Photo by Josh Willink Hello, lovers of the great outdoors! We have just the commemoration for you. National Park Week started April 19 and runs to April 27. This year, as often happens, Earth Day — that’s today, April 22 — falls during this annual week celebrating the more than 400 national parks across the United States. Sixty-three National Park Service (NPS) sites include the words “National Park” in their official names, but our national park system also encompasses monuments, memorials, battlefields, recreation areas, preserves, and historical sites. Each is a testament to our country’s natural and manmade diversity, beauty,... Read more →
State/Local
Emergency workers doing flood salvage. (Photo: FEMA) Millions of taxpayers across the United States on this Tax Day 2025 are finishing up their returns or filing for an extension. But some, including U.S. taxpayers abroad and who live or have businesses in major disaster areas, get more time. That list of delayed filings for disaster victims grew this week. The Internal Revenue Service announced that all taxpayers in Arkansas and Tennessee who were affected by severe storms and accompanying winds, tornadoes, and flooding that began on April 2, and who have not yet filed now can wait until Nov. 3... Read more →
If you've put off your tax filing until the very last minute, don't panic. But get to work on that return or filing extension request. Tax Day is almost here. If you’re a last-minute filer, you’re painfully aware of the dwindling filing time frame. I don’t want to interrupt your work, but if you are looking for some suggestions on how to get the job done, here are six tips to help you finish by tomorrow, April 15. 1. Get an extension. Your wisest move at this point, even if you are close to finishing your Form 1040 and accompanying... Read more →
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 →
Photo by cottonbro studio April is federal tax filing time. In case it’s slipped by you, Tax Day is next Tuesday, April 15. (Here are some tips if you’re working on your return this weekend.) For most Americans, this month also is home to state tax filing and paying deadlines. It’s also when the hubby and I get our annual home appraisal that will determine the next property tax bill we’ll get from Austin and Travis County. So, like a lot of U.S. residents, this collection confluence always makes me contemplate whether moving to a state with lower taxes —... Read more →
Photo by Andrey Grushnikov The tax deadline countdown clock is ticking away (literally, there over in the ol’ blog’s right column). With just days to file your Form 1040 slipping away, many of us will determine the best move is to file for an extension. You can do that by Tax Day, April 15, too. Just send the Internal Revenue Service Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. But some taxpayers get a bit more time to ask for more filing time. Already extended disaster area taxpayers: As noted in my Tax... Read more →
April 15 is double Tax Day for those of us who must pay estimated taxes. It’s the end of the prior tax year, with returns (and payment) due for those earnings. It’s also the start of tax filing (and paying) for this year. The payment for money made, but not subject to withholding, in the first quarter of 2026 is due on April 15. Extra payments for certain income: The U.S. tax system is pay as earn. For the most part, that's taken care via tax withholding from employees’ paychecks. But even if you have a job where income (federal... Read more →
Updated Monday, April 14, 2025: All taxpayers in Tennessee and Arkansas now now have until Nov. 3, 2025, to file their tax returns. The Internal Revenue Service announced this latest major disaster related tax relief in connection with disastrous weather in those states that began on April 2, 2025. The Volunteer State was hit by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding. The Natural State was struck by severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding. U.S. service members posted abroad, as well as civilian taxpayers living and working overseas, don't have to file their tax returns in April. Neither do taxpayers in... Read more →
Photo by D. Myles Cullen via Wikimedia CC Every year, millions count down the April days until their tax return is due. But there’s another sizeable group paying close attention to another date this month. It’s the day (well, actually the evening) when the college basketball champion is crowned. Two of the Final Four teams — Auburn, Duke, Florida, and Houston — will meet in that game on Monday, April 7. All involved obviously are focused on achieving the dream of becoming the champs. But excelling at a college sport these days literally pays off in other ways. Several NCAA... Read more →
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on March 27 signed into law a tax bill that, among other things, will phase out the Magnolia State’s income tax. (Photo courtesy Reeves' Facebook page) One day, April 15 Tax Day in Mississippi will be less work for many residents. That’s because last week, the Magnolia State set in place a plan to phase out its income tax. It still will take while, though, before Mississippians feel the full no-tax benefit. Like into the next decade. After some specific phasing down of the tax rates, which is 4.7 percent on 2024 tax year returns now... Read more →
Photo by cottonbro studio All of us with older cars, but not enough to buy a newer one right now, are watching Donald J. Trump's latest tariff move. What he sees at Liberation Day on April 3, could mean we drivers are stuck dealing with aging autos for a bit longer. Trump's convinced that his latest trade war volley, a 25 percent tariff on foreign-made vehicles and parts, will lead to a fundamental transformation of the U.S. economy. A lot of people, both economic experts and U.S. consumers agree, but not in the same positive reconfiguration that the 47th president... Read more →
Some roads, like this rural one in Central Texas, don't get much funding from the state. (Photo by Kay Bell) I know, spring just officially arrived last week. But temperatures already in the 80s here in Central Texas have me contemplating summer travel. Thinking back on my family’s summer road trips when I was child, also made me realize that my interest in the tax world was foretold back then. Every time we’d run into a travel delay due to road crews repairing and/or resurfacing our routes across the Lone Star State, my father would announce, “Your tax dollars at... Read more →
Major flooding in Hazard, Kentucky, in February led to Perry County being declared a major disaster area. It’s just one of the counties in the Bluegrass State where residents are now eligible for tax relief. You can watch the video from which the screenshot above was taken at Live Storms Media's YouTube channel. We’re just more than a month away from the April 15 filing deadline, but some taxpayers will have until Nov. 3 to finish their 2024 returns. They live in areas of Kentucky and West Virginia that were pummeled in mid-February by a severe winter storm that move... 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 →
A related, and larger question, is what will happen to all federal student loans if, as the Trump administration also wants, the U.S. Department of Education is dismantled? And if your student loan already has been canceled, your celebration could be dampened if you live in one of 19 states that wants tax on the forgiven loan amount. The entrance to the National Museum of Education, located in the U.S. Department of Education headquarters in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Building, Washington, D.C. (Photo by Carol M. Highsmith for LBJ Building Architecture Gallery at GSA.gov) When the White House announced last... Read more →
Photo by Ksenia Chernaya While doing my weekly grocery shopping every Tuesday morning, I tend to encounter the same folks, both H-E-B employees and other customers. This week, though, a woman I hadn’t seen before made an impression. I dubbed her the Egg Crier, since she posted herself by the store section holding those products. And in her best town crier form, she personally informed every shopper who picked up a carton — and all those even remotely close to the area — of the cost, noting with some exasperation the current high prices. The dozen Grade A large white... Read more →
Retirement can be more enjoyable when you don't have to worry about money or, if some lawmakers get their way, taxes on Social Security benefits. (Photo by RDNE Stock project) Lots of folks are paying more than usual attention to Social Security of late. We’re wondering just what Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) minions are doing as they poke around the federal system that provides financial support to millions of older and medically disabled people. We’re also curious as to when Donald Trump might follow through on his campaign promise to end taxation of Social Security benefits. The... Read more →
Federal tax returns get most of the attention during the annual tax season. That's because Uncle Sam's individual income tax laws apply across the country. But as noted in yesterday's post, states also demand taxes from their residents, and most of them require annual income tax filings, too. taxes also are demanded of most Americans. And in most of the 43 states and District of Columbia that tax some type of individual earnings, April 15 also is the due date. No individual income tax states: The only states with no personal income tax at all are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New... Read more →
Pixabay Every season, most U.S. residents do double duty. In addition to filing a federal tax return with the Internal Revenue Service, they also must file a state tax return. We lucky, federal-only filers live in one of the eight states that don't tax any individual income. They are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire (which just joined the group on Jan. 1, 2025), South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. Residents of Washington state don't have to pay tax on wages, but some face a tax on capital gains. In the rest of the country, individual income taxes are a major... Read more →