Updated Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, to include the just announced official start of the 2024 tax filing season. Not only is it the first week of a brand, spanking new year, it's the first week of the 2024 tax filing season. I know, the Internal Revenue Service isn't yet accepting 2023 tax returns. That won't happen until the official start of the 2024 filing season on Monday, Jan. 29. But lots of taxpayers already are getting their forms in order, so they can send them the minute the IRS officially opens its doors, and computer system, to process them. And... Read more →
Estimated taxes
Photo via Unsplash+ in collaboration with Monika Grabkowska Happy New Year! I know, it's already two days old, so I'm a bit late. But I'm cutting myself some slack since it's the first work day of the year after a three-day holiday. I'm also cutting myself some slack when it comes to annual resolutions. I'm not making any. It's not that I'm opposed to setting goals. But I hate that annual judgy list. I'm still working on some prior year intentions, so I don't see a need to add to my tasks. If you, however, like to start off each... Read more →
Is getting rich one of your 2024 New Year resolutions? It could happen tonight if you have the winning Powerball numbers. The Dec. 30, 2023, drawing didn't produce a winner of the multi-million dollar jackpot. So tonight's Powerball payout for a single winner is $810 million, or the more likely $408.9 million that's available in a single payment. The possible payout already is the fifth largest Powerball jackpot. And it will grow a bit more today, as wishful millionaires buy tickets up until the numbers are chosen at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time tonight. UPDATE, Jan. 2, 2024: The New Year's... Read more →
Unsplash+ in collaboration with Charlie Harris Financial gifts arrive this month for many mutual fund investors. Most funds make annual distributions in December, based on their results at the October end of their fiscal year. The money paid to fund owners also presents the Internal Revenue Service with a present. The distributions are taxable. The fund owner owes tax on the amounts regardless of whether the money is reinvested or paid directly to the investor. Such distributions typically are only a small portion of a fund's returns. However, sometimes the December amounts are big enough to pose a serious tax... Read more →
You have a lot to do, and which you'd rather be doing, this month. But also take some time to check out a few December tax moves. (Photo via Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images) It's December! Are you ready for all the decorating and shopping and cooking and parties and tax moves to make? Me neither. Although I love the holidays and Christmas decorating, my time and patience get shorter this time of year as my seasonal to-do list gets longer. So I understand if you are rolling your eyes right now as I suggest adding some tax moves... Read more →
A few years ago, tugboats pushing barges down the Mississippi River, like this one going under the Vicksburg Bridge, was not a problem. Extreme drought, however, has lowered the river's levels, allowing salty water from the Gulf of Mexico to creep upstream below a layer of freshwater. (Photo by Justin Wilkens on Unsplash) Salt water is creeping up the mouth of the Mississippi River and threatening the drinking supply of several parishes in Southeast Louisiana, including the city and suburbs of New Orleans. The prospects are so severe, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared major disasters in Jefferson, Orleans,... Read more →
Hurricane Lee in the Atlantic on Sept. 11, 2023, before heading north. Hurricane Lee was a strange, scary storm. It formed off the coast of Africa and rapidly intensified into a large category 5 hurricane. But instead of heading for the lower U.S. east coast as is typical this time of year, it turned northward. That track sent Lee toward New England, where rotated offshore before making official landfall Sept. 17 in Nova Scotia, Canada, as a strong extratropical cyclone. Don't be deceived by meteorologists' extratropical classification. Lee still did damage to the already water-logged region. That's why the Federal... Read more →
The third estimated tax payment deadline is tomorrow, Sept. 15. But this year, some usual 1040-ES filers in 10 states get more time. Don't be jealous. Their apparent tax good fortune is due to unfortunate circumstances. These individuals and business owners live in parts of Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawai'i, Illinois, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Vermont that have been declared major disaster areas. Because Mother Nature can be fickle, some states endured her wrath multiple times, meaning different disaster areas with different deadlines. I've listed the affected areas below where taxpayers have more time to make their third estimated... Read more →
Screenshot from Atlanta's 11Alive report via YouTube on Tropical Storm Idalia's impact on Southeast Georgia. It took a while longer than expected, but southeast Georgia residents who were in the path of Hurricane-turned-Tropical-Storm Idalia finally get the same relief as their neighbors. The Internal Revenue Service announced today that individuals and businesses in 28 of the Peach State's counties qualify for special tax consideration, including a new Feb. 15, 2024, deadline for filing and paying certain taxes. The delayed tax due date, which matches the one granted Florida and South Carolina taxpayers, applies to deadlines that occurred from Aug. 30,... Read more →
The Sept. 15 deadline for paying the third installment of 2023's estimated taxes is just days away. Make sure you meet it. Also make sure you pay the correct amount. If when all is said and filed at tax time, you owe the U.S. Treasury $1,000 or more, you could face a penalty for underpaying your taxes. And where that taxable money was from sources not subject to withholding, you also could face late-payment fines for not remitting it during the proper estimated tax quarters. Estimated tax safe harbors: Most of us who must pay estimated taxes calculate that expected... Read more →
National Weather Service satellite image of Hurricane Idalia moving across South Carolina. Tax and weather watchers knew this was coming. Today, the Internal Revenue Service made it official. The tax agency announced that all individual and business taxpayers in South Carolina are eligible for tax relief in connection with damages from Hurricane Idalia, which started its journey across the Palmetto State as a tropical storm on Aug. 29. The SC trek was after Idalia made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region two days earlier as a category 3 hurricane, prompting the IRS to grant most of the Sunshine State tax... Read more →
Unsplash+ in collaboration with Martin Sanchez I hope you enjoyed your Labor Day break. Now that summer is effectively and officially coming to an end this month, it's also a good time to look at some tax tasks. Taking care of tax business in September can help you avoid a costly tax fall as autumn arrives. OK, bad seasonal quasi-pun. Sorry. Accept my apology and these four September 2023 tax moves. 1. Pay your third quarter 2023 estimated tax. Many who've already filed their annual tax return still have other taxes to take care of this month. Yes, I'm talking... Read more →
Labor Day isn't a holiday for all workers. (Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash) Labor Day is a day off for many workers. But entrepreneurs probably put in regular shifts this first Monday in September. When your small business depends primarily on you, you tend to work even on holidays. Since you're busy being the boss, I won't take up too much of your time. But whether you're a new business owner or have been the boss for years, it's always good to stay on top of your tax responsibilities. Here are some tax basics for all of us self-employed... Read more →
Spc. LeAnn White, 2nd Scout Battalion, 49th Brigade, Alaska State Defense Force, assists with recovery operations in Crooked Creek, Alaska, following May floods. Ice dams caused riverbanks to overflow, severely damaging many homes in the area. (Photo courtesy Alaska National Guard via Defense Visual Information Distribution Service) All weather eyes recently, and understandably, have been on Florida, where on Aug. 30 Hurricane Idalia made landfall in the state's Big Bend area as a category 3 storm. Idalia's winds damaged buildings and roads in Keaton Beach and other Gulf Coast enclaves near where the hurricane came ashore. Flooding was more widespread,... Read more →
Update, Sept. 6, 2023: As expected, South Carolina taxpayers get essentially the same tax relief, since Idalia marched through the Palmetto State as a tropical storm after she hit Florida. Update, Sept. 13, 2023: Finally! Even though Idalia moved through southeastern Georgia before hitting South Carolina, it took a little longer for the IRS to grant tax relief to affected Georgians. The agency made it official today, giving the same basic tax relief to individuals and businesses in 28 of the Peach State's counties. Storm surge along Bayshore Boulevard and the Tampa Convention Center on Aug. 30, 2023, morning as... Read more →
Hawai'i Air National Guard loadmasters and maintenance specialists deliver supplies at Kahului Airport, Maui, to help with the recovery from the fires that devastated the island. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Internal Revenue Service also are offering affected residents and businesses relief. (Photo by U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. John Linzmeier via Wikimedia Commons) The Internal Revenue Service has made it official. Hawaii wildfire victims in Maui and Hawaii counties have been granted tax relief, including a Feb. 15, 2024, deadline to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. The... Read more →
June 15 was the deadline for certain taxpayers to make their second estimated tax payment for the current year. That could change, though, if a recently introduced bill makes it into law. Trueing up tax and real-life calendars: Even though they are called quarterly, the four estimated tax amounts follow a different IRS calendar instead of the one we have on our electronic devices or hanging on our walls. The tax agency wants the quarterly estimated payments on the 15thh of April, June, September, and the following January. The Tax Deadline Simplification Act move two of those estimated tax deadlines.... Read more →
As someone who wants to be helpful — OK, I'm a moderately naggy wife — I appreciate that tendency, for the most part, in others. Even Uncle Sam. That's why I actually was glad to see the reminder, shown at the top of this post, pop up in my email, encouraging me to make sure my second estimated tax payment on June 15 won't bounce. Since other once-a-year expenses, like auto and home insurance premiums, are due this month, too, my checking account is a bit stretched. And it is possible the payment could slip my mind. I scheduled it... Read more →
Welcome to the first full week of June. Have you finished making your vacation plans? I hope you left some time to also deal with summer tax tasks. That's right, taxes don't go on holiday. And while they aren't fun, there are some tax moves you need to make, or at least consider, this June. Since we're already on fifth day of the month, let's get right to them, focusing on some other relevant numbers. Don't miss Tax Day take two. June 15 is Tax Day for U.S. taxpayers who live and work outside the United States and Puerto Rico.... Read more →
It's Tax Day 2023, meaning there literally are just hours left to finish your Form 1040 and get it to, or at least on its way, to the Internal Revenue Service. If you're still working on your tax return, here are five final tips for all y'all ultimate tax procrastinators. 1. File something. You need to send the IRS either your 2022 Form 1040 or Form 4868. You can submit either electronically, which the IRS recommends and is the option most taxpayers choose. That gives you until midnight in your time zone to punch send on your computer keyboard. But... Read more →