I know you're tired of taxes continuing into July. I know you just want to be done with your filings and the Internal Revenue Service and move on to other things. But I also know that most of you, especially if you're facing coronavirus-related financial difficulties, don't want to just hand over money, possibly hundreds of dollars to Uncle Sam. You'll do just that if you were due a tax refund on your 2016 taxes and didn't file for it during the 2017 tax season. That's the situation for an estimated 1.4 million individual taxpayers. If they don't claim those... Read more →
State/Local
Hello July, which according to this year's goofy tax calendar is April. That means instead of heading to the beach, which is closed anyway due to COVID-19, or taking a longer trip to Europe, which isn't letting U.S. residents in, again due to COVID-19, we're spending mid-summer focusing on taxes. The main one, of course, is filing 2019 returns by the new Tax Day 2020: July 15. That date also is key for several other tax tasks to take care of in July. Here are six that you need to deal with in these two weeks before the 2020 tax... Read more →
The tax agency has made it clear that the July 15 filing deadline is firm. But you still can get an extension to file, giving you until Oct. 15 to submit your Form 1040. Just ask for it by July 15. Plus, there other filing extension options (and forms on this Tax Form Tuesday!) for other tax circumstances. If you were hoping the Internal Revenue Service would push Tax Day 2020 beyond July 15, sorry. The agency says the already-delayed filing and tax paying deadline for 2019 returns is firm. When the IRS announced that decision late Monday afternoon (or... Read more →
Photo by Chris F from Pexels Are you taking dad out for a Father's Day brunch, in a properly-precautioned restaurant of course, complete with toasts to what a great pop he's been? Or maybe giving him a bottle of his favorite whiskey? Here's a present for you, the potent potables purchaser. A new study says alcohol taxes are at historic lows. No, it's not because alcohol excise taxes have been statutorily reduced. Fan of single malts can thank inflation. Or rather the lack of it. The new study by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) just published in the... Read more →
The Trump Administration plans in the next few weeks to announce a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, according to Bloomberg and Financial Times. The proposed spending on roads and bridges is seen as a way to further jump start the COVID-19 hobbled U.S. economy. The money reportedly would be spent over 10 years, but those familiar with the White House thinking say the plan is still "fluid and could take time." It also would go head-to-head with not only a sizable Democratic highway bill now before a House subcommittee, but also a GOP version that cleared the Senate last summer. Mapping... Read more →
Rhode Island's flag offers hope. Its individual tax return offers other emotional indicators. It's less than a month until federal Tax Day 2020, which everyone knows was moved to July 15 to accommodate the disruptions, tax and otherwise, of COVID-19 to our lives. That date also is when most folks who also must pay state income tax also have to get those forms to their state tax officials. Like federal filings, most states allow — nay, encourage — their taxpayers to submit their taxes electronically. And most of those states also have given their taxpayers until July 15 to file... Read more →
Photo by fauxels from Pexels Working from home is a major lifestyle change wrought by COVID-19 and efforts to stem its spread. That's produced good, bad, ugly and tax results. The good is no commuting. The bad is family members who think since you're home, you still can do everything else, too. The ugly is the attire most of us wear as we work from home, except for the times we put on a clean shirt for Zoom meetings. Then there's the matter of taxes. Workers' locations, new tax nexus? Since shutdown orders went into place in mid-March, businesses have... Read more →
Yes, that a 20-something me in that photo, lighting up a cigarette. I was a smoker for way too many years when I was a young adult. I finally quit cold turkey as a birthday gift to my husband during our first year of marriage. And despite nicotine's addictive properties and a 2½-pack-a-day habit, I never suffered any withdrawal symptoms. I smoked back then not because my body or brain demanded it, but because I enjoyed it. That and, as I revealed in a social media conversation with some #TaxTwitter pals that started as a discussion about coffee, it was... Read more →
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes celebrating his team's victory. (Image via GIPHY) The Kansas City Chiefs are champions again, this time coming out victorious in a courtroom tax match-up. Exactly four months after the Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV, the Missouri Supreme Court delivered the National Football League franchise a decisive victory in its effort to avoid paying sales taxes. It ends the tax fight that began in 2014 when the Chiefs appealed a Missouri Department of Revenue panel's decision that the team owes more than $1 million in back taxes related to the refurbishment of Arrowhead Stadium. Sales... Read more →
June has arrived. But the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on our lives, including our tax lives, mean that in 2020 we likely won't be able to enjoy our usual summertime living is easy lifestyles. (Photo courtesy City of Clearwater, Florida) Hello weird, scary, frustrating June 2020. We're sort of glad you're here, even though the coronavirus means many of us aren't going to be taking a summer vacation and many more of us will still be messing with 2019 taxes until mid-July. Yep, as everyone knows by now, COVID-19 precautions by the Internal Revenue Service have pushed this year's... Read more →
It's the last weekend of May. You know what that means. Hurricane season is about to officially start. Of course, Mother Nature doesn't follow the calendars of mere humans. She does what she wants when she wants. And so far this late spring, early summer of 2020, she's thrown a couple of tropical tantrums. We've already had two named tropical storms, Arthur and Bertha. Arthur threatened the North Carolina coast before heading out to sea. Bertha is now washing out as a tropical depression, dropping heavy rain over South Carolina. Plan ahead for storms: But the Atlantic hurricane season, which... Read more →
There are a lot of footprints on many U.S. beaches this Memorial Day weekend as folks seek seashores after weeks of staying home due to the coronavirus. (Photo by Wendy Wei via Pexels) This Memorial Day long weekend is a big one for numbers. As most states have relaxed at least some COVID-19 stay home orders, Americans are taking advantage of more openings to celebrate this unofficial start of summer. They are, naturally, heading to spots that offer traditional seasonal activities. There's no official counts of how many folks have flocked to U.S. beaches and lakes and parks, but the... Read more →
Forty-three states and the District of Columbia rely to some degree on income taxes from their residents. The good news for most who live in these locations is that the COVID-19 economic impact payments (EIP), which the Internal Revenue Service notes won't be taxed by Uncle Sam, also are tax-free at state levels. But things are a little different in a handful of states. Taxpayers in Alabama, Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon, Missouri and Montana are allowed at least a partial deduction for federal taxes they pay. And that could affect the tax treatment of the coronavirus payments. Flipping tax code effects:... Read more →
I admit it. When I make an occasional foray into the coronavirus world, which is a quick trip to my local grocery every 10 days or so to buy milk, I look at the lottery ticket machines. Did you know that the Mega Millions jackpot is $255 million? Powerball is a relatively paltry $77 million, not that I'd turn it down if my numbers came up. And yes, I did buy tickets. Why, ask my more frugal and fiscally conservative readers? Because I'm bored. There's only so much to stream or read or rewatch or reread. The possibility of being... Read more →
Providing bank data for direct deposit of coronavirus relief payments will get you added more quickly to the growing number of folks — around 130 million so far — who've received their COVID cash. Photo by Alexander Mils from Pexels More than 130 million COVID-19 economic impact payments have been delivered, according to the Internal Revenue Service. That means the tax agency is nearing the end of its distribution of the money that is intended to help folks cover a few of the costs they've incurred due to the impact of coronavirus on the U.S. economy. And even though the... Read more →
Photo by Gustavo Fring from Pexels Interstate tax matters are difficult in the best of times. During a pandemic, they can be particularly confusing, infuriating and for the state hardest hit by COVID-19, a tax public relations nightmare. Health care heroes from across the country who came to work in overwhelmed New York hospitals and other medical facilities have learned that in addition to the eternal gratitude of Empire State and Big Apple residents, they also are getting tax bills. The issue was first reported by a New York City television station that spoke with medical staff at the temporary... Read more →
Click image to watch the Mos Eisley cantina scene, in which these musicians provide the catchy background tune, from the 1977 Star Wars movie that launched the acclaimed sci-fi film franchise. Welcome to the first week of May 2020. It's a decidedly weird month, in large part because of the coronavirus pandemic. When the deadly COVID-19 infection started spreading in force across the United States, most of the country shut down to some degree. Now many states are loosening their stay-home orders and things are starting to some degree to get back to normal, or what will pass as that... Read more →
Some suddenly out-of-work people are taking a double hit. Not only must they deal with the loss of income, but also the loss of their workplace-provided medical coverage. This week's relatively good COVID-19 pandemic economic news is that the latest count of folks who filed for unemployment benefits was down. The bad news? The U.S. Department of Labor reported today that another 3.8 million people filed claims for jobless benefits last week. While that's a drop from the previous week's 4.4 million unemployment claims, overall more than 30.3 million have applied for state help to make ends meet now that... Read more →
The beach obviously is one of the big attractions of Virginia Beach, Virginia. But the coastal vacation spot, like the rest of the Old Dominion, has been under a coronavirus lockdown. So city officials created a tax holiday to help out restaurants. (Image courtesy Visit Virginia Beach Facebook page) There's only so much sourdough you can bake. Man — and woman and children, too — can't live on bread alone. So, if you're like the hubby and me during COVID-19 quarantine, you've had some meals delivered or picked up your curbside dinner order yourself. The food prepared by your favorite... Read more →
Photo by Alexander Mils from Pexels Have you received your COVID-19 economic relief payment? The Internal Revenue Service says that 88.1 million taxpayers have. Those payments, which were delivered as of April 17, come to a total of almost $158 billion. Both the total checks and the overall amount are worthy of this week's early By the Numbers recognition. Timely turnaround: The coronavirus relief payments were authorized as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act that was enacted on March 27. That means that in three weeks, the IRS is more than halfway through the 150... Read more →