Don't Mess With Taxes

Photo by Kay Bell Do you have your candy for Halloween's trick-or-treaters? Or are you going to have to make another grocery store run to replace the sweets that someone somehow munched early? No judging here. Been there, done that. This week. 😊 And we surreptitious candy snatchers are not alone. Halloween and all its accoutrements, edible and otherwise, is incredibly popular in the United States. This year is expected to be record-setting. Spooky expenses: Total spending for Halloween 2023 is expected to reach a record $12.2 billion, exceeding last year's record of $10.6 billion, according to the National Retail... Read more →

The bridge connecting El Paso, Texas, and Juárez, Mexico, is one of several international exchange points expecting increased traffic this weekend as Mexican shoppers visit to take advantage of Lone Star State tax holiday savings. (Photo by Nils Huenerfuerst on Unsplash) The final five summer sales tax holidays are upon us, with Texas kicking things off this weekend. And it's going to be an international affair. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials expect a higher volume of crossings into the Lone Star State starting tomorrow, Friday, Aug. 11. That's the first day of Texas' three-day back-to-school tax holiday. If... Read more →

Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images Shoppers in 14 states are taking advantage of sales tax holidays in August. Tennessee's back-to-school tax-free event was in late July. But Volunteer State shoppers have another way to escape sales taxes this month. And in September. And in October, too. Tennessee's new Grocery Tax Holiday began at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 1. Food and food ingredients are exempt from sales tax until 11:59 p.m. Oct. 31. During the three-month grocery tax holiday, shoppers won't have to pay the state's 6.75 percent state and local option sales tax on food and food ingredients. The... Read more →

Photo by Saulius Sutkus on Unsplash August has arrived, reminding us that summer is almost over. There are just a few weeks left to take a final vacation during these sweltering dog days. But before you head out to a beach retreat or a cooler mountain cabin, take a few minutes for taxes. This month is a good time to make some tax moves that could save you some (or more) dollars and/or keep you out of tax trouble. Here are five to consider. 1. File your 2022 return by Aug. 15. OK, this applies only to a few, relatively... Read more →

Get ready Arkansas, Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia shoppers. Your back-to-school tax holidays are coming up in August. And yes, Floridians, your event wraps up this week. Many school supplies, like these at my local grocery store, will be sales-tax-free in Texas later this summer. (Photo by Kay Bell) With August just one day away, it's definitely time for parents and youngsters alike to get ready for the reopening of classrooms. Yes, those two groups likely will celebrate (or not) differently. But there's one thing they can share,... Read more →

Get ready Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee shoppers. Your back-to-school tax holidays are this month. The rest of this year's no-tax shopping events are scheduled for August. Many school supplies, like these at my local grocery store, will be sales-tax-free in Texas later this summer. (Photo by Kay Bell) Wow! We're into the third week of July already. You know what that means. School is just around the proverbial corner. And you know what that means. States are holding their annual sales tax holidays. There are four this month in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee. A baker's dozen are scheduled... Read more →

Photo by Alesia Kozik Cryptocurrencies have changed not only individuals' views of assets and wealth development, but also countries' tax systems. Those are among the issues explored in a just-released International Monetary Fund (IMF) paper. As for the tax challenges, the IMF paper notes that the capital gains tax revenue at stake worldwide, either because it's not imposed or not collected, may reach well into the tens of billions of dollars. But the more profound risks, say the paper's authors, may ultimately be for value added tax (VAT) and sales taxes. The paper also cites research monitoring crypto transactions. These... Read more →

Hello, July! Yeah, I know my welcome to the first full month of summer is a bit late. But admit it. You don't really focus on the month either until after you wrap up July 4th celebrations. Since Independence Day this year fell on Tuesday, that meant an extra-long holiday weekend for lots of us. But the fireworks are over and, sadly, we'll never be independent of taxes. So it's back to work this first week of July, and back to making tax moves that can at least keep a few more dollars out of Uncle Sam's clutches. Here are... Read more →

The upcoming Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer. It's also the start of a couple of sales tax holidays in Texas and Florida. Texas energy & water tax savings: Let's start here in Texas. Beginning Saturday, May 27, and running through Monday, May 29, Lone Star State shoppers won't have to pay state and local sales taxes that usually apply to purchases of energy- and water-saving products. The tax-free qualifying appliance purchases and related items include — Energy Star-qualified air conditioners priced at $6,000 or less; refrigerators priced at $2,000 or less; ceiling fans; incandescent and fluorescent... Read more →

Alaska gets a chunk of its operating revenue from the federal government, which owns more than half the real estate in America's largest state. But budget concerns have Last Frontier lawmakers again discussing creation of a statewide sales tax. (Photo of Denali peak reflected in Wonder Lake courtesy U.S. National Park Service) Alaskans face fewer taxes than most other United States taxpayers. It's one of eight states* with no income tax. And while some local jurisdictions collect sales tax, there is no statewide levy on purchases. But that could change if the Last Frontier's Republican governor gets his way. Gov.... Read more →

If you fall for a tax April Fools' joke, you could end up as sad as this usually jovial jester. (Jan Alojzy Matejko painting image via Wikipedia Commons) It's April 1, also known as April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day or the day of the year I hate the most. Why do I have such disdain for the first day of April? Because too many people try to be funny on this day. Call me a killjoy if you want. I've been called worse. I really do have a sense of humor, even about taxes. But not about fake... Read more →

Where you live and the types of taxes collected there determine whether your tax bill goes up or down. (Photo by Annamaria Kupo on Unsplash) The annual income tax filing season generates a lot of talk about moving. Few of us actually pack boxes and load up vans as soon as we send the Internal Revenue Service our 1040s, but we do contemplate what it would be like to live in a lower-tax locale. People in high-tax states explore possible relocation to a lower- or no-tax domestic jurisdiction. Some more peripatetic taxpayers look abroad. But there's more to consider than... Read more →

UPDATE, July 24, 2024: Yes, this item originally was published on a prior Margarita Day. But since the main potent potable in that adult beverage is tequila, it’s worth topping off today, National Tequila Day, for another toast. So jot down the recipe offered by the always animated (in every sense of the word) Sterling Archer. It will help the associated federal and state alcohol tax info below go down a bit easier. ¡Salud! FX/FXX TV's spy-turned-private detective Sterling Archer offers his margarita recipe. If, however, you're looking for a drink that's a bit more elaborate that the basic one... Read more →

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Most states operate on a fiscal year that runs from July 1 to June 30. That's why we see some new laws take effect each summer across the United States. However, those states also make the effective date for other changes the first of the year. It's easier for us residents, who operate on a January to December calendar, to accept that timetable. That's especially true of tax laws, since most states also tend to follow the Internal Revenue Service calendar. New tax laws effective New Year's Day: This Jan. 1, notes the Tax... Read more →

via GIPHY Seven days from now, many of us will be opening Christmas presents. Hanukkah is underway. Regardless of what or how you celebrate December holidays, your purchases probably increase this month. And this year, inflation, even though it's abated a bit recently, means you have or will pay more for all those gifts, food, and other festive trimmings of the season. Every year, PNC financial services issues its Christmas Price Index, or CPI. It measures, using a methodology similar to Uncle Sam's official CPI, or consumer price index, the current costs of the gifts given in the classic holiday... Read more →

UPDATE, Nov. 5, 2022, 10:25 p.m. CDT: The Houston Astros win game 6 by a 4-1 score and are 2022 World Series Champions! Houston Astros mascot Orbit hopes to trade in his extra-large regular season cap tonight for a 2022 World Series Champion one. (Photo by Kay Bell) The Houston Astros will play what fans, including me, hope is their last game of the 2022 Major League Baseball season tonight in Minute Maid Park. If they beat the Philadelphia Phillies, they get to hoist the World Series trophy in front of their hometown fans. Some H-Town businesses, however, might be... Read more →

Dealing with global taxes can be a real puzzle. (Rubik's Globe photo by Alan Kotok via Flickr CC) Americans are inordinately competitive, especially when it comes to international matchups. But there's not much for the United States to cheer as far as our ranking in the Tax Foundation's latest International Tax Competitiveness Index. Each year, the Washington, D.C.-based tax policy nonprofit measures the degree to which the tax systems of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) 38 member countries promote competitiveness. The U.S. tax system basically is middle of the pack in the Tax Foundation's 2022 evaluation. OK,... Read more →

Photo by Kindel Media I am not a fan of camping. Bugs. Sleeping on the ground (see bugs). But I do love campfires, especially when they're used to char marshmallows for s'mores. Apparently so do millions of other people worldwide. And thanks to a United Kingdom tax ruling, that country's fans of this graham cracker-chocolate-marshmallow treat can continue to enjoy the gooey goodies across the pond sans some VAT, or value added tax, charges. A U.K. tax tribunal recently ruled that a British food wholesaler of American snacks is not liable for VAT on its product Mega Marshmallows, which are... Read more →

Inflation is still a concern, for consumers and politicians, but it is easing a bit (at least for some consumers). One reason for the change is falling gas prices. GasBuddy reported on Sept. 12 that for the thirteenth consecutive week, the nation’s average per-gallon gas price dropped. It went to $3.67 per gallon, down 7.6 cents from a week ago. AAA's daily tracker shows a Sept. 15 national per gallon average of $3.698. But those are averages. Your pump prices may vary. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, noted in the latest analysis that there are "drastically... Read more →

CT and NJ shoppers get sales tax relief on classroom clothing and, in the Garden State, more at the end of this month. And then there were five. That's how many states remain in the August back-to-school tax holiday list. Three of them — in Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts — are this weekend. The other two, in Connecticut and New Jersey, will close out this month. Since most of the 19 states offering tax holidays this year have by now held their no-tax shopping events, all y'all know the drill. The table below has specific dates and links with tax-free... Read more →