You just read my post on tax filing requirements (thanks!) and discovered you don't have to file a Form 1040 this year. So, as fictional television attorney (though not a tax specialist) Jimmy McGill might say, "'S'all good, man." Right? Not necessarily. Sometimes even if you don't have to file a federal tax return, it's to your benefit to do so. Here are 10 situations when you should send the Internal Revenue Service a return: You're due a refund. This often is the case if you had federal income tax withheld. The only way to get any of that prepaid... Read more →
Estimated taxes
Image via GotCredit.com The year's first obvious and, for some, painful acknowledgement of taxes is next week. Jan. 15 is the due date for the final estimated tax payment for the 2019 tax year. That upcoming deadline day is this weekend's By the Numbers figure. Generally, if you expect you'll owe more than $1,000 in taxes, then you must pay estimated taxes throughout the year. If you've been paying estimated taxes for a while, you already know that these payments cover earnings that aren't subject to withholding. This includes things like investment earnings that pay out periodically during the year... Read more →
The individual tax filing season doesn't officially open until Jan. 27, but you're ready to file your taxes. Or are you? Tax filing, whether you do it yourself via tax software that you buy, use online or access via Free File or hand off the annual task to a tax pro, requires its own specific preparation. You've got to have all your tax-related documentation before you can start filling out that Form 1040. Here's a checklist of forms and documents you'll need to complete your taxes, as well as a look at tax situations you need to consider before filing.... Read more →
Yes, I know I'm a nag when it comes to year-end tax moves. I've posted about individual steps to take by Dec. 31 both at the beginnings of November and December, as well as looked at business tax moves to make now. But as happens all the time in life and taxes, I've come up with a few more year-end tax moves that didn't make the earlier lists, or at least were mentioned just in passing. So here goes with five more tax moves to make by Dec. 31 1. Don't miss the RMD deadline. You followed all the financial... Read more →
Thanksgiving is still a week away. It's another month-plus until Santa puts presents under trees. But holiday shoppers have been hitting the stores and online hard thanks to early Black Friday sales. In fact, more than half of consumers have already started this year's holiday shopping and nearly a quarter of planned purchases have been made, according to the annual survey conducted by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics. Still, there's plenty of shopping and shoppers to do it out there. That means that retailers still are looking for help to handle the remaining seasonal shopping... Read more →
If you read last week's September tax moves post (thanks), you might remember that one of the four suggested actions was to pay your estimated taxes. Not to be a nag, or a reminder as I insist to the hubby, but I'm putting that tax task out there again today. The third installment for the 2019 tax year is due Sept. 16. Yes, that's a day later than normal, but the usual 9/15 due date falls on Sunday. So you get an extra day, next Monday, to either snail mail your 1040-ES voucher and check or money order to the... Read more →
September usually is a welcome month. The summer's hot temperatures finally moderate as the official start of fall nears. Parents and children get their routines back as school is in session. Then there's the reason why usually comes into play as far as September's arrival. It's traditionally the most active month of the annual hurricane season. Nobody wants to see that. We'll have to wait a few more weeks to see if that holds for 2019, but September's start is ominous. Hurricane Dorian, which already has smashed all sorts of intensity records, is stalking Florida as I type. If forecasts... Read more →
Backup withholding basically is the tax collector's knuckleball mitt. The over-sized baseball glove helps a catcher handle, he hopes, the hard to predict (and hold onto!) pitches. The IRS uses backup withholding to catch potentially errant income amounts. (Baltimore Orioles' Gus Triandos showed how the mitt at left, which he used when Hall of Fame knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm was on the mound, compared to his regular one. Photo courtesy Tom's Old Days via Twitter) In most income earning instances, the Internal Revenue Service finds out how much we make and owe taxes on thanks to reports from those who pay... Read more →
June 17 is the deadline this year for the second installment of 2019's estimated taxes. It's just one mid-June deadline that millions of U.S. taxpayers face. June 15 is a major tax deadline. Except for this year. For 2019, June 17 is the next red-letter Tax Day. That's because the 15th falls on Saturday, meaning that the usual due date moves to the next business day. A couple of extra days are nice, especially for folks who like to wait until the last minute. But don't get too comfortable. Here are three tax situations which require millions of taxpayers to... Read more →
Umbrellas at the Venetian in Las Vegas (Photo by Kay Bell) April is the proverbial month of showers. That typically refers to the rain that falls to nourish the flowers that are predicted to arrive in May. But this month also is known for personal precipitation. Yep, I'm talking tax-time tears. Some folks will cry when they discover how much they owe. Others will shed tears of frustration as they struggle to decipher the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changes that affect returns for the first time this 2019 filing season. And for others, it will be tears of... Read more →
Most taxpayers every year end up getting refunds. But some folks are at the opposite end of the tax spectrum. They owe Uncle Sam at filing time. And some of those owing taxpayers end up in an even worse situation. Their tax bills are large enough that they also face added penalty charges. This filing season, though, those penalty-paying taxpayers could get a break. Tax underpayment penalty calculations: A tax penalty assessment usually occurs when wage earners don't have enough income tax withheld from paychecks or, if they have other income not subject to withholding, don't pay enough (or any)... Read more →
The Internal Revenue Service still is mostly closed due to the Capitol Hill impasse over how to fund the federal government. Just a relative handful of employees are in a few IRS offices, doing what have been deemed essential jobs, but not getting paid for their work. Some of the agency's online operations, however, are up and running. And other IRS services, particularly those that are funding in part by fees, could be restarted despite the closure of many of Uncle Sam's offices. In fact, one of those, the Income Verification Express Service (IVES) program, was restarted this week (more... Read more →
Port St. Joe on Florida's Panhandle was hard hit by Hurricane Michael. Residents of this small Gulf County, Florida, town now are eligible for special tax relief. (Photo courtesy Florida National Guard via Facebook) As expected, the Internal Revenue Service is giving Hurricane Michael victims extra time to take care of tax tasks that the deadly storm interrupted. The eligible taxpayers now have until Feb. 28, 2019, to file returns, pay taxes and perform certain other time-sensitive acts that had original or extended deadlines between Oct. 7 and the new filing due date next year. Extension deadline considerations: The IRS'... Read more →
Each year, the Internal Revenue Service assesses estimated tax penalties against millions of taxpayers. This added money typically is due the IRS when a taxpayer pays too little total tax during the year. The last time the IRS released complete estimated tax penalty data was three years ago. The federal tax agency said back then that the average estimated tax penalty, which is based on the interest rate charged by the IRS on unpaid tax, was about $130. Back in September 2015, the IRS said it was seeing more taxpayers run into the estimated tax penalty. The number jumped about... Read more →
Trees in September will see their first fall color. (Photo by Jonathan Bloy courtesy Bloy.net) Hello, September. It's nice to have you back. You are a month that offers mostly-welcome transitions. There are beginnings, as students start a new school year. Parents nationwide say "thank you!" There are endings, as summer gives way to fall's cooler temps and foliage changes. Those of us tired of heat waves want to know what took you so long!?! There are expectations, as the end of the year and its many holidays approach. It's never too early to start planning for these. My Christmas... Read more →
A Lyft ride sharing vehicle in Atlanta. (Photo by Daniel X. O'Neil via Flickr Creative Commons) Most U.S. workers meet their annual tax responsibilities via paycheck withholding. Here you give your boss the information needed to calculate just how much income tax should come out of each paycheck so that you're Goldilocks at tax-filing time, not owing the U.S. Treasury too much or too little. The sharing economy has thrown a wrench into this system. Lots of folks with traditional 9-to-5 jobs are hustling on the side to earn extra cash. Others have committed full-time to gig economy work. Job... Read more →
The only folks cheering the Federal Reserve's expected decision to hike its benchmark federal funds rate by a quarter-percentage point — to a range between 1.75 percent and 2 percent — are those with savings that earn interest. But relatively speaking, there aren't that many of us. Plus, we all know that banks and other financial institutions are going to be slow to increase the interest they pay us for holding our money and when they do, the hikes will be small. Meanwhile, if you are trying to get a mortgage, don't panic but move that process along as quickly... Read more →
June's a busy month for me. Lots of family birthdays. Father's Day. Graduations. Taxes. Yep. Taxes. In June. Specifically, June 15. The midpoint of the first month of summer is a major tax deadline. Estimated taxes: The biggie for a lot of taxpayers (including me) is the second installment of 2018's estimated taxes that's due by June 15. You have several ways to make this payment — six, actually, according to the current Weekly Tax Tip. I'll let you check out the details in that other post at your leisure, but here are some of the more popular options: Credit... Read more →
Losing your job. It's one of the worst things that can happen, especially when it comes as a total surprise. That's what folks who worked on Roseanne are dealing with after ABC pulled the plug on the rebooted sitcom. Being out of work is not so high-profile for most of us. But we all share the panic, anger and helplessness of suddenly losing the reason we get up every morning. To help you get through being let go, here are six steps you can take. And, of course, there are tax implications (nine total) for each of these post-job moves.... Read more →
Click image to watch the Mos Eisley cantina scene, in which these musicians provide the catchy background tune, from the 1977 Star Wars movie that launched the sci-fi film franchise. Merry May 4th. Yes, this is another goofy, made-up holiday, but one that's dear to sci-fi fans (and punsters), particularly those devoted to Star Wars. The film franchise's iconic "May the force be with you" greeting is celebrated each year on the similar sounding "May the Fourth be with you." As a long-time sci-fi fan and a college student who waited in a long line to see the 1977 debut... Read more →