Don't Mess With Taxes

Streaming fans in Louisiana soon could be paying more to watch their favorite shows and movies. This time, though, they can’t blame the services providing the programming. Their ire over more costly entertainment is due to Pelican State lawmakers who now are meeting in a special session to focus on Gov. Jeff Landry has proposed a reworking of Louisiana’s tax structure. More subject to sales tax: Part of the tax overhaul is an expansion of s part of targets subject to Louisiana’s 4.45 percent state sales tax. It would be levied on several digital products and services, including online news... Read more →

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash The 2024 general election is over. Finally. Now we sort through the results to try to determine how what we did on Nov. 5 will affect us. The election of Donald J. Trump to a second term, along with Republican control of the Senate and likely the House, will likely simplify a lot of federal tax questions in 2025, the final year of many individual Internal Revenue Code provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. But as noted back on Oct. 26, tax questions, not just candidates, also were on ballots.... Read more →

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash Tuesday, Nov. 5, is election day. The hubby and I already voted, and if you’re like us, you can’t wait for all the politicking to be over. The incessant calls, emails and snail mail material extends beyond the candidates. In several states, and at local levels, too, voters will decide ballot initiatives. So, this weekend’s Saturday Shout Outs go to recent coverage of the referenda, with, of course, a focus on taxes. The first shout goes to Ballotpedia, which reports that 159 statewide ballot measures were certified as of Oct. 24 to appear on... Read more →

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (left) sits on the Lake Erie shore next to the Great Lakes Science Center (right) in Cleveland's North Coast Harbor. (Photo by Rona Proudfoot, CC BY-SA 2.0) For years, Austinites have been the target of the Buckeye State, and I’m not talking college football. A couple of years ago, billboards popped up in the Austin, Texas, metro area suggesting that Ohio had plenty of cool places to live that were less expensive. Now, the Ohio promotions are in television ads. And just as the Lone Star State capital’s annual Austin City Limits (ACL)... Read more →

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk The Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar today announced cities, counties, transit systems, and special purpose districts soon will be getting their share of $1.1 billion in local sales tax allocations for September. That's 6.3 percent more than last September. Sales taxes are one of the three major ways states and the assorted jurisdictions within their borders get revenue. The other two are property taxes, mostly on real estate value, and income earned by individuals and businesses. Since the Lone Star State has no personal income tax, most of us residents are resigned to generally high sales and... 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 →

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash Nebraskans frustrated by their state’s inability to come up with property tax relief plan turned to a broader tax overhaul, the EPIC plan. EPIC stands for Eliminate all Property, Income and Corporate taxes. The measure would have constitutionally prohibited the legislature from imposing any tax except for a state-administered sales tax. EPIC was first introduced in the Nebraska legislature in 2023, but never made it out of committee. That’s when the plan to take it directly to the state’s voters was born. But that’s not going to happen either. Epic ballot initiative fail: “The... Read more →

That will leave a dozen states still taxing at least some food bought by grocery shoppers. My favorite section of my local H-E-B grocery. (Photo by Kay Bell) When you loaded up your grocery cart for your July 4th spread, you probably weren’t thinking about taxes. That’s because most of us live in states that, for the most part, don’t tax food. That’s not the case in 13 states. Those jurisdictions do tack a few percentage points of sales tax on most foodstuffs. But one of those states will join the no-grocery-tax ranks later this summer. In late August, Oklahoma’s... Read more →

Photo by Rene Bernal on Unsplash Happy Independence Day, America! Or as we call it at our house, the July 3 Until Whenever Our Neighbors' Fireworks Stash Is Fully Exploded holiday. Yep, residents of our suburban enclave started celebrating last night. It's an annual dress rehearsal for the full array of pyrotechnics today. And it continues for days. I’m sure the hubby and I are not alone. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, private display of certain types of fireworks are legal. Which jurisdiction is the outlier? Massachusetts is the only U.S. state where it is illegal to... Read more →

Update Aug. 6, 2024: Classes have resumed in some school districts. Others will open their doors to students soon. And most across the United States will be in session by the end of this month. So, it's no surprise that parents are shopping for supplies, especially in states holding back-to-school sales tax holidays. Two that started in July, in Florida and Ohio, are wrapping up into this month. And three others, in starting date order, begin this weekend: Texas from Friday, Aug. 9, though Sunday, Aug. 11; Massachusetts from Saturday, Aug. 10, through Sunday, Aug. 11; and Maryland, from Sunday,... Read more →

Unsplash+ in collaboration with Olivie Strauss Hello, July! We are soooo ready for this first full month of official summer. This first week of July will be a short one for many of us. We’ll be taking advantage of July 4 falling on Thursday, making it an extra-long Independence Day holiday weekend. But once the fireworks are over, it’s back to the regular grind where we never are independent of taxes. That’s why we also need to also make some time in July for tax moves. Here are five to consider. 1. Get ready for disastrous weather. Even though I’m... Read more →

Florida residents are getting some tax breaks on items to help them prepare for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which started this week and forecast to be the most active ever. The Sunshine State’s first of two disaster preparedness sales tax holidays began on June 1, the official start of the annual hurricane season. It runs through Friday, June 14. Florida’s second emergency preparation sales tax event will be Aug. 24 through Sept. 6, aligning with the time of year when the tropical season tends to increase. Long history of strong storms: Florida individuals and businesses don’t need a reminder... Read more →

Texas Severe Storms Association photo It’s spring here in Texas, which means storm season. We’ve already seen some recent storms drop large hail across the Lone Star State. Plus, residents along Texas’ 367 miles of Gulf of Mexico shoreline have got to be a bit on edge with forecasters’ already warning of a hyperactive 2024 hurricane season, which officially starts on June 1. Storm analysts at the University of Pennsylvania say we could see 33 named tropical storms this year. So the timing of Texas’ annual emergency preparation supplies sales tax holiday couldn’t be better. Weekend sales tax savings: Texas'... Read more →

The Internal Revenue Service IRS is expected to process more than 160 million individual and business tax returns this filing season. Through March 15, the IRS had received nearly 71.6 million individual returns. Some taxpayers probably put off filing in the hopes that the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act would be enacted by Tax Day. Several of its provisions could help both personal and business filers. Whether that will happen is still unclear, as the tax bill that cleared the House has hit a lot of speed bumps in the Senate. Other taxpayers, however, aren't that concerned... Read more →

Most states hold sales tax holidays in late summer, pegging he events to the resumption of the school year. But there are a few tax holiday over-achievers. They supplement their back-to-school tax-free events with additional sales tax savings. The standard bearer of late has been Florida. The Sunshine State in 2022 and 2023 enacted a variety of tax holidays, some of which extended into this year. Florida also kicked off 2024 with a semester break back-to-school tax holiday in January. Other states' special shopping events will include no taxes on emergency supplies, energy efficient products, food, and even firearm-related purchases.... Read more →

It's the last weekend of 2023, and you're busy planning how you will ring in 2024 on Sunday night. Unless you live in Florida. Oh, Sunshine State residents will party on New Year's Eve, too. But many also are making back-to-school shopping lists. That's because Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, is the start of yet another Florida sales tax holiday. This two-week event waives the sales tax, both state and local option add-ons, that's usually collected on what state officials have deemed school supplies. Among the items that will be tax free during the Monday, Jan. 1, 2024 through Sunday, Jan.... Read more →

Shopping with your true love can be fun, but you'll probably have to make a separate, solo trip so you can surprise your partner. And if you want to buy any or all of the true love gifts in "The 12 Days of Christmas" carol, you also will want to make sure you have lots of cash or a large credit card limit. (Photo via Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images) Even though inflation has slowed this year, Americans are still grumbling about prices. But it hasn't slowed holiday shopping. More than 200 million people went in search of perfect... Read more →

My H-E-B helps me keep track of store purchases that might be eligible for FSA reimbursement. (Crumpled receipt photo by Kay Bell) After today's weekly grocery buying trip, I'm pulling out my stash of COVID-19 pandemic masks. Yes, I bought a lot. A whole lot! As before, the facial protection is to shield me from the sneezes and coughs of many of my uncovered fellow H-E-B shoppers. This time, though, I'm hoping the upper respiratory cacophony is due to the changing weather, dust stirred up by the firing up of furnaces, and, here in Central Texas, cedar fever. But you... Read more →

If you stopped at a Georgia gas station today to top off your tank, you might have encountered a line. Peach State motorists will see fuel prices increase tomorrow, Nov. 30, as the governor's emergency suspension of the state fuel excise taxes expires. So you couldn't blame them for trying to get one last bargain at the pump. Gov. Brian Kemp's decree, first issued in September and then extended in October through most of this month, saved drivers of gasoline-powered vehicles 31.2 cents per gallon. Drivers of auto that use diesel saved 35 cents per gallon. In addition to the... Read more →

Today is Small Business Saturday, a charge card marketing initiative that has become an accepted nationwide effort to celebrate small, independent retail operations. It's also an official tax holiday in the Land of Enchantment. New Mexico's Small Business Gross Receipts Tax Holiday falls each year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The tax holiday began at 12:01 a.m. today and ends at midnight tonight. For this one day, the state allows a gross receipts tax break on sales of qualifying items at certain small businesses. For the eligible companies, New Mexico provides a deduction from gross receipts for retail sales of... Read more →