Photo by Marcus Aurelius Business success, especially in the retail sector, depends a lot on prioritizing customers and their needs. Sometimes that means making physical changes to an establishment. Uncle Sam might be able to help. The federal tax code has a couple of incentives for businesses that make structural adaptations or other accommodations for employees or customers with disabilities. One tax break is the Disabled Access Credit. As a credit, it provides a dollar-for-dollar offset of tax due. The other is a tax deduction for costs to remove mobility barriers. A deduction reduces a business’ gross income so that... Read more →
Forms
Since the Supreme Court in 2018 let states allow betting on college sports, sportsbook activity, like this in a Las Vegas casino, has pick up substantially. (Photo by Kay Bell) College and professional sports dominate screens right now. And sports wagering has increased annually since the Supreme Court of the United States in 2018 opened the door for states to allow sports betting on collegiate competitions. The high court’s move also made it possible for the Internal Revenue Service to collect on winning bets placed at legal sportsbooks. For the most part, those operations report the amounts that went into... Read more →
Photo by Brett Jordan Here’s a subject line you never want to see in your email box: There’s a problem with your tax return. But that is what’s happening to some taxpayers. No, it wasn’t from the Internal Revenue Service. Uncle Sam snail mails you a tax notice with questions about your filing. Rather, it was an email from TurboTax to its users with the subject line — CRITICAL NOTICE: Regarding your 2023 TurboTax return And here’s the message — Hi there, We’re contacting you because there might be an issue with the accuracy of your 2023 tax return. Due... Read more →
Updated, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024 Tuesday, Oct. 15, is Tax Day again, this time for most taxpayers who got an extension to file their annual tax return. (Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich) Another Monday holiday has come and gone. At the federal level, yesterday was Columbus Day. But some states and localities instead celebrated Indigenous Peoples' Day. Even the White House recognizes both, issuing separate proclamations for Christopher Columbus’ landing in the Americas and the native people already here. Technically, Columbus Day still is a legal holiday, meaning U.S. government workers had the day off and no mail was delivered. But... Read more →
The deadly and destructive aftermath of Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton, prompted the Internal Revenue Service to designate a new statewide federal tax deadline of May 1, 2025, for various tax filings and payments. Hurricane Milton seemed to take a skull shape in this radar image captured as the storm neared Florida on Oct. 8. (Image from post by @MaxVelocityWX on X, formerly Twitter) After Hurricane Debby made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend on August 5, the state got a brief respite. That changed late Sept. 26 when the same area was the target for Hurricane Helene. Helene’s doubling down... Read more →
If that sticky note retirement is your goal, then you need to save as much as possible, especially if you're self-employed. And yes, I did put that note on the board. 😉 (Photo by Kay Bell) Most IRA contributions must be made by April’s Tax Day. Unless you’re self-employed and got an extension to file your tax return. That means you also might be able to contribute to, and even establish, a retirement plan for your entrepreneurial endeavor. Here's an overview of some of the more popular, and relatively easy, self-employed retirement plans to which you can still contribute by... Read more →
Photo by RDNE Stock project A home of one’s own has long been part of the traditional American Dream. Nowadays, though, some say it’s a nightmare trying to join the homeownership ranks. So, of course, as we head into the last few weeks of the 2024 election, candidates at all levels also are focusing on housing. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has proposed tax breaks she says will increase the housing supply, which should lead to lower prices. She’s also promoting a first-time buyer tax to help buyers get into those homes. Using the tax code to... Read more →
Photo by Francisco De Legarreta C. on Unsplash Owing a big tax bill is a terrible feeling. The only thing worse is not being able to come up with the money to pay Uncle Sam. The Internal Revenue Service offers some solutions. You can pay over time by setting up an installment plan with the tax agency. Sometimes, even spreading out payments isn’t enough. Dealing with a huge tax bill: If your tax debt is so large that you know you’ll never be able to pay it all, you can turn to an Offer in Compromise, or OIC. By submitting... Read more →
Photo by Mikael Blomkvist The third estimated tax payment deadline was Monday, Sept. 16, but today the Internal Revenue Service eased the minds of some Pennsylvanians who missed it. The IRS announced that taxpayers in areas of the Keystone State that were deluged by Tropical Storm Debby as it moved up the country’s east coast are eligible for a variety of tax relief. They’ve been given until Feb. 3, 2025, to meet a variety of tax filing and payment deadlines, including this week’s estimated tax due date. You can read more about the tax relief for storm-affected Pennsylvania individual and... Read more →
It’s not unusual, especially here in Texas, for undocumented workers to be employed in industries that depend on manual labor, such as agriculture or construction. (Photo by Zohair Mirza on Unsplash) “They’re eating the dogs” is now forever part of U.S. presidential campaign lore, for worse or worst since there’s no better take. Following Donald J. Trump’s exclamation of a false social media rumor of pet deaths in Springfield, Ohio, during his Sept. 10 debate last week with Kamala Harris, the municipality about half an hour northeast of Dayton has encountered much unwanted attention. It has included bomb threats to... Read more →
NOTE, Sept. 18, 2024: This estimated tax deadline is extended for taxpayers in officially designated major disaster areas. To date, such extensions apply to today's tax due date (and more) in 20 states and two U.S. territories. Millions of taxpayers will be sending Uncle Sam some more money next week. Monday, Sept. 16, is the due date for their third 2024 tax year estimated tax payment. At least we — yes, I’m a long-time payer of estimated taxes — have an extra day to fulfill this tax obligation, since the regular Sept. 15 deadline is on Sunday. But we all... Read more →
Has your state joined Direct File? Check out this special Direct File 2025 Participating States page. Maryland, where the hubby and I spent our first married years, is our adopted second home. It's also home of wildlife areas like the Jug Bay tidal wetlands pictured above that we frequently visited to watch birds and wildlife. Now, the Old Line State also will be part of the IRS Direct File program. (Photo of Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary by Kevans27 via Wikipedia Commons) The Internal Revenue Service continues to make progress in getting states to sign up for Direct File, the agency’s... Read more →
Photo by Katt Yukawa on Unsplash Crowdfunding, a personal way of raising money that’s been supercharged by social media’s reach, has tax implications. Most of us are familiar with charitable crowdfunding. Expect to see a lot more of that in the wake of natural disasters, with solicitations by individuals and groups looking for help for themselves or others. In addition to charitable fundraising, there also are lots of online financial solicitations by and for businesses. Regardless of the crowdfunding reason, the Internal Revenue Service notes that distribution of the funds may be includible in the gross income of the person... Read more →
If you're the boss — lady, gentleman, or whatever title you choose, — one of your business' tax tasks is issuing W-2 forms to employees. SECURE 2.0 made some changes to this process. (Photo by Paymo on Unsplash) The second Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act, signed into law on Dec. 29, 2022, created a lot of changes for both workers and companies that offer retirement savings plans. That’s why the Internal Revenue Service is giving businesses an early reminder of their tax reporting responsibilities under SECURE 2.0, as the law is popularly known. One key area that... Read more →
If you’ve glanced at the filing extension countdown in the ol’ tax blog’s right column, you know time is running out to file your extended tax return. The incessantly ticking clock isn’t a reason to panic. It is, however, a reminder that you don’t want to push that Oct. 15 deadline. The Internal Revenue Service doesn’t give you any more time to file your Form 1040. So, you should be thinking about finishing up that paperwork now. Here are some tips to help. Gather your filing documents. This shouldn’t be too much of a problem. You probably used the material... Read more →
The Child Tax Credit (CTC) has been one of the most popular since its creation as part of the 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act. Since its $400 per child origin, the credit has increased notably. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Rescue Act bumped up the CTC in 2021 to a potential maximum of $3,600 per each child younger than age 6, and $3,000 per child up to age 17. The Internal Revenue Service also sent the credit amounts to qualifying amounts directly to eligible families so they didn’t have to wait until tax filing season to claim the funds. The... Read more →
Election results, however, could change that. Here's how to claim the alternative fuel vehicle tax credit now, just in case things change after the Nov. 5 results. Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump has softened his stance on electric vehicles, likely because of his burgeoning personal relationship with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. But even though Trump says he’s now “totally for” EVs, he also says he would consider eliminating a $7,500 tax credit for some of the vehicles. “Tax credits and tax incentives are not generally a very good thing,” Trump told Reuters after a campaign event Monday, Aug. 19,... Read more →
Keeping track of your finances when you're older can alert you to the possibility that you might owe tax on some of your Social Security benefits. Most of us look forward to retirement. Some of us also get a tax shock once we start collecting Social Security. Some of our federal retirement benefits, in some cases as much as 85 percent of our annual payout, could be subject to federal taxation. Not only is that tax an unwelcome surprise to older taxpayers, it also has become part of the current presidential campaign “Seniors should not pay tax on Social Security,”... Read more →
Photo by Yan Krukau Some classes have already started. Others, like those in my local suburban Austin school district, begin next week. And most will be underway by the end of August. So, families are hitting the stores, especially in places with back-to-school tax holidays, picking up the supplies that will help their youngsters succeed this semester. But parents and guardians aren’t alone. Teachers also regularly spend their own money to make sure that their students have a positive educational experience. If you’re one of those educators who’s shelling out your own money for classroom supplies, save those receipts. You... Read more →
August is the month that brings us the sunsetting of summer. But amid the season's waning days, find some time to take care of some tax tasks. (Photo by Kay Bell) It’s August. Already! How did this final summer month sneak up on us, or at least on me? Maybe it was all the other distractions. The presidential campaign has been unusual, to say the least. The Paris Olympics kicked off with a controversial opening ceremony (I loved it!), and still have more than a week to go. Then there’s the unrelenting heat wave across the United States. And, of... Read more →