Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash In my neighborhood, the windows of businesses large and small are plastered with "Help Wanted" signs. My suburban Austin area is not alone. In the best of times, businesses face challenges in finding the best workers for their needs. This is not the best of times when it comes to hiring. Right now, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are 9.9 million job openings in the United States, but only 5.8 million unemployed workers. This tight job market is why it's critical that companies don't undercut their hiring efforts. Some do just... Read more →
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Photo by Anastasiia Chepinska on Unsplash Among the many lessons we've learned, or not, from the COVID-19 pandemic is that we'll likely never be rid of it. And as the transition to endemic status progresses, we'll continue to deal with flare-ups like, irony alert, the one that erupted following the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention's recent first in-person Epidemic Intelligence Service conference in four years. The same persistence seems to apply to taxes, too. As the severity of COVID-19 became clearer, most of the United States went into lockdown to help slow its spread. While that saved lives,... Read more →
Homemade Gifts Made Easy May. A short word with many meanings. It's the name of the fifth month of the year. Here in the Norther Hemisphere, it's when springtime comes in fully. That's fitting, since its name comes from Maia, the Greek goddess of spring and growth. The Oxford English Dictionary also says the word is a verb that expresses possibility, as in "that may be true," or permission, as in "may I ask a few questions?" When it comes to taxes, I like to combine the meanings. May is a time of growth and renewal and the possibility of... Read more →
Earth Day is tomorrow, April 22. This annual celebration of Mother Earth's beauty and its focus on ways to make a positive impact on our planet has lots of folks thinking about how they can reduce their carbon footprints In keeping with the 2023 theme "Invest in Our Planet," a lot of folks are considering investing in an electric or other alternative energy vehicle to lower their dependence on fossil fuels. Of course, tax breaks also could nudge them down that road. The good news is that the Biden Administration pushed through a new $7,500 electric vehicle (EV) tax credit.... Read more →
Photo by Karolina Grabowska Nearly 1.5 million people across the United States are due tax refunds they didn't claim in 2020 by filing a 2019 tax year return. They can get that money, which totals almost $1.5 billion, by filing that old return. Even better, they don't have to mess with the old filing by this year's April 18 filing deadline. Instead, they get until July 17 to file for their 2019 refunds. 3-year window's opening and closing: Tax law gives taxpayers three years to file a return and collect the associated refund. The three-year filing period is from the... Read more →
Scammers tend to use tried and true techniques to con people out of their identities and money. One of the most popular schemes involves crooks pretending to be real-life officials. And the Internal Revenue Service is near the top of government agencies that con artists impersonate. CloudFlare, a company which provides security for many companies' online operations, says that the IRS ranks sixth in the 50 top brands when it comes to phishing attempts that use fake sites. The example given by CloudFlare included "IRS" along with the words "contact" and "payment." A big tip-off that the URL is fake... Read more →
Doing taxes isn't nearly as much fun as riding a carousel, but a round of tax credits can help families save some tax dollars. (Photo by Brett Sayles) Tax deductions get a lot of attention, mainly because the Internal Revenue Service makes us choose between taking the standard deduction or itemizing. We make this decision every year, based on which method gives us the better write-off amount. Standard has always won, and since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 became law and nearly doubled the standard, adjusted annually for inflation amounts, the margin of victory has grown. But... Read more →
via Giphy The Internal Revenue Service is exploring how it can offer free tax filing on its own, no help from outside private tax software companies as is now the case. But the agency already offers a sort-of tax prep service. I, and the IRS, emphasize sort of. You still have to fill in some (possibly a lot of) paper forms. And you have to send them by U.S. Postal Service mail by Tax Day, which is April 18 this year. Plus, there are lots of limitations — income levels, forms that don't apply, deduction methods, and more — on... Read more →
Photo by Elisa Ventur on Unsplash When you make a mistake on your Form 1040, the best thing that could happen is the Internal Revenue Service will catch your relatively insignificant error, fix it, and send you a notice about the change. A worse outcome is the IRS changes reduce and/or delay the refund you're expecting. And the absolute worst tax error outcome is that your mistake isn't a minor one, and the IRS decides to take a longer, closer look at your filing. The only way to avoid these situations is to double check your return to ensure it's... Read more →
Blinders may work for horses, but they're terrible for taxpayers who might miss out on some tax savings. (Photo by Graham Ruttan on Unsplash) The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's expansion of the standard deduction amounts means even more taxpayers are using that filing method. Most think that since they don't itemize, they don't need to worry about tax breaks. They're wrong. There are the above-the-line deductions, officially known as adjustments to income, that anyone can take (if they qualify), regardless of whether they take the standard deduction or use Schedule A. Then there are some tax credits, again available... Read more →
Photo by Chris F In February, Austin took another winter weather hit. A surprisingly heavy freeze ended with broken tree limbs taking out power lines, leaving tens of thousands of Austin households and businesses without electricity for days. We were among the powerless. During the three days we sat huddled in our increasingly cold house, griping about the third consecutive and unusually cold winter (thanks, no thanks, La Niña!), we realized we needed to look into making some improvements to our house. The energy efficient upgrades will also help in a couple of months when we're dealing with the area's... Read more →
It takes a different kind of math to figure possible tax credit help to cover college costs. (Photo by Karolina Grabowska) It's spring break time for many students. But it's also time for a refresher on how the tax code can help them (or their parents who are footing at least some university costs) pay for those classes they're taking a respite from now. The Internal Revenue Code contains two popular educational tax credits, the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) and the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC). The AOTC is the one most undergraduate students (or their parents) will claim. It's... Read more →
White House Budget video screenshot. Full video is available at Facebook and Twitter. The Biden Administration released its fiscal year 2024 budget today (March 9, 2023). Thanks to previews from President Joe Biden, there are no surprises as far as taxes. "I want to make it clear I'm going raise some taxes," Biden to told a group in Virginia Beach, Virginia, who gathered Feb. 28 to hear about healthcare. "Many of you are billionaires out there. You're going to stop paying at 3 percent. Not a joke." The president's promise was put in writing today with the issuance by the... Read more →
Photo by Kris Gonzalez via Flickr CC Parenting presents many challenges. One of them is finding quality child care. The tax code can help a bit here if you, and your spouse if you're married, both work. The Child and Dependent Care Credit offsets some child care expenses. Since it's a tax credit, it does that by reducing your tax liability dollar-for-dollar. But if you're a working mom or dad who enjoyed the pandemic-prompted enhancements to the child care credit last year, get ready to be disappointed when you file your 2022 return. The tax break afforded by the Child... Read more →
March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb, at least according to the old weather saying. Feline ferocity also could help when it comes to taxes. We need that predatory focus since we only have around six weeks — less due to that dang hour we'll lose this month to Daylight Saving Time! — until our federal (and state, for some folks) returns are due. That aggressiveness also could pay off long after the annual tax deadline, thanks to tax breaks that can help add to your post-work savings. So let's not waste... Read more →
That's all?!? (Photo by Karolina Grabowska) As we hit mid-February, more tax refunds will start going out. The Internal Revenue Service has been waiting, per 2015's Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes, or PATH, Act, to issue refunds on returns where filers claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC). The mandated delay was designed to give the IRS more time to catch fraudulent refunds based on these two popular tax credits. The IRS expects most EITC and/or ACTC related refunds to be available in taxpayer bank accounts or on debit cards by Feb. 28... Read more →
Hello, February! Yeah, I know my regular monthly tax moves post is late. But February started off here in Central Texas with a nasty ice storm that knocked out our power for four days, and I'm still catching up on delayed blog (and real life) tasks. I appreciate your patience and understanding. So, since we're already on this shortest month's fifth day, and nobody wants to hear my continued whining about the storm and our local electric company, let's get right to some fun stuff. Like February Tax Moves! Here are three to consider this month. 1. Collect your tax... Read more →
The Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC, is one of the most beneficial tax breaks for lower- and moderate-income workers. It's also one of the most under-claimed. The reasons are many, starting with its complexity. You have to work to be able to claim the EITC. But if you make too much money, you're ineligible. Your marital status comes in the calculation of the final credit, as does the size of your family. And many single people ignore the EITC because they think it's only available to filers with dependent children. "This is an extremely important tax credit that helps... Read more →
Photo by Dewang Gupta on Unsplash In 2019, the Internal Revenue Service received nearly 156 million tax returns. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the number of 1040s filed hit 169.7 million. The increase continued in 2021 with the IRS receiving 169.1 million returns, and into 2022, when 164.3 returns were sent to the tax agency. The main reason for the 2020-2022 filing spikes was the coronavirus-related financial help — economic impact payments and increased advance Child Tax Credit amounts — that the IRS was tasked with delivering. Many, OK most, of those millions who hadn't filed before 2020... Read more →
Photo by Michael Burrows Millions of Americans send tax return to the Internal Revenue Service every year. It's a good bet that a lot of them are first-time filers. Dealing with the IRS, even in a routine manner like sending in a completed Form 1040, can be intimidating, even for veteran taxpayers. For newbies, the task also can be overwhelming. But it doesn't have to be. These eight steps can help a novice taxpayer successfully make it through their first filing season, and maybe even get a bit of money back. 1. Get organized. This is a habit that will... Read more →