Hello 👻 👻 👻 Ghouls
Spooky October is here!
Halloween, of course, is one reason that October is the most BOOtiful month of the year.
But the impending mid-October extended tax filing deadline, which is on the 17th this year, also is pretty darn scary!
Read about the history of jack o'lanterns And, yes, some of us are still spooked a bit because of this season's new COVID-19 variants and monkeypox. But the October tips below should help at least ease our tax fears this month.
Oct. 1: While not technically today, the U.S. Department of Education says that it will make available a simple application for student loan debt relief by early October. While canceled debt usually is taxable income, that won't apply in this case at the federal level. However, several states are likely to tax any forgiven student loan amounts.
Oct. 5: OK. With less than two weeks until your extended 2021 tax return is due, you're finally ready to finish up that Form 1040. Great! Now make sure you don't overspend to do so. Check out Free File, the online no-cost tax preparation and e-filing partnership between the IRS and the Free File Alliance. The official electronic filing webpage is Free File on IRS.gov is available to qualifying taxpayers until midnight, Eastern Time, on Oct. 17. 
Taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is $73,000 or less can use this year's Free File. That income level applies to all filing statuses. There are 8 software programs participating this year.
And while the tax software will walk you through the process, you also might want to check out the ol' blog's tax tips. Near the top of this column, you'll find links to the special pages of tax tips for each month this year, with those earlier in 2022 offering advice for folks who met the original April 17 deadline, and now for you!
Oct. 10: So we're heading into another week and you've still not finished your extended tax return. No judging. I've been there. The good news is that today is the federal Columbus Day holiday or, in many states and cities, now designated Indigenous People's Day. If you don't have to head into the office or check in on some work from home Zoom calls, this is a great day to deal with your tax return.
Oct. 11: Do you work as a server at a restaurant or at any other establishment where gratuities from customers are part of your compensation? I hope you got lots of financial thanks for doing your job well, but remember that those tips are taxable income.
Whether you're dining in or getting food delivered to your home, if a tip isn't included on your restaurant or delivery bill, click the image above to calculate how much to tip the person who brought it to you.
If you got at least $20 in gratuities in September, you must account for the tips today by using
Form 4070 to report last month's tips total to your employer. And yes, for all those tax-savvy servers, the reporting date usually is the 10th of each month, but since that was a legal federal holiday, the due date moves to the next business day, which is today.
Oct. 17: This is it! The absolutely final deadline to file your 2021 tax year return. Not to belabor things, but in addition to the filing tips mentioned earlier in this October tax to-do list, the IRS has some
suggestions on getting the job done electronically. Or if you're old-school and mailing a
paper return, get to your local U.S. Postal Service branch in time to have your envelope postmarked today. That's proof that your paper filing was on time.
Oct. 24: Now that your 2020 return is finally done, it's time to work on reducing your 2021 tax bill. One easy step to take now is to
review your payroll withholding. If you find, whether you filed this month or back in April, that you owed a lot or got a big refund, you should use the IRS'
online withholding tool to make sure a more appropriate amount of income tax comes out of each of 2022's remaining paychecks. If your withholding tweak gets you more money each payday, consider putting some of it into
retirement savings, either your workplace 401(k) or a traditional or Roth IRA .
Oct. 31: Sure, it's Halloween. But even scarier than the ghosts and monsters wandering your neighborhood tonight is the knowledge that we still have another month of the Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico
hurricane season ahead of us.
Horrific Hurricane Ian, which came ashore well south of the projected Tampa landfall, underscored how, despite modern forecasting tools, tropical systems have a mind of their own and can change at any time. The best we can do is
be ready for the next system. And we're likely to get one, since the season officially runs through November. The countdown clock below can help you keep track of how many more days we have to worry about tracking any size or type of tropical storms.
And while it looks like (we hope!) we won't get near the original number 20+ storms
forecast by the NOAA Climate Prediction Center, remember that it only takes one to wreak havoc. So if you haven't yet prepared — physically, financially, and tax wise — it's time to do so.
The ol' blog's special
Storm Warnings pages also can help, whether you're preparing for, recovering from, or helping those who sustain damages from the many ways that that weather goes wild. That includes
claiming uninsured losses from a major natural disaster as an itemized tax deduction.
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.