Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Taxes: January-... 2021

Apparently, 2021 also is the year of COVID-19. Dang it!

After dominating our lives for most of 2020, the deadly coronavirus pandemic has shown no signs of letting up, especially since too many people decided to give it a boost by leaving their self-isolation pods and visiting family and friends over the December holidays.

And that's led to this, the ol' blog's third Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Taxes page as we enter the new year. If you want to check out previous COVID-related tax posts, you can head on over to the original page with the March-July 2020 designation or the second one with posts from August-December 2020.

I suspect there might be a fourth page later this year if we can't get ourselves (yes, I am looking at all you fools who don't wear masks and insist on congregating in close quarters) and the virus under control. But let's keep our fingers crossed that we don't need any 2022 versions!

Although there are (for now) three COVID and taxes pages, a couple of things stay the same on all.

First, the items are listed with the most recent post first.

Secondly, this page, like its COVID counterparts, starts off with posts from Don't Mess With Taxes because, well, it's my blog! Then the other sections with coronavirus links from official government websites, professional associations, law and accounting firms, and tax policy think tanks follow.

OK, enough with the housekeeping. Let's get to this third collection of coronavirus tax+ matters.

More COVID payments — and written confirmation notices — are on the way (April 30, 2021)
IRS updates 2021 EITC amounts changed by COVID relief law (April 26, 2021)
29 million tax returns awaiting manual IRS processing (April 25, 2021)
COVID relief bill, IRS decision ease some pandemic-affected health care costs (April 19, 2021)
Free File can help those who don't usually file taxes get COVID payments and more (April 14, 2021)
Labor Department joins IRS in offering online resources for unemployment fraud victims (April 5, 2021)
Unemployment tax adjustments by IRS in the works, with first refunds to go out in May (April 2, 2021)
Social Security recipients should get COVID-19 relief checks by April 7 (March 31, 2021)
Hawai'i looks to be lone holdout in making May 17 Tax Day (March 28, 2021)
Congress extends PPP, but state tax news isn't so good for the COVID-relief loans (March 27, 2021)
IRS & Virginia provide tax breaks for PPE purchases (March 26, 2021)
Texas man pleads guilty to $24.8 million PPP fraud; IRS touts more COVID investigation successes (March 25, 2021)
IRS says more COVID relief payments on the way, mostly by mail this time (March 22, 2021)
IRS to automatically issue refunds on tax-free unemployment to eligible early filers (March 21, 2021)
IRS acts on Taxpayer Advocate request to discontinue offsets of some COVID relief payments (March 20, 2021)
Answers to some questions raised by the IRS move of Tax Day 2021 to May 17 (March 18, 2021)
90 million COVID relief checks delivered. How to find your EIP's status (March 17, 2021)
IRS tax-free unemployment guidance: don't amend returns if you've already filed; use new worksheet if you haven't (March 16, 2021)
IRS elaborates on delivery of $1,400 COVID relief payments (March 13, 2021)
Tax-free unemployment change could require amended tax return filings (March 10, 2021)
Senate OKs 3rd COVID payment, final House vote next week (March 6, 2021)
PPP and other pandemic tax moves to make in March 2021 (March 1, 2021)
VITA and TCE volunteers work around COVID-19 to help taxpayers file returns (Feb. 25, 2021)
W&M members ask IRS to extend April Tax Day deadline (Feb. 19, 2021)
IRS issues guidance on added flexibility for COVID-affected flexible spending accounts (Feb. 18, 2021)
8 reasons to wait to file your 2020 taxes. Yes, a COVID relief payment is #1 (Feb. 17, 2021)
Biden's proposed Child Tax Credit increase in COVID relief plan gets support … and questions (Feb. 13, 2021)
COVID PPE counts toward teachers' expenses tax deduction (Feb. 5, 2021)
Can't remember how much COVID payment you already got? Find it at your online IRS taxpayer account (Feb. 3, 2021)
Taxpayer Advocate seeks equal debt treatment for all COVID relief payments (Jan. 30, 2021)
EITC claiming option: use 2019 or 2020 income (Jan. 29, 2021)
7 reasons to file your tax return early. Yes, claiming a COVID-19 relief payment is #1 (Jan. 25, 2021)
6 small business tax breaks in current COVID relief law (Jan. 23, 2021)
Is the IRS ready to deliver more COVID relief payments? Its commissioner is optimistic (Jan. 22, 2021)
Don't overlook student loan tax break on amounts paid before COVID relief (Jan. 21, 2021)
A look at what, aside from $1,400 per person, is in Biden's COVID relief plan (Jan. 16, 2021)
IRS says it did a pretty good job in a COVID-affected year (Jan. 9, 2021)
IRS adds info to COVID debit card envelopes to distinguish them from junk mail (Jan. 8, 2021)
Undeliverable COVID-19 payments offer another scam route (Jan. 6, 2021)
Got COVID relief money questions? The IRS has updated its online answers (Jan. 5, 2021)
If you don't get your COVID money by Jan. 15, you'll have to claim it on your 2020 tax return (Jan. 4, 2021)

There also are some posts since the beginning of the pandemic that tangentially reference COVID-19's effects on taxes, but not enough so to make the official coronavirus cut for inclusion on this page.

If you're interested in seeing those, you can browse the new Coronavirus COVID-19 category. The posts above (as well as those on the other coronavirus pages) will show up, too, but just keep scrolling to find others that didn't make this coronavirus tax specific list.

Now to other off-blog resources.

First, there are the official government sites. The image above recommends Coronavirus.gov, which basically is a landing page (like this), so below are my suggestions.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS): Coronavirus Tax Relief and Economic Impact Payments

Treasury: How the Treasury Department is Taking Action

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Social Security Administration (SSA): Social Security & Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Coronavirus - What the FTC is Doing

Health and Human Services (HHS): COVID-19 Portal

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): A guide to COVID-19 economic stimulus relief

Department of Education (Ed): COVID-19 ("Coronavirus") Information and Resources for Schools and School Personnel

Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Frequently Asked Questions

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response (note the rumor control section)

U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS): Coronavirus/COVID-19 Related Scams

USA.gov: Government Response to Coronavirus, COVID-19

And, of course, there are other sites following the pandemic's tax effects.

Many of my fellow tax bloggers are doing great jobs tracking the intricacies of COVID-19 tax changes. So are the members of the great #TaxTwitter community.

But in order to keep this page from following the excessive pieces of coronavirus legislation when it comes to length, I've focused below on web pages posted by professional firms, associations and other taxcentric entities that are providing valuable coronavirus-related tax information and advice.

National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP): COVID-19 Tax News & FAQ

American Institute of CPAs (AICPA): Coronavirus (COVID-19) tax resources (n.b., the state tax roundup)

Thomson Reuters: COVID-19 resource center

Wolters Kluwer: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for Tax & Accounting Professionals

KPMG: Coronavirus (COVID-19) tax developments

Deloitte: COVID-19 tax policy updates

EY US: Responding to COVID-19

Grant Thornton: COVID-19 Resource Center

RubinBrown: Coronavirus Preparedness Resource Center

EideBailly: The New Coronavirus (COVID-19) Organiational & Individual Impacts

Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP): COVID-19 Tax Policy Resources

The Tax Foundation: Tax Policy And The Coronavirus (note the state-by-state legislative and global country-by-country fiscal measures trackers)

Avalara: COVID-19 Tax Relief Roundup

Employee Benefit News (EBN): Coronavirus Impact

But wait, there are more: Naturally, things will change as the virus itself and our tax reactions to it evolve, so I'm asking for your help.

I know I've missed some good sites. Please let me know. I'll probably see your suggestions sooner if you let me know via Twitter where, in case you don't know, I'm @taxtweet. You also can drop me an email note.

I'll update this page as regularly as I can. You'd think that I'd have more time by essentially being on house arrest during Austin's coronavirus stay-home order, but it seems that the hours in the days also are affected by these bizarre circumstances (and my discovery of new things to stream).

Thanks for your assistance and patience. And, of course, be safe!

Taxes are important, but they are just taxes. The well-being of everyone and your families is everything, the only thing.

Original post began April 4, 2020

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Today's Tax Tip

Don't overlook these 12 tax breaks — Are you still searching for tax write-offs as the filing deadline nears? Here are a dozen tax deductions and credits, including some that don't require itemizing, that too many taxpayers overlook every filing season. Missing them could be costly. (May 14, 2021)
The 2021 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. While we're waiting for the 2021 calendar pages to flip and fill up with timely tax tidbits, check out 2020 (and earlier) tax years' advice.

COVID-19 & Taxes

Coronavirus has wreaked havoc
on the 2020 tax season.
These three Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Taxes pages have details:
March-July 2020,
August-December 2020, and
January-… 2021

All About Kay

OK, some about Kay

Kay Bell — Native Texan (the blog title totally makes sense now, right?). Professional journalist. Tax geek.

My Other Accounts

Tick ... Tick ... Tick

Tax Season 2021 is here!
Happy New Tax Year! Are you ready to file your 2020 tax return? Me neither. With all the delays last year due to COVID-19, it seems like that prior tax season just finished. But time and taxes wait for no taxpayer … unless we're still dealing with a global pandemic. Yep, COVID-19 is still hanging on, so the Internal Revenue Service, which started 2021 by delivering more coronavirus economic relief payments, says it's once again giving taxpayers (and the agency itself) more time to deal with 2020 returns. Tax Day 2021 has been moved from April 15 to May 17. The monthly tips and reminders a little further down this column should help us focus on our now-delayed filing and other tax moves and hopefully make things go a bit more smoothly. Also keep an eye on the countdown clock just below. It will help us keep track of how much more time we now have until Tax Day on May 17, just in case some of us want to put things off until the final hours. .
Note: I'm in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.

Time for Tax Tasks

May 1: Happy May Day!
Or is it mayday?

via GIPHY

May Day globally is a time for celebrating workers' contributions. Mayday, as one word, is a universal distress signal. With the coronavirus pandemic not quite under total control, both meanings continue to apply as we head into 2021's fifth month.

More people are being vaccinated, and some businesses are open again. But many workers are still out of jobs and dealing with continuing COVID-19 financial stress.

The third COVID economic impact payment provides some relief. And President Joe Biden, just wrapping up the first 100 days of his administration, is proposing some tax law changes that could help. Those, however, are down the road a-ways. So let's look at tax tasks that are on the books and need attention this month, like the delayed Tax Day 2021 coming up on May 17. Don't worry. I'll remind you when we get even closer to the filing deadline.

May 5: ¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

2021 definitely is a year when we can use a little celebration, even if it's a Mexican holiday that tends to spur more festivities here north of the border. So raise that margarita during your fiesta, either at a still COVID-conscious real-life party or virtually. Your state tax collector will thank you, since during the pandemic, sin taxes were a lone revenue bright spot for many states.

May 9: Happy Mother's Day!

Now that you and your mom both have been vaccinated, make up for last year's missed Mother's Day. All the love and best to every mom, from the new ones just discovering the joys, tax and otherwise, of new parenthood to those gracefully maneuvering their Golden Years while getting some tax-advantaged help from their families.

May 10: More restaurants across the country are opening up table service. Folks who are so done with coronavirus take-out and deliver are happy to be served in person again. And those servers are especially thrilled to see the diners, especially the ones who are good tippers. If you're comfortable going out to eat, be sure to reward your server. The same tipping reminder applies for food delivery people if you're still self-isolating.

If a tip isn't included in your restaurant check or food delivery charge, click the image above to calculate how much to tip.

Those of you getting the tips, remember that your tips are taxable income. If you got such added financial thanks that came to a total of at least $20 last month, whether as a waiter/waitress or hair stylist or valet or whatever job where gratuities are common, you need to account for them today. Report your tips to your employer on Form 4070.

May 10: The deadline to file your tax return is just a week away. If you're still working on or finishing up your 2020 Form 1040, check out the filing pieces of advice in the ol blog's monthly tax tips pages. You'll find links near the top of this column, right under the Tax Tip yellow No. 2 pencil tip image.

May 14: The last weekend before Tax Day 2021 is here. Time to finally finish that return. If you haven't already, find all those tax documents that you shoved in a drawer when you learned nothing would be due in April. For most of us, claiming the standard deduction is the way to go. You'll need just your W-2 and possibly some 1099 forms. If you still itemize, this checklist details the additional data you'll need to file.

May 17: Tax Day 2021 is finally here. Stop cheering (or crying), finish your return and get it on its way to the Internal Revenue Service.

.
You've got until midnight tonight (your local time) to electronically file your 1040. You can do that and possibly save some money by using Free File, the online no-cost tax preparation and e-filing partnership between the IRS and Free File Alliance.

The official Free File site at IRS.gov this season offers nine participating tax software options if your adjusted gross income is $72,000 or less, regardless of filing status. If you make too much to use the online software, look into using Free File's fillable forms.

And if you just can't finish your 1040 by today, send the IRS instead Form 4868 to get until Oct. 15 to file your return. Remember though, you must pay any due tax with your extension request.

May 21: Whew! Now that filing is done (except for us procrastinators on extension) and you've had a few days to get settled, it's time to take care of your tax records. You need to hang onto some filing paperwork just in case the IRS has follow-up questions.

May 25: Part of the emergence from COVID-19 lockdown is the return of summer camps. If you were able to get your kiddos into a day camp, be sure to hang on to the receipts. The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit has been expanded for the 2021 tax year, making it even more valuable when you file your taxes next year.

May 29-31: Happy Memorial Day long weekend! If you and yours are vaccinated and taking advantage of that to welcome the unofficial beginning of summer with a road trip, enjoy. After months of lockdown, a change of scenery definitely will be nice. And if you have a second home that you're leasing to other gotta-get-away travelers, stay on top of all the short-term rental rules, at both the possibly tax-free federal income and more-local occupancy tax levels.

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

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 Fiesta! page.

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Taxes are all about the numbers.
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Kudos Et Cetera

National Association
for Women in Communications
Winner, Best Personal Blog
2012, 2014 & 2017
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.

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is a registered trademark
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May 2021

Tell it to the Hill

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, use the federal legislator locator above to find just who on Capitol Hill should hear your concerns. And for matters tax or otherwise closer to home, you can find info on your state and local elected officials at USA Gov.

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