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.

And 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.

Thanks for reading!

Filing Season Tax Tips

EITC and ACTC refunds are good to go, sort of — Since 2017, the Internal Revenue Service has been required to hold until mid-February tax refunds when the filers claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or additional child tax credit (ACTC). That deadline is here, but if you're affected by this law, be patient. It will take the IRS some time, especially in this government shutdown-affected filing season, for your tax money to be sent. (Feb. 15, 2019)
Did you miss a daily tip posted above? No worries. They're collected in the 2019 Filing Season Tax Tips pages, one for each of the three-and-a-half months that we focus on our 1040s: January, February, March and — tah-dah! — April. After a brief break to catch our post-filing deadline breath, the Weekly Tax Tips, like these from 2018, will return.

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 2019 is here!
Are you ready to file your 2018 tax return? Me neither. But we need to start thinking about it now because April 15 will be here before we realize it and we've got to figure out how the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changes will affect our filing — and eventual bill or refund. The countdown clock below will help you keep track of this year's due date. Happy New Tax Year!
Note: I'm in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.

Time for Tax Tasks

Feb. 1: Hello, February! We're thrilled that the shortest month has arrived.

Although we have only 28 days, that's still plenty of time to make some meaningful tax moves.
Let's get to them.

Feb. 2: Happy Groundhog Day!

Don't get caught in a Bill Murray loop and end up doing your taxes over and over. Get your 2018 return right the first time, which means waiting for all your necessary tax statements, like your W-2 and the assortment of 1099 forms, that you need to file.

Feb. 3: Are you ready for some Super Bowl!?! Of course you are, especially if you're placing a now-legal sports bet on the NFL championship game. Even nonsports fans get in on the action through myriad prop bets. Remember, though, that whenever any bet, be it on an on-field event or something tangentially related to the game, pays off, those gambling winnings are taxable income.

Feb. 11: Does your job include tips? If so and you received $20 in tips in January, use Form 4070 to report them today to your employer. Yes, it's usually due on the 10th, but since that was on Sunday, you have until the next business day to provide details on your gratuities.

Feb. 12: Black History Month is celebrated every day this month, commemorating the achievements by black Americans and recognizing the role of African Americans in U.S. history.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation's oldest and largest grassroots-based civil rights organization, was founded on Feb. 12, 1909. That was the centennial anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation twice.

One of the NAACP's key divisions is its Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
If you want to support the Fund's work, you can donate to it and, since it is a 501(c)(3) organization, you can still claim it as an itemized deduction. Yes, this part of Schedule A survived the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changes, although you might want to now look into other charitable giving strategies.

Feb. 14: Happy Valentine's Day!

Do you and your better half file a joint return? Most married couples do. Remember to look over the 1040 carefully before you sign it. When both spouses sign their jointly filed 1040, each is jointly and severally liable for the entire tax amount due. This means the Internal Revenue Service can come after either spouse for payment of a tax bill, even the spouse who is in more dire financial circumstances.

Feb. 18: Today is Presidents Day, officially honoring George Washington, the Father of Our Country. Over the years, however, this federal (three-day, yay!) holiday has come to commemorate the contributions of all our Commanders in Chief. And we've got to give a (another) special shout out to Abraham Lincoln, who essentially was father of our income tax system, signing into law a tax on earnings to help pay Civil War costs.

Nowadays, however, this and other Monday holidays are spotlighted as special shopping days. If you itemize, you can claim a deduction for the state and local sales taxes you pay, although they might not be as valuable on your 2018 tax return due to the overall caps on state and local income tax deductions under the TCJA.

Feb. 22: February usually is a big filing month. If you're among the millions working on your taxes now, check out Free File. The IRS/tax software industry partnership, known as the Free File Alliance, is in its 17th year of providing eligible taxpayers the opportunity to prepare and e-file their taxes at no cost.

This year, qualifying taxpayers — that's those with income of $66,000 or less — can use one of the expected dozen or so special commercial tax software programs at IRS.gov's Free File online page. Even if you make too much to use the online software, you can file using Free File's fillable forms.

Feb. 28: If you're not a tax procrastinator and have already filed, you can check the status of your return online using the IRS' "Where's My Refund?" tool.

Small Business Tax Calendar: Speaking of business taxes, you'll find important filing, deposit and record keeping dates throughout the year that your company needs to know in the IRS' tax calendar for small businesses and the self-employed. You also can get more tax calendar information 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.

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.

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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 & 2013

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
of S. Kay Bell.

All content on this site is
© 2005-2019 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
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If you discover dead links, please e-mail me the details. Thanks.

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February 2019

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