Books Kay wrote as sole author or as a contributor
The Truth About Paying Fewer Taxes: I wrote this book in 2009 as part of the popular FT Press "truth about" series. It covers just what the title says.

Personal Finance: An Encyclopedia of Modern Money Management: This reference book, published by ABC-CLIO in 2015, is designed for high school and college students and the educators who teach those subjects. I contributed chapters on an overview of the federal tax system, tax returns, tax deferral, online personal finance options, and flexible spending accounts.

Future Millionaires' Guidebook: I joined several of my Bankrate colleagues to produce this Book Baby ebook in 2012. My chapters? Taxes of course! I provided a comprehensive (but succinct) look at everything from payroll withholding to deduction options to saving for retirement. In addition, I wrote the estate planning chapter, which included, you guessed it, the tax component of this important financial step and cited the wise words of the great Canadian rock bank Rush.

The Gambler's Guide To Taxes: How to Keep More of What You Win: Several of my Bankrate.com tax articles are included in this handbook, published by Lyle Stuart in 2003, for bettors looking to protect more of their winnings from the IRS.

Other writings by Kay
Bankrate Taxes as former contributing tax editor
Last Week at My Other Tax Blog for some of my tax bloggy thoughts at Bankrate

Worth: A look at personal finance from the pages of Austin Woman magazine

Crazy Woman Driver: Kay's auto racing rants and raves from the pages of Randall-Reilly truckers' magazines

As time goes on, I'll be tweaking this index, adding new features, refining what's here.

If you're looking for something not listed here, try the search feature over in the right column under the "What are you looking for?" header.

Don't forget the Archives page, which compiles all my posts chronologically by month, as well as alphabetically lists the categories for my blog posts.

Finally, you can always contact me — via email or send a 140-character Twitter message (I'm @taxtweet) or jot a wall note at the ol' blog's Facebook page — if you have questions about a tax topic you think/know I blogged about but can't find.

If you want to get the ol' blog's tax news and information on a regular basis, you can subscribe via RSS, email or social media.

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As for those subscriptions and other interactions on the ol' blog, a few words about your privacy.

I take your privacy seriously. Long-time readers know I don't even identify my better half; he's simply known on the intrawebz as the hubby. I want to give all readers of the ol' blog the same consideration.

So I assure you that I won't use your contact and/or subscription info for any purposes — not humorous, not illustrative and definitely not anything nefarious.

I also want all y'all to feel comfortable coming here and sharing what you choose to share in posts' comments sections. Even then, if I see something that has a bit TMI and makes me a bit uncomfortable (since I must OK all comments), I'll edit it so that I, and therefore you, are confident that your privacy is respected and protected.

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Today's Tax Tip

Hurricane Ian targets Florida — It's late September, but the United States' mainland finally could face its first hurricane of 2022. Forecasters expect Ian to reach category 2, and possibly 3, before making landfall somewhere along Florida's west coast next week. If you put off getting ready for hurricane season because the tropics had been quiet, now's finally the time to get in storm prep gear, including taking taxes into consideration. (Sept. 24, 2022)
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

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

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

My Other Accounts

*************

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

Hello 🍂 September
After heat waves and droughts across the United States, we cheer the arrival of this ninth month of the year, which officially brings us Autumn.

via GIPHY

Fall's cooler (we hope!) temperatures offer us some respite from 2022's extraordinarily hot summer. But Fall doesn't mean we can fall down when it comes to tax tasks. So here are some September Tax Moves to make in the next 30 days.

Sept. 1: Today is Meteorological Fall, the three months from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30 when days get shorter and cooler, but not cold. It's also the start of the Internal Revenue Service's National Preparedness Month. The 2022 Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico hurricane season has been hurricane season has been unexpectedly quiet, but that's not likely to last.

So take advantage of this likely temporary tropical lull and get ready for the rest of the official hurricane season, which runs through the end of Meteorological Fall on Nov. 30. 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.

Even if Uncle Sam's official forecasters at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center are wrong and the season doesn't bring their predicted 21 named storms, remember that it only takes one to wreak havoc. So if you haven't yet prepared — physically, financially, and tax wise — it's time to do so.

The ol' blog's special Storm Warnings pages also can help, whether you're preparing for, recovering from, or 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.

Sept. 5: Happy Labor Day! This celebration of workers' contributions is a federal holiday and day off for many.

via GIPHY

After two years of coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, many workplaces have move back full in-person office work. job sites. But the lingering effects of hybrid — some days working from home, others at the office — could produce some tax complications for workers. One of them is the unwelcome realization that as employees, their home office is not tax deductible.

Sept. 12: If your job is as a server at a restaurant, or at any other establishment where gratuities from customers is part of your compensation, don't forget that those tips are taxable income.

Whether you're dining in or 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.

Today is a key day for workers who regularly get tips as part of their jobs. If you worked at least some of August and got at least $20 in gratuities, you need to account for them today by using Form 4070 to report that month's tips total to your employer.

Sept. 22: Fall officially arrives today with the Autumnal Equinox at 9:04 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Adjust for your time zone, since the equinox occurs at the same moment worldwide. It's also a godo day to think about home maintenance that will help you weather the coming colder weather. The recently enacted Inflation Relief Act includes extension of and tax breaks for some energy saving home upgrades. While making any necessary repairs, also consider home improvements that could increase your home's basis and guarantee you won't owe any capital gains tax on your eventual residential sale profit.

Sept. 30: It's the last day of September. That means if you got an extension back in April to file your tax return, that new Oct. 17 deadline is just weeks away. Don't wait until the very last minute. Get to work on your tax paperwork now and be done with it.

The easiest way to do so is 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.

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.

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 Talking Tax Forms page.

What are you looking for?

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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.
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:
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 ...

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

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.

©©©©© & ®®®®®

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

All content on this site is
© 2005-2022 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
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at the copy's originating website.
If you discover dead links, please e-mail me the details. Thanks.

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COVID-19 Resources

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
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HHS Combat COVID
USA.Gov COVID Info

September 2022

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, 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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Table of Contents