Photo by Belle Co We made it. Tax Day 2025 is finally over for most of the country’s 140 million or so individual tax return filers. Now what? First, take a minute or more to celebrate being done with this annual tax obligation. Then, start thinking about taxes again. Wait! Come back! You did click over here, after all. And to reward your post-Tax Day curiosity, here are seven tasks you should consider. I promise they aren’t that difficult. 1. Adjust your paycheck withholding. Your tax goal each year should be for your paycheck withholding to cover as closely as... Read more →
Refund
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 →
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 →
Feeling flush thanks to your tax refund? If you’re looking for ways to spend it, here are some suggestions. (Photo by Karolina Grabowska) By mid-March, the Internal Revenue Service had sent out almost $163 billion in tax refunds. The average refund amount was $3,271. That's a nice chunk of change. Even if your refund isn't quite that large, or is more, when the money arrives comes the decision on how to use it. Most people already have ideas of what to do with their cash back from Uncle Sam. Some have already put those plans into action. But just in... 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 →
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 →
You aren't legally required to file a federal tax return, but maybe you should. Here are six reasons why it might be a good idea. (Photo by Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images) Millions of taxpayers have filed their returns so far this year. Millions more are working on their taxes. But not you. You checked out my post on who has to file a tax return (thank you!) and confirmed that you're one of the lucky few who doesn't have to file a Form 1040 this year. You might want to rethink that no-filing decision. Even if you aren't... Read more →
Here’s hoping your tax procrastinating doesn’t go this far! (Photo by Tara Winstead) More than 33 million taxpayers already have filed their 2024 tax returns this year. Chances are a lot of them live in the Midwest. Taxpayers in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana tend to procrastinate the least when it comes to filling out their federal returns, according to IPX1031’s latest Tax Procrastinators report. Midwest-adjacent Pennsylvania rounds out the five states, coming in between Ohio and Michigan, where filers don’t dally So where do taxpayers tend to put off filing? Waiting to file: The sixth annual study from the... Read more →
We’re through a full month of the 2025 tax filing season. Many of the taxpayers who filed when the season started at the end of January have already received their refunds. The official count, last updated by the Internal Revenue Service on Feb. 14, shows nearly 13.7 million refunds have been issued. The average refund check so far is $2,169. You, however, are still waiting for the IRS to send you your money. The best way to find where it is in the IRS system is to use the agency’s online tracking tool Where’s My Refund? Here are some questions... Read more →
UPDATE, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025: The Internal Revenue Service layoffs did happen, but fewer than what might have been. Still, say seven former IRS Commissioners who served during both Democratic and Republican administrations say that the firing of 6,700 agency employees in the middle of tax season is a huge mistake. We’re in the heart of tax filing season. So far, things seem to be going smoothly. But that could change. Internal Revenue Service workers processing the millions of already filed returns also are dealing with some additional, but not tax-related, work concerns. Plus, the tax agency could lose as... Read more →
Photo by David Guerrero It's early in the 2025 filing season, but millions of taxpayers have already received their tax refunds. Most of these early filers also instructed the Internal Revenue Service to directly deposit their tax cash. Not only is direct deposit faster — in most cases, the IRS says refunds sent straight to financial accounts get there in 21 days or less — it’s a safer delivery method. You don’t have to worry about the U.S. Postal Service losing or misdelivering your Treasury check. Even better, it takes tax refund mailbox thieves out of the equation. Some taxpayers,... Read more →
Millions of taxpayers who were due refunds and filed as soon as the IRS gave the "go" signal have received their money, according to the tax agency's first filing season statistics report. (Photo by Engin Akyurt) The first week of the 2025 tax-filing season, which began on Jan. 27 when the Internal Revenue Service started processing returns, is going much like the prior year, at least when it comes to taxpayer submissions. Basically, people are slow. But many of those who filed their taxes as soon as possible are happy. They’ve already received their refunds, which is the main motivator... Read more →
Regular readers of the ol' blog noticed last week that I mentioned tax scams and identity theft in a couple of post last week. If you missed them, they were on added Internal Revenue Service efforts this filing season to detect tax scams and return fraud and about how filing early helps beat tax ID thieves to the stolen refund punch. Well, here’s a third mention. And this time, it’s some good news from the National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA). The IRS is making progress in reducing the time it takes to help people who are victims of tax-related identity theft.... Read more →
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) turns 50 this year. The official date is March 29, in case you want to throw a party. The Internal Revenue Service isn’t waiting that long. With tax season 2025 underway, the tax agency again is celebrating this tax benefit created to help lower- and moderate-income workers with the annual Jan. 31 EITC Day. Today marks the beginning of efforts to get the word out to eligible taxpayers and encourage them to take advantage of the EITC. The EITC can be worth from hundreds to thousands of dollars for qualifying filers. While the larger... Read more →
Fortune cookie tax filing wisdom (Photo by Kay Bell) We’re into the second official day of the 2025 tax season and millions of taxpayers have already filed their returns. This post is not for you. It’s for folks who haven’t yet even thought about their 2024 tax year returns. That’s okay. We all work at our own pace. But there actually are some good reasons to get to your annual tax filing task sooner rather than later. Here are 10. 1. To get your federal tax refund sooner. This is the main reason early filers get their 1040 forms to... Read more →
Millions are getting ready to file federal tax returns so they can collect refunds. Crooks are among them. And things get even worse for the taxpayers whose identities were stolen and used to file false returns claiming fraudulent refunds. The average time it took the Internal Revenue Service to resolve identity theft cases and issue refunds to the affected victims in fiscal year 2024 was two years, according the National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2024 annual report to Congress, issued today. These delays impacted nearly half a million taxpayers, noted National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Erin M. Collins, and were even worse than... Read more →
This showy Texas turkey, not to be confused with music icon Bob Wills' Turkey, Texas, hometown, is a spectacular representation of the ol’ blog’s first tax turkey to avoid this holiday season, or any time of year. It’s Thanksgiving week. Most Americans are looking forward to the upcoming fourth Thursday in November, when they’ll gather to share food and fun with family and friends. A turkey will be the featured food on most tables, a tradition dating from the turn of the 19th century. But turkey also is disparaging slang for loser. Tax turkeys, in addition to being unwanted, can... Read more →
Getting mail delivered to your home is convenient. But even individually locked boxes, like these in this community collection area, are not safe from mail thieves. The Internal Revenue Service last week reaffirmed its commitment to modernization, specifically giving taxpayers more digital options, when it announced 24 states will be part of its Direct File program. Direct File is the IRS’ own tax preparation software that eligible taxpayers can use to prepare and electronically file their annual federal tax returns for free. The key for users is free. From the IRS' perspective, a more important part is electronic filing. More... Read more →
Green Dot Corporation, a bank and financial services company that has worked with Walmart, Apple, and the U.S. government, has been assessed a $44 million penalty in connection with years of harmful consumer practices, including some associated with tax refund fees. The Federal Reserve System Board of Governors on July 19 announced the multi-million dollar penalty, and also issued a cease-and-desist order against the company. “Green Dot violated consumer law in its marketing, selling, and servicing of prepaid debit card products, and its offering of tax return preparation payment services,” according to the Federal Reserve statement. Overall, the 18-page order... Read more →