Don't Mess With Taxes

The April 15 federal income tax filing deadline is Tuesday. For most folks, that’s the only thing they have to worry about on that day. But there are some of us for whom Tax Day means more tax tasks. Here are nine instances — yes, that includes the regular annual filing of tax returns — where some people might need to take additional tax action on April 15. Most of these tax-related moves will ensure you fulfill your tax duties and avoid any additional contact with the Internal Revenue Service. But some also could save you some tax dollars. File... Read more →

Next Tuesday is April 15. If you haven’t filed your 2024 tax return, then you know you have some work to do. You are not alone. Every year, millions of individuals put off their filing until the last minute. If that’s you, and you are committed to finishing your Form 1040 by April 15, here are some tips to make sure it’s not a lost tax weekend. The first tip is get more time. That’s right. Don’t rush to finish by April 15. You’ve gone this long without filing your tax return, so why push yourself into an urgent panic?... Read more →

Photo by Andrey Grushnikov The tax deadline countdown clock is ticking away (literally, there over in the ol’ blog’s right column). With just days to file your Form 1040 slipping away, many of us will determine the best move is to file for an extension. You can do that by Tax Day, April 15, too. Just send the Internal Revenue Service Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. But some taxpayers get a bit more time to ask for more filing time. Already extended disaster area taxpayers: As noted in my Tax... Read more →

April 15 is double Tax Day for those of us who must pay estimated taxes. It’s the end of the prior tax year, with returns (and payment) due for those earnings. It’s also the start of tax filing (and paying) for this year. The payment for money made, but not subject to withholding, in the first quarter of 2026 is due on April 15. Extra payments for certain income: The U.S. tax system is pay as earn. For the most part, that's taken care via tax withholding from employees’ paychecks. But even if you have a job where income (federal... Read more →

Updated Monday, April 14, 2025: All taxpayers in Tennessee and Arkansas now now have until Nov. 3, 2025, to file their tax returns. The Internal Revenue Service announced this latest major disaster related tax relief in connection with disastrous weather in those states that began on April 2, 2025. The Volunteer State was hit by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding. The Natural State was struck by severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding. U.S. service members posted abroad, as well as civilian taxpayers living and working overseas, don't have to file their tax returns in April. Neither do taxpayers in... Read more →

Hanging on for more time to file your taxes? Get more by filing Form 4868. (Harold Lloyd in 1923 film Safety Last!) Tax returns are due in just over a week. A lot of taxpayers, however, don’t seem in that big of a hurry. Last year, more than 163 million taxpayers filed returns. With the 2025 filing deadline looming, the Internal Revenue Service reports that has received just more than 89.5 million returns. Sure, millions will get their 1040 forms filled out and to the IRS by Tuesday, April 15. But based on past filing numbers, a sizeable group won't.... Read more →

Has your tax filing frustration got you thinking about getting, shall we say, creative when you fill in your return? Don't. Even with the current chaos, the Internal Revenue Service still has ways to track down tax cheats. (Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich) Tax Day is almost here, and millions of Americans are working on their 1040s. Generally, late filers tend to owe taxes. They want to put off the inevitable for as long as possible. Some of these still-to-file owing taxpayers are still searching for ways to trim this year’s tax bill. There are a few options available, such as... Read more →

Photo by Ahsanjaya Have you been putting off filing your return because you’re having trouble coming up with the money to cover your tax bill? You might want to check out the Internal Revenue Service’s extended payment options File, even if you can’t pay: First things first. Even if you can’t pay all or even any of what you owe, file a tax return. That will at least prevent the penalty for not-filing. Yes, the nonfiling penalty is a separate one from the nonpayment penalty. And the assessments for not sending in a return are actually are stiffer than those... Read more →

Ah, April. Your spring showers and the flowers they bring are just one reason we’re thrilled you’re finally here. (Photo by Stefan Stefancik) Hello, April! You’re a month we love to see arrive. You’re also a month we dread. On the positive side, we welcome the consistent warmth you bring most of us. We’re more than ready to stow our winter, or even winter-adjacent, apparel for a while. And, of course, baseball is back in full force! But then, April, your arrival brings a dreaded task. Millions of us must confront the filing of our annual federal — and in... Read more →

By the end of last week (March 21), the Internal Revenue Service had sent out just more than 55.7 million refunds. The average check amount was $3,221. The latest refund amount is slightly less — $50 smaller — than the amount I noted on Monday in my post about how to spend your tax refund. But even with a small drop, a lump sum payout from Uncle Sam of more than three grand is welcome. That’s especially the case for many who participated in a recent Intuit Credit Karma survey. Almost half (49 percent) of the survey respondents said they... Read more →

Or, consider postponing your filing by asking the IRS for more time. Tax Day is fast approaching, but you’re still waiting for a key tax statement. Most of these documents — notably W-2 and/or myriad 1099 forms — were required to be issued by Jan. 31. Even given issues with the U.S. Postal Service, it’s well past time for the material to have arrived. So, what now? Call you’re the issuer: Yes, time is running out, but if you haven’t already, contact your employer about your W-2 or the company that issued the 1099. If you have already reached out,... Read more →

Photo by Kay Bell Spring has sprung, with the accompanying seasonal focus is on spring cleaning. One of our neighbors is focusing on sprucing up their yard. The pile of dirt in the street, shown in the photo topping this post, is now being transferred to flowerbeds. So, of course, it got me thinking about taxes. While this household and other people on our block pay crews to mow their lawns even in the dead of winter (go figure), landscaping generally is seasonal work. These companies tend to make most of their income during the warmer months of the year.... Read more →

Photo by Philipp Deus Every taxpayer and tax circumstance is unique. However, there are some things that trigger trained Internal Revenue Service examiners. As you’re finishing up your 2024 tax return, take another look to see if any of the 10 situations items show up on your Form 1040. They don’t guarantee that your return will be pulled for further attention and possibly a full-blown audit. But they could cause the IRS to conduct a correspondence audit, which is sending you a notice asking for clarification about a questionable item on your return. 1. You have income other than basic... Read more →

Photo by Ksenia Chernaya While Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) personnel are looking for Social Security benefits they believe were fraudulently sent to very old, probably deceased individuals, Uncle Sam’s official tax watchdog has a different take. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recently examined situations where Uncle Sam owes taxpayers who passed away. TIGTA found, in its report 2025-IE-R12 issued March 12, that “Improvements Are Required to Promptly Validate and Issue Manual Refunds Associated With Deceased Taxpayers.” Overall, TIGTA’s analysis found that in the more than 440,000 final filings it reviewed, survivors were owed a total of... Read more →

Department of Government Efficiency and Congressional efforts appear to be putting a stop signal for many of the IRS' goals. (Photo by Kari Bluff Nesler via Flickr) The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the quasi-governmental group created by billionaire Elon Musk, contends it has so far found $100 billion in fraud and waste across multiple federal agencies. Even if that’s true, which scrutiny from other organizations questions, the way DOGE, with the White House's approval, is slashing Uncle Sam’s operations could end up costing more than the purported savings. “Just one move — the plan to shrink the Internal Revenue... Read more →

Major flooding in Hazard, Kentucky, in February led to Perry County being declared a major disaster area. It’s just one of the counties in the Bluegrass State where residents are now eligible for tax relief. You can watch the video from which the screenshot above was taken at Live Storms Media's YouTube channel. We’re just more than a month away from the April 15 filing deadline, but some taxpayers will have until Nov. 3 to finish their 2024 returns. They live in areas of Kentucky and West Virginia that were pummeled in mid-February by a severe winter storm that move... Read more →

A towering city overlook is always impressive, but you don't necessarily need the telescopic help when it comes to overlooked tax breaks. Tax software, your tax adviser, and yes, the often-missed tax breaks listed below, can help you save on this year's filing. (Photo by Ricky Esquivel) The goal of every taxpayer is to pay Uncle Sam as little as legally possible. Even the Internal Revenue Service has enshrined that goal in its Taxpayer Bill of Rights. It’s number 3 on the 10-point list. A good way to ensure you pay no more tax than required is to claim all... Read more →

Collecting a refund is one of the reasons cited in my post on why you might want to file a tax return even if you aren’t legally required to do so. It always generates a lot of comments, with people baffled as to why someone would just let Uncle Sam hang onto their tax refund. There are some reasons people don’t file their taxes even when it to their benefit, some better than others. More on this later. But regardless of why, every year the Internal Revenue Service reminds a portion of these nonfilers that if they don’t act soon,... Read more →

You were really counting on your tax refund, but the amount the Internal Revenue Service send you was less than you expected. Welcome to the world of debt offsets. (Photo by Nicola Barts) Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staff recently obtained read-only access to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ child support database. It’s a continuation of the Elon-Musk-created effort to ferret out fraud and waste in the federal government. In this latest controversial move, denounced by critics as an end-run around taxpayer privacy laws, DOGE ostensibly is looking for potentially wrong or incorrect child-related payments. But many... Read more →

Photo by Porapak Apichodilok You took that job in Rome and things are working out great. But you discovered that there’s one part of the United States that hitched an international ride with you. The Internal Revenue Code. Thanks to our worldwide tax system for individuals, as a U.S. citizen you remain a U.S. taxpayer, regardless of where you live. That makes you responsible for filing federal tax returns on your overseas earnings. Uncle Sam, however, does provide some tax breaks to his citizens living and working abroad. They get more time to file, with a June 15 deadline. And... Read more →