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.

Privacy Policy
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. So I want to assure you that your information is not shared for any commercial or other purpose.

If, however, you do leave a comment on the site, the site collects the data shown in the comments form, including your IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. This also is used by Google Analytics to determine where people are reading the ol' blog.

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Thanks for reading!

Weekly Tax Tip

End-of-year tax tips — 2019 is almost over! When you have some time between holiday parties and shopping, check out these business tax moves. Individual filers also will find in this post some links to year-end tax moves they should make, too. Happy holidays and smaller tax bills for all! (Dec. 7, 2019)
Check out all the latest post-Tax Day tax advice in the 2019 edition of Weekly Tax Tips. Many of these once-a-week tips will focus on planning moves to cut your 2020 tax bill. If, however, you're working on a filing extension for your 2018 return, you can get a refresher of the 2019 Filing Season Tax Tips at their respective monthly pages: January, February, March and April.

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 Year 2019 Countdown
It's over! The final 2018 tax year extended filing deadline has passed, unless you get more time because your filing was affected by a natural disaster like Tropical Storm Imelda. For most of us, though, the passage of Oct. 15 means it's time to focus on the tax return we'll file next year. We have until Dec. 31 this year to make moves that will reduce our already accruing 2019 tax bill. The countdown clock below will make sure you don't miss these crucial actions or any tax deadlines.
Note: I'm in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.

Time for Tax Tasks

Ho, Ho, Ho! You better watch out.
You better not cry. But you better make some year-end tax moves this December or April 15 could turn out to be the tax equivalent of Santa Claus putting coal in your stocking!

Click image to hear a musical Santa message from Bruce Springsteen.
OK, St. Nick can't deliver a festively wrapped tax return for you (unless he's even more magical than I think!) to file next year, but he does have a tax connection. His tracking of naughty and nice boys and girls basically is the same method that the Internal Revenue Service uses. That's why we all need to be nice, especially to ourselves, in this final month of the year by making some important tax-saving moves.

Dec. 1: Earlier this year, we made it through the first filing season under Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) provisions.
If things didn't turn out so well for you, now's the time to find a tax preparer who can help ensure your 2019 return filing goes more smoothly. By picking the perfect tax professional before the coming tax-filing season rush, your adviser can help make sure don't miss any year-end deadlines that could affect your final tax bill.

Dec. 3: Did you get a part-time seasonal job to earn extra cash for the holidays?
If you're paid as a contractor instead of as an employee, remember that you'll be responsible for income taxes due on the money, as well as any self-employment taxes. The same tax considerations also apply if you're part of the gig economy, but you'll also want to check out ways to maximize your side hustle earnings.

Dec. 7: Medical itemized deductions survived the TCJA changes, but there's still a limit on how much you can claim on Schedule A. In 2018, that threshold was 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income. But unless Congress acts soon, you'll need to have health-related expenses of more than 10 percent of your AGI before you can claim them. Start tracking down those receipts now!

Dec. 10: Does your job, either full-time or seasonal, include tips? If so and you received at least $20 in gratuities in November, use Form 4070 to report them today to your employer.

Click image
to calculate how much to leave your server.

And don't forget to include the value of out-of-the-ordinary tips, such as event tickets or gift certificates that are common this holiday season.

Dec. 13: What's scarier than Friday the 13th? Falling for one of these 13 tax scams. Remember, con artists are working every day to steal your identity and money. Be careful out there!

Dec. 18: School may be out for winter break, but doing some tax homework now can earn you a top tax grade. Pay tuition for 2019 classes that will start in the first quarter of next year by Dec. 31 and you can use those costs to claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit.

Dec. 21: It's the last weekend before Christmas! That means holiday treats, final decorations and frantic, crowd-fighting last-minute shopping! Or you can make some easy tax-favored gifts, like opening a Roth IRA for your child or grandchild who earned some money from a summer or after-school job.

Dec. 24: Christmas Eve!
No taxes tonight. It's early to bed for kiddies of all ages. Santa's on his way!

Click image to watch
Santa's delivery route as tracked by NORAD.

Dec. 25: Merry Christmas! My gift to you is another day without tax thoughts.
Just enjoy the holiday and your family and friends.

Dec. 26: Happy Boxing Day. This unofficial holiday on St. Stephen's Day is celebrated by additional giving. If you donate to your favorite charity on this day or any other by the end of the year, you can claim the itemized deduction when you file your return next spring … as long as you follow the IRS' donation tax rules.

Dec. 31: This is it. The drop-dead deadline to make most 2019 tax moves. So do a quick check.

Although the TCJA now limits — and eliminates — some itemized deductions, depending on your personal filing situation you might want to look at Schedule A options. It could still be worthwhile to make your January mortgage payment early so you can deduct the loan interest this tax year. Ditto with your property taxes if you're not near the $10,000 cap.

Don't forget to zero out your medical flexible spending account (FSA) if your employer doesn't offer a grace period or rollover. And if you must take a required minimum distribution (RMD), do so — or directly donate it — by year's end.

Done all that and more, like checked out all the deductions that don't require iteming? Great! Now go out and have fun at your New Year's Eve party.

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.

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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Mapping Your Tax Route

Do you get lost doing your taxes? Check out the Taxpayer Advocate Service's Taxpayer Roadmap.

This publication, designed along the lines of a subway map, shows the many routes and detours of a taxpayer's journey through our elaborate Internal Revenue Code and the Internal Revenue Service's enforcement of our tax collection system.

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.

©©©©© & ®®®®®

Don't Mess With Taxes®
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
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And a bit of housekeeping.
Note 1: Some of the links on this site
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December 2019

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