Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash In my neighborhood, the windows of businesses large and small are plastered with "Help Wanted" signs. My suburban Austin area is not alone. In the best of times, businesses face challenges in finding the best workers for their needs. This is not the best of times when it comes to hiring. Right now, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are 9.9 million job openings in the United States, but only 5.8 million unemployed workers. This tight job market is why it's critical that companies don't undercut their hiring efforts. Some do just... Read more →
State/Local
Remember the 94-year-old Minnesota woman whose home was seized by country tax collectors after she stopped paying her property tax bills? Such action is commonplace, as noted in my earlier post on this topic. But in Geraldine Tyler's case, Hennepin County kept all the money it got when it sold her condo, not just the amount needed to cover her delinquent real estate taxes. Those taxes, plus penalties, interest, and other costs, came to $15,000. The Minnesota county got $40,000 for the property. Yesterday (May 25), the Supreme Court of the United States, or SCOTUS, unanimously ruled in Tyler's favor.... Read more →
Photo by Durmuş Kavcıoğlu on Unsplash Some folks are already en route to their long Memorial Day weekend destination. Millions will be flying, with AAA projecting that this holiday's nearly 3.4 million air travelers will surpass pre-pandemic numbers. But the number of holiday travelers hitting U.S. roads will dwarf all other modes of Memorial Day travel. AAA expects more than 37 million will drive 50 miles or more starting today, Thursday, May 25, through Monday, May 29. Gas prices are lower this holiday compared to last year, notes AAA, when the national average was more than $4 a gallon. When... 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 →
Owners of electric vehicles in Texas, like this one charging in a suburban Austin office garage, will face a new registration fee starting Sept. 1, 2023. (Photo by Kay Bell) More than 10 million electric cars were sold worldwide in 2022. Sales are expected to grow by another 35 percent this year, meaning 14 million electric vehicles (EVs) will be on global roads last year, according to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) latest annual analysis. That puts electric autos' share of the overall car market at 14 percent in 2022, a 10 percent increase from just two years ago. IEA... Read more →
Photo by Juan Ramos on Unsplash May is graduation month. It's also graduate gift giving time. Money is always tight for the new diploma recipients (and their families), regardless of whether they've completed high school or college. That's why financial gifts are always welcome. One of those graduate gifts for students looking to continue their school days is a contribution to their 529 plans. And one source of those contributions could be, for older savers, their required minimum distributions. Quick 529 overview: These savings plans, named from the Internal Revenue Code that created them, originally only covered higher education expenses.... Read more →
Photo by Gustavo Fring Millions of Americans are worrying about the damage to their retirement accounts if the United States (aka Congress) defaults on the country's debt. But there's another retirement fear that could put federal and state governments on the hook for trillions more dollars. Many Americans aren't saving enough for retirement, and new research says that if the trend continues unabated, the country could by 2040 face a retirement savings gap and resulting economic burden of almost $1.3 trillion. The federal government would bear the bulk of the saving shortfall, $964 billion. The remaining $334 billion burden would... Read more →
A view from the left field upper deck of the Milwaukee Brewers' ballpark, back when what is now American Family (AmFam) Field was known as Miller Park. (Photo by Brewersfan1061 via Wikipedia Commons) We're six weeks into the Major League Baseball season and my two favorite teams are giving me plenty of reasons to cheer and rant. But ain't that the way with all sports? At least my teams, the Orioles and Astros, are settled in Baltimore and Houston. I feel for the Oakland fans, where the few still going to Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum are watching their underperforming A's run... Read more →
Photo by Tim Mossholder Once this year's April tax filing deadline passed, most Americans were done with their annual Internal Revenue Service interaction. Some taxpayers, however, are still dealing with other, non-filing federal tax issues. They might be able to get some in-person help resolving those tax matters from IRS staff at one the agency's Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) across the country. Such help usually requires taxpayers to make a weekday appointment. But on May 13, the IRS' final walk-in Saturday of 2023 will mean that filers whose local TAC is open can come in, no appointment needed, for some... Read more →
Mike Mozart via Flickr CC In April 2019, the online investigative news site Pro Publica revealed that some major tax software companies who were part of the Internal Revenue Service Free File partnership instead used computer code to funnel taxpayers to their products' paid filing options. State officials soon started their own investigations into the tax preparation marketing tactic. The following year, Intuit, the corporate parent of the popular TurboTax tax prep program, reached a settlement agreement with all 50 states (via 49 state Attorneys General and the Hawai'i Office of Consumer Protection), and the District of Columbia. That deal... Read more →
Meanwhile, even crypto-mining-friendly Texas is exploring ways to limit such operations' heavy use of the Lone Star State's power grid. Austin Technology Council Texas is known for many things. Now, two of them, cryptocurrency mining and hot summers, are colliding. The Lone Star State has become a major hub for bitcoin miners. Many operations set up shop here because of the state has vast spaces needed for the operations. Then there's Texas' mostly independent power grid, which has few connections to the rest of the country. This has allowed Texas to avoid federal oversight. And don't forget Texas' demand response... Read more →
Coastal flooding in a Florida community. (Photo by Barry Bahler via Wikipedia Commons) They may be more than 3,100 miles apart, but residents of counties in California and Florida now have a couple of things in common. They recently were pummeled by major disasters. They now have an Aug. 15 deadline to meet certain federal tax responsibilities. Florida flooding: The Internal Revenue Service is offering relief to those who live or have businesses in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster designation are of South Florida that endured tornadoes, severe storms, and flooding from April 12 to April 14. The... Read more →
Young woman getting ready to record an online video. (Photo by George Milton) Being an influencer apparently isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially when the tax collector gets involved. Sure, some of those ubiquitous TikTok videos are just for fun. Others, however, can make big bucks for their online creators. That happens when the viral stars are paid influencers. In most cases, the influencers work as independent contractors for the companies they endorse. SE and income tax due: This self-employed status, reminds the Internal Revenue Service, means the online promoters must pay self-employment (SE) tax in addition to... Read more →
Homemade Gifts Made Easy May. A short word with many meanings. It's the name of the fifth month of the year. Here in the Norther Hemisphere, it's when springtime comes in fully. That's fitting, since its name comes from Maia, the Greek goddess of spring and growth. The Oxford English Dictionary also says the word is a verb that expresses possibility, as in "that may be true," or permission, as in "may I ask a few questions?" When it comes to taxes, I like to combine the meanings. May is a time of growth and renewal and the possibility of... Read more →
A Cole, Oklahoma, home destroyed by the EF3 tornado that went through McClain County on April 19, 2023. The National Weather Service estimated winds at 152 miles per hour. (Photo by U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration via Wikipedia Commons) The Oklahoma City area seems to be a tornado magnet. I'm aware of this unwanted meteorological frequency not just because of my weather fixation and its tax connection, but also because my brother lived in OKC back in 1999 when an EF5 twister destroyed much of the state capital's southern suburbs. Back then, my parents were in Western Oklahoma, which... Read more →
Updated, Thursday, May 25, 2023 (see so-noted paragraph below) The interior of the U.S. Supreme Court (Photo by Phil Roeder, Flickr via Wikipedia) April is not a fun fiscal month for a lot of us. In addition to Tax Day, when many of us, including the hubby and me, owe the U.S. Treasury a bit, along with an estimated tax payment, it is property appraisal time here in Texas. The last couple of years, that's been particularly distressing. If we were putting our house on the market like a couple of our neighbors, we'd be happy that we could ask... Read more →
Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden share a lighter moment. Last week, they also shared their 2022 federal and state tax returns with the American public. (Photo courtesy K. Harris/White House) The U.S. president's and vice president's tax returns were among the more than 117 million filings that the Internal Revenue Service has received through mid-April. We know this because, as is once again tradition, President Joe Biden and his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, made their 2022 tax return public. So did Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff. The Bidens' filing showed they paid... 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 →
Photo by Markus Winkler Tax Day came and went, and you weren't part of the annual Internal Revenue Service's every earner is invited party. It happens. Maybe a personal emergency took precedence. Perhaps you meant to get the job done, but it took longer than you planned and exasperated, you just said, "Later!" Or you discovered you owe, but don't have the money and thought, "What's the point?" The point, regardless of why you didn't get your Form 1040 (or Form 4868 to get a six-month extension) to the IRS on time, is that your continued procrastination could cost you.... Read more →
Photo by Lachlan Ross Procrastinating taxpayers are rushing to file their returns this Tax Day 2023. Some, however, have extra time. Unfortunately for them, the reason for the delayed filing deadline is not one any of us want. They live or have businesses in areas that were declared major disaster areas. Indiana residents are the latest to join this later Tax Day club. Today, the Internal Revenue Service announced that Hoosier storm victims now have until July 31 to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. Yeah, I know getting the word out that Tax... Read more →