Don't Mess With Taxes

If you’ve glanced at the filing extension countdown in the ol’ tax blog’s right column, you know time is running out to file your extended tax return. The incessantly ticking clock isn’t a reason to panic. It is, however, a reminder that you don’t want to push that Oct. 15 deadline. The Internal Revenue Service doesn’t give you any more time to file your Form 1040. So, you should be thinking about finishing up that paperwork now. Here are some tips to help. Gather your filing documents. This shouldn’t be too much of a problem. You probably used the material... Read more →

UPDATE, Aug. 29, 2024: The U.S. collection of Caribbean islands joins its fellow territory Puerto Rico in getting tax relief due to Tropical Storm Ernesto effects. It also ups the count to 10 of disaster areas across the country that have the new extended, early 2025 tax return due date. The satellite view, courtesy National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NESDIS/STAR GOES-East imagery, of Tropical Storm Ernesto as it approached the U.S. Virgin Islands late afternoon Aug. 13. As the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues its disaster evaluations, the areas eligible for tax relief, and a new filing deadline of... Read more →

A full Cannon River rushing though Northfield, Minnesota, after rainfall from severe storms in June. (National Weather Service photo) It’s been that kind of weather year. The start of a new week brings another Internal Revenue Service announcement of disaster area tax relief. This time, the areas getting special tax consideration were hard hit by severe storms and subsequent flooding in Minnesota. The affected North Star State individual and business taxpayers now have until Feb. 3, 2025, to meet a variety of filing and payment obligations. Affected counties: The destructive weather throughout Minnesota began June 16, and produced damages in... Read more →

Update, Tuesday, August 13, 2024 — Hurricane Debby has finally moved out of the United States, but her trek from Florida’s Gulf Coast, back into the Atlantic, then up the Eastern Seaboard was incredibly destructive. Remnants of Debby were still causing problems when the Internal Revenue Service on Aug. 9 announced tax relief for individuals and businesses in Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina. Today, the IRS added all of Vermont to its Hurricane Debby tax relief list. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Weather Service/National Hurricane Center graphic Hurricane Debby is a prime example of how the lowest hurricane... Read more →

We had the second U.S. landfall of the 2024 hurricane season today, and federal disaster (and tax) relief is likely to be announced soon. Meanwhile, those who earlier were in the paths of an angry Mother Nature outburst already are facing new tax deadlines, starting with the one this week for those who endured the fires on Maui and Hawai'i's Big Island. The horrific aftermath of the wildfire that destroyed the historic Hawaiian town of Lahaina on Maui last August. (Photo by U.S. Civil Air Patrol via Wikimedia Commons) Hurricane Debby made landfall as a category 1 early Monday, Aug.... Read more →

UPDATE, Aug. 2, 2024: The The Internal Revenue Service also has granted the delayed Feb. 3, 2025, deadline to taxpayers in separate disaster areas in Kentucky and Missouri. Tax relief for Kentucky applies to those in 58 Blue Grass State counties who were affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, landslides, and mudslides that began on May 21. Similar tax relief is provided Missouri residents in 15 Show Me State counties that sustained damages from severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding that began on May 19. The bold-faced links earlier in this update will take you to the official... Read more →

Next Monday, July 15, is Tax Day for residents of disaster areas in three states. This tax deadline applies to taxpayers affected by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) major disaster declarations in parts of Alaska, Maine, and Rhode Island. The disaster areas are listed below. The bold-type state names are links to the Internal Revenue Service's tax relief announcements for each area. The Wrangell Cooperative Association of Alaska Tribal Nation off coastal Alaska. That area was hit by severe storms, landslides, and mudslides that began on Nov. 20, 2023. Eight counties in Maine that sustained damages from severe storms and... Read more →

Updated Tuesday, July 9, 2024 Residents whose lives are disrupted by a major disaster are targets. So are those who want to help. Either way, don’t become a victim. Hurricane Beryl, the second named storm of the 2024 tropical storm season, made her third landfall early today along the Texas Gulf Coast. The good news is that Beryl was a category 1 when it blasted into the Lone Star State. That's far less powerful than the category 5 it reached on its travel through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The bad news is that Beryl was still a hurricane.... Read more →

Updated NHC Key Messages graphic Sunday, July 7, 2024 NOAA NHC GOES satellite image of Beryl. Click on image for animated loop. Hurricane Beryl, the second named storm of the 2024 hurricane season, already has made meteorological history. Beryl's formation at the end of June made it the earliest hurricane ever in the eastern tropical Atlantic. But wait, there's more. Beryl also became the strongest hurricane on record, a category 4, to have formed in June in the Atlantic Ocean. Beryl's journey over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula took sapped some of its strength, but it's still expected to hit the Texas... Read more →

Unsplash+ in collaboration with Olivie Strauss Hello, July! We are soooo ready for this first full month of official summer. This first week of July will be a short one for many of us. We’ll be taking advantage of July 4 falling on Thursday, making it an extra-long Independence Day holiday weekend. But once the fireworks are over, it’s back to the regular grind where we never are independent of taxes. That’s why we also need to also make some time in July for tax moves. Here are five to consider. 1. Get ready for disastrous weather. Even though I’m... Read more →

Updated, Thursday, June 27, 2024 Update, Thursday, June 27, 2024: The Internal Revenue Service today granted tax relief to Mississippi taxpayers in major disaster areas from early-April severe weather in that state. You can find details in the post text below. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) most sophisticated Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) is the GOES-R Series. The satellites provide advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s Western Hemisphere, real-time mapping of lightning activity, and improved monitoring of solar activity and space weather. Photo courtesy NOAA/National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). Being a life-long weather and... Read more →

Updated Wednesday, June 19, 2024 It’s been 20 years since the hubby and I came home to Texas, deciding to leave South Florida in part because in 2004 we were in the landfall area of two hurricanes, Frances and Jeanne, just three weeks apart. It’s true. Time does fly when you’re not preparing for a hurricane. I do, however, still follow tropical systems. So, of course, I’ve spent most of the last couple of days watching the Weather Channel and surfing the National Hurricane Center site to see where this Gulf of Mexico system, officially known as Potential Tropical Cyclone... Read more →

It’s not even officially summer yet, and already taxes are intruding on seasonal fun for taxpayers across the United States. Specifically, June 17 is Tax Day for individuals who are in one of three special categories. Since that’s less than a week away, they need to get to work now so they meet the fast approaching deadline. In most cases, missing it will mean owing even more to Uncle Sam thanks to tax penalties and inters that will be added to any tax due next Monday. Estimated taxes: Millions of taxpayers make estimated tax payments every year on income that’s... Read more →

Florida residents are getting some tax breaks on items to help them prepare for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which started this week and forecast to be the most active ever. The Sunshine State’s first of two disaster preparedness sales tax holidays began on June 1, the official start of the annual hurricane season. It runs through Friday, June 14. Florida’s second emergency preparation sales tax event will be Aug. 24 through Sept. 6, aligning with the time of year when the tropical season tends to increase. Long history of strong storms: Florida individuals and businesses don’t need a reminder... Read more →

June is here! Summer officially arrives in a few weeks. And many of us already are making vacation plans. Great! Have fun. But also make some time this month to deal with tax tasks. Really. Taxes definitely aren’t a day at the beach, but some summer tax moves can help make next year’s filing easier, and potentially less costly. Here are five tax moves to make, or at least consider, this June. 1. Pay your estimated taxes. Millions of us must make these extra tax payments each year. The payments cover income we get that’s not subject to withholding, such... Read more →

The 2024 hurricane season has just begun, but some people are still dealing with disasters from last and earlier this year. Some of them now are facing a June 17 tax filing and payment deadline. Mother Nature has been Mommy Dearest across much of the United States so far this year. Way too many federal announcements and media reports have included the phrase “A historic severe weather outbreak occurred” in 2024, meaning that millions of Americans have found themselves in major disaster areas. And the current hurricane season has just begun! Unfortunately, the disastrous start to this year was a... Read more →

The tornado that struck Afton, Iowa, in Union County on April 26, 2024. That county is one of eight that have been declared major disaster areas, meaning residents are eligible for a variety of federal assistance, including tax relief. (Photo by Dean Baron via National Weather Service) Iowans in eight Hawkeye State counties that were struck by severe storms and tornadoes last month now have until Oct. 15 to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. This latest Internal Revenue Service disaster relief applies to individuals and households that live or have a business in... Read more →

Some of the March 14 tornado damage in Indian Lake, Logan County, Ohio. (Photo credit: Indian Lake Chamber via Facebook) During the evening of March 14, supercell thunderstorms dropped numerous strong tornadoes across western and central Ohio. By the time things cleared, the deadly twisters also had left trails of destruction across the Buckeye State. The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed three EF1 twisters, two reaching EF2, and an EF3 across Ohio. The NWS office in Wilmington, just north of Cincinnati, reported a total of 145 miles of combined tornado tracks across the state. Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) investigation... Read more →

Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images Tornadoes storms across the United States this year are striking at a record breaking pace. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center today shows 790 preliminary tornado reports. The historical average at this point in the year is around 550. Here in Texas, more than a million acres in the Panhandle were consumed by the Smokehouse Creek Fire that erupted in February. As spring arrived, the eastern part of the Lone Star State endured devastating floods. And hurricane season doesn’t even officially start until June. All this meteorological anger means that millions of people... Read more →

Drone composite image of the significant damage to structures in downtown Sulphur, Oklahoma. A large part of the small town in south-central Oklahoma was struck by an EF3+ tornado on April 27, 2024. (Photo by Wikiwillz via Wikipedia Commons) The United States’ tornado season used to be in the spring, with most of them occurring in the middle of the country known as Tornado Alley. But things have changed. Or maybe data collection improved. Whatever the reason, tornado-spawning storms are showing up almost year-round, and they’re showing up well beyond the original Tornado Alley boundaries. This year could be one... Read more →