newest post each week will go at the top of the list.

So welcome 2018. Let's get to counting!

  • W-4
    IRS issues new W-4 for 2019 tax year withholding (Dec. 30, 2018)
  • 800,000
    Tax and financial lessons from the government shutdown (Dec. 23, 2018)
  • 200,000
    Tesla buyers' tax break will be reduced in 2019 — if the federal tax credit is continued (Dec. 16, 2018)
  • 10
    10 unusual but allowable FSA expenditures (Dec. 9, 2018)
  • 1,660
    IRS opens an Instagram account (Dec. 2, 2018)
  • 92 percent
    IRS warns of email tax transcript scam containing malware (Nov. 25, 2018)
  • 2019
    2019 income tax rates and brackets adjusted for inflation (Nov. 15, 2018)
  • Nov. 11
    Remembering, on 11-11 and always, our veterans' sacrifices (Nov. 11, 2018)
  • 1 hour
    Celebrating standard tax deductions as we turn our clocks back to Standard Time (Nov. 4, 2018)
  • 11 percent
    Tax cuts + Trump ≠ midterm positives for GOP (Oct. 28, 2018)
  • 10 
    States that are tax lucky for lottery winners
    (Oct. 21, 2018)
  • 3
    Some Hurricane Florence and Michael taxpayers get more time to file Oct. 15 tax extensions (Oct. 14, 2018)
  • 16
    Few reports of private tax debt collection abuses, but IRS watchdog suggests improved oversight (Oct. 7, 2018)
  • 6
    Delusional tax protester deemed competent to face tax evasion sentencing (Sept. 30, 2018)
  • Sept. 28
    Hiding taxable money offshore? You've got until Sept. 28 to come clean via IRS' 'amnesty' program (Sept. 23, 2018)
  • 64-33
    Charles Rettig is approved as new IRS Commissioner (Sept. 16, 2018)
  • 44.4 percent
    GOP law means 75 million won't owe any 2018 income tax (Sept. 9, 2018)
  • 700
    Taxpayer Advocate argues for revised tax-related passport revocation process (Sept. 2, 2018)
  • 1 
    China considers tax break to encourage larger families (Aug. 26, 2018) 
  • Proposition 13
    California's property tax limits benefit real estate heirs (Aug. 19, 2018) 
  • $1,598,798,442
    Amazon's total tax breaks so far are nearly $1.6 billion (Aug. 12, 2018)
  • 8 
    8 cool tax moves to make during summer's last blast (Aug. 5, 2018)
  • 4.1 percent
    4.1% GDP is tied to tax cuts and tariffs (July 29, 2018)
  • $1,750 and $2,400 and $3,200
    Some combat-injured vets due tax refunds topping $3,000 (July 22, 2018) 
  • 5
    National Ice Cream Day is even better in the 5 states without a sales tax (July 15, 2018) 
  • 89 percent 
    Paying taxes is patriotic, say poll respondents (July 6, 2018)
  • 50 percent
    IRS commissioner nominee finally appears before Senate panel, but Trump property questions remain (July 1, 2018)
  • 34 percent
    Public support of GOP's new tax law has slipped (June 24, 2018)
  • 72 million
    5 tax tips for dads on Father's Day 2018 (June 17, 2018) 
  • 0.49 percent
    Auto tariffs could cost low-income earners tax cut money (June 10, 2018)
  • $1 billion 
    SCOTUS to decide billions in e-sales tax collections (June 3, 2018)
  • 40 percent
    Beer excise taxes across the United States (May 27, 2018) 
  • 41.7 cents
    California gas tax is target of ballot measure repeal effort (May 20, 2018)
  • 43.5 million
    3 Mother's Day tax gifts (May 11, 2018)
  • Line 20 Schedule A
    No federal tax help for Volcano Kilauea damage…yet (May 06, 2018) 
  • May 4
    W&M members demand IRS explain Tax Day system failure (April 29, 2018)
  • April 19
    How did you celebrate Tax Freedom Day on April 19 (April 21, 2018)
  • 17
    17 last-minute tax filing tips (April 15, 2018)
  • 40 percent
    Cardi B speaks, colorfully, for all of us about taxes (April 8, 2018)
  • 52 percent
    GOP tax cuts aren't showing up yet in most paychecks (March 31, 2018)
  • $1.3 trillion
    A look at some tax provisions in the FY18 spending bill (March 24, 2018)
  • 31 
    SCOTUS' online sales tax ruling might not be the final word (March 18, 2018) 
  • 1 hour
    DST and tax-deductible donations can help save wildlife (March 11, 2018) 
  • 20 percent
    Oscars' box-office bump helps increase tax revenue, too (March 4, 2018)
  • $29 billion 
    Buffett's Berkshire gets $29 billion boost from GOP tax bill (Feb. 25, 2018)
  • 10
    Know, and make sure IRS follows, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (Feb. 17, 2018)
  • 2,200
    IRS criminal agents had another good year (Feb. 11, 2018)
  • $207.16
    Hungry for some football watching food? Your Super Bowl party budget better include party snack taxes (Feb. 3, 2018)
  • Article 37
    Former Patriots QB could be big Super Bowl LII tax winner (Jan. 28, 2018)
  • $51,001
    Shutdown won't halt passports, but big IRS bill could (Jan. 21, 2018)
  • $7.4 million
    Pharma Bro's Nazi code breaking Enigma machine auctioned to pay New York tax bill
     (Jan. 14, 2018)
  • $211 million
    Mega Millions winner gets tax lucky, but professional gamblers lose a bit under new tax law (Jan. 6, 2018)
Advertisement

 

Today's Tax Tip

  • Tax-smart financial gifts for grads (and the givers) — Got some new high school or college graduates in your life? Here are six financial gifts, most with some tax benefits, that they (and you) will enjoy. (May 31, 2023)

  • Tax Tip; click pencil for all tax tip links

  • The 2023 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!

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.
  • LinkTree

My Other Accounts

Advertisements

  • *************

Tick ... Tick ... Tick

  • Tax Season 2023 Continues!

    Tax Day 2023 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 2022 tax year return. That's fine. In fact, the Internal Revenue Service appreciates some of us spreading out our filings, especially when it means we are taking the time to submit a complete and correct return.

    This tax focus shift means the ol' blog will continue to provide filing tips through the Oct. 16 extension deadline. Yep, it's a day later this year, since 10/15 is on Sunday. But I haven't forgotten my organized taxpayer readers, who are looking for ways to reduce their 2023 tax year bills. Yep, that amount already 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 now is in your sights.

    Those on extension should also 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. They'll speed by quickly when you're having tax fun, and aren't we always having tax fun?!?
    Note: I'm in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.


Time for Tax Tasks


  • monthly tax moves


  • ☀️ Hello 🌞 June! ☀️
    We are so happy to see your radiant face, bringing us the start of summer. Some brightness and warmth and a sunny attitude are definitely what we need to fully recover from tax season, even one that wasn't that bad.


    via GIPHY


    June 1: Summer conjures dreams of lazy beach days. But for full-time coastal residents, June is less welcome. Today is the start of the Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico hurricane season. While there's a low pressure in the Eastern Gulf, at least we made it to opening day without an official system forming. That gives us time to prepare for hurricane season, a chance some folks got recently thanks to special sales tax holidays.

    Hurricane satellite image

    Uncle Sam's official forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center expect 2023 to bring 12 to 17 named storms, with five to nine possibly becoming hurricanes. As many as four of those storms 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.

    June 5: With school out, working parents need to make child care arrangements. Consider day camps. Not only do they offer some supervision of your kiddos while you're at the office, the activities' costs also count toward claiming the child and dependent care credit.

    June 12: 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 got lots of financial thanks for doing your job well, but don't forget that those tips are taxable income.

    restaurant check tip iStock
    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 you, as the server or delivery person, must account for those tips. If you got at least $20 in gratuities in May, you must report the amount by today (it's usually the 10th, but since that was Saturday, it moves to the next business day) by using Form 4070 to let your employer the total of the tips you took in last month.

    June 14: Happy Flag Day! It's not a day-off-work federal holiday, but Flag Day has been an official day to celebrate the Star-Spangled Banner since 1949. If you need to buy a U.S. flag to fly today, you also might get a tax break. Several states exempt the national symbol from sales tax. Check with your state's tax department to see if you can save on your patriotic display.

    June 15: It's Tax Day, this time for U.S. citizens or resident aliens living and working abroad, as well as military personnel stationed outside the United States.

    This mid-June day also is the deadline for the second estimated tax payment for the 2023 tax year.

    June 18: Happy Father's Day!

    Happy Father's Day

    Dad might not say so, but he appreciates being recognized, so take time today to let him know you care. And if your father is getting on up in years, take the time when you visit to make sure he doesn't need some added help from you. If you provide Pop a little, or even a lot of assistance, there's a chance you could get some help from a couple of tax credits.

    June 19: It's Juneteenth. This date marks when Texans finally received word that all slaves were free. And although it is our newest federal holiday, it is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.

    Juneteenth


    June 21: It's official at 10:58 a.m. Eastern Time. Summer is here, arriving on this longest day of the year.

    Summer sun

    Many charitable groups help people cope with the heat. If you itemize, your gift to such IRS-qualified nonprofits could be tax deductible on next year's tax return.

    June 26: If you missed spring cleaning, summer's also a good time to determine what you can do without. If that includes clothing or household items, you also can donate those and claim the fair market value of the items.

    June 30: If you got an extension to file back in April, or by June 15 if you're a taxpayer living overseas, remember that Free File, the online preparation and electronic filing web page for eligible taxpayers created by the IRS' partnership with the Free File Alliance, is still operational.

    IRS Free File; click image for details

    You can prepare and e-file as its name says at no cost if your adjusted gross income (AGI) is $73,000 or less, regardless of your filing status. You should be able to find a software that works for you from the seven tax prep companies that are participating.

    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 Tax Forms 2023 page.

What are you looking for?

  • Looking for something in particular? Start with the Table of Contents.
    Or check out the Archives, where you can review posts by month and category. Or enter specific keywords in the box below to search
    Don't Mess With Taxes.

Search

Subscribe:
E-mail, RSS or both!

  • Enter your Email


    Powered by FeedBlitz
  • RSS

Privacy Policy

  • Wondering what happens to your information once you subscribe? Don't worry. Don't Mess With Taxes respects your wish not to be a mere data source. Check the ol' blog's privacy policy at the Table of Contents page, as well as on the separate Privacy Policy page.

Sponsored Products

Affiliate Books

  • The Truth
    About Paying Fewer Taxes
  • Are you a tax geek? Got tax geek friends? Do you or they just want to make sure you don't overpay the IRS? Then my book, "The Truth About Paying Fewer Taxes," is for all y'all.

    Look for it on bookstore shelves
    or order a copy (or two!) from
    Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

  • TruthAboutPayingFewerTaxes
  • Find out more about my book and excerpted chapters at the FT Press
    Truth About Paying
    Fewer Taxes
    Web page
    .

  • You can read more
    of Kay's tax insights in ...


  • Kay Bell helps you build
    a solid tax foundation in
    "Personal Finance: An Encyclopedia
    of Modern Money Management"




    Kay Bell breaks down taxes and
    estate planning for millennials in
    "Future Millionaires' Guidebook"



    A collection of Kay Bell stories
    is included in
    "The Gambler's Guide to Taxes:
    How to Keep More
    of What You Win"




  • Tax Reading Room

    You also might enjoy these other tax tips from some of my tax-writing colleagues:

  • JK Lasser 2023 Taxes
    JK Lasser 2023 taxes

  • Dealing With The IRS
    Dealing With the IRS

  • JK Lassers 1001 Deductions
    JK Lasser 1001 Deductions
  • ~~~~~~~
    Don't Mess With Taxes
    is an Amazon Affiliate.
    If you click on the product links above and/or buy the items,
    I will be compensated.

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ...

  • Numbers
    Taxes are all about the numbers.
    Check out these (mostly) weekly
    By the Numbers figures.

Kudos Et Cetera

  • Association for Women Clarion Award Winner
    National Association
    for Women in Communications

    Winner, Best Personal Blog
    2012, 2014 & 2017

  • Plutus Award Winner
    Plutus Financial Bloggers Awards
    Celebrating the Best
    in Personal Finance

    Winner, Best Tax Blog
    2011 and 2013
    Lifetime Achievement Nominee 2020


I gotta tell ya ...

  • AKA Disclaimer:
    I am a professional journalist who has been covering tax issues since 1999.
    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.

©©©©© & ®®®®®

  • Don't Mess With Taxes®
    is a registered trademark
    of S. Kay Bell.

    All content on this site is
    © 2005-2023 S. Kay Bell
    dba Write Here, a division of
    SKB Editorial Services, LLC

  • And a bit of housekeeping.
  • Note 1: Some of the links on this site
    are affiliate links. That means that
    if you click through from
    a Don't Mess With Taxes link
    and then buy the product,
    I receive a commission.

    Note 2: Links to outside content
    might become inactive due to changes
    at the copy's originating website.
    If you discover dead links, please e-mail me the details. Thanks.

    Note 3: The banner art for the ol' blog
    is courtesy Pictures of Money
    via Flickr Creative Commons.
Blog powered by Typepad
Member since 11/2005

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-December 2022
    You can find medical coronavirus resource links in the next section.

COVID-19 Resources

  • COVID-19
    Need help finding a coronavirus vaccine in the United States?
    Call 1-800-232-0233
    or TTY 1-888-720-7489.
    More information and resources at:
    CDC Vaccines
    CDC Booster Shots
    HHS Combat COVID
    USA.Gov COVID Info

June 2023

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
        1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30  

Tell it to the Hill

  • DMWT Politics Posts
  • 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.

..................................................



  • .................................................................
  • Don't Mess With Taxes •
  • Powered by Typepad
Top