State/Local Feed

However, opponents of the Internal Revenue Service's option that cuts out private tax software companies still aren't convinced of the program's value or security. UPDATE, Sept. 5, 2025: Has your state joined Direct File? Check out this special Direct File 2025 Participating States page. Two more states will be a part of the Internal Revenue Service’s Direct File program next year. When the 2025 filing season starts, more than 120,000 Maine and 600,000 Wisconsin taxpayers and will be eligible to file via the IRS created and managed free, online tax preparation and e-filing option. The potential Pine Tree State and... Read more →


When making retirement plans, be sure to include how taxes might affect your ability to spend your golden years the way you want. Taxation of Social Security is getting a closer look this year, mainly because the Republican presidential nominee has suggested ending the current federal tax paid by some retirees on up to 85 percent of their benefits. A handful of states also tax the federal retirement benefits that their residents receive. This is the case in Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia. Those nine Social Security taxing states are this weekend’s... Read more →


A few years ago, when housing prices here in Austin kept climbing, the hubby and I hired a company to protest our annual real estate appraisal. That assessment is used to calculate just how big our property tax bill will be. Other factors, such as local tax rates and certain exemptions, also come into play. But if your house is deemed to be worth a whole lot of money, and you’re not planning on selling it for or near that amount, then a generous appraisal will cost you property tax dollars. So, we hired a firm with time and experience... Read more →


UPDATE, Oct. 4, 2024: Parts of two more states, Illinois and Washington, are the latest to get a Feb. 3, 2025, tax deadline extension due to major disasters. Details in this post. UPDATE, Aug. 29, 2024: The U.S. collection of Caribbean islands joins its fellow territory Puerto Rico in getting tax relief due to Tropical Storm Ernesto effects. It also ups the count to 10 of disaster areas across the country that have the new extended, early 2025 tax return due date. The satellite view, courtesy National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NESDIS/STAR GOES-East imagery, of Tropical Storm Ernesto as it... Read more →


UPDATE, Sept. 5, 2025: Has your state joined Direct File? Check out this special Direct File 2025 Participating States page. State participation in the Internal Revenue Service’s Direct File slowly keeps growing. Connecticut and North Carolina are the latest states that will allow some of their taxpayers to use the IRS’ direct tax preparation and e-filing online program next year. They join New Mexico, New Jersey, Oregon, and Pennsylvania as new participants during the 2025 tax filing season. Twelve states — Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. — were part... Read more →


Yes, alligators, like this one enjoying an open water area of the everglades, are as much a cliché as Florida man escapades. But a gator seemed a good emblem for the IRS' persistence in going after a Florida man who evaded millions in taxes for around two decades. (Photo by Kay Bell) This Florida man story is much more serious that the Sunshine State memes you tend to see online. Aug. 13, Roger Whitman pleaded guilty to evading more than $2.4 million in taxes on income he earned from his business. The 76-year-old Ormond Beach, Florida, man’s business was manufacturing... Read more →


A full Cannon River rushing though Northfield, Minnesota, after rainfall from severe storms in June. (National Weather Service photo) It’s been that kind of weather year. The start of a new week brings another Internal Revenue Service announcement of disaster area tax relief. This time, the areas getting special tax consideration were hard hit by severe storms and subsequent flooding in Minnesota. The affected North Star State individual and business taxpayers now have until Feb. 3, 2025, to meet a variety of filing and payment obligations. Affected counties: The destructive weather throughout Minnesota began June 16, and produced damages in... Read more →


The Department of Justice, per a Drug Enforcement Administration request, is moving to transfer of marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III. That decision aligns with the stance of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, and is supported by the Biden Administration. The change would not make cannabis legal nationally. It still will be a controlled substance under federal law. But the recategorization would provide state-legal cannabis businesses some banking access, and the ability to claim some tax breaks they currently are denied. Less of a stigma: Going from Schedule I to Schedule... Read more →


Update, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024 — Hurricane Milton's landfall Oct. 9 on the Florida' central Gulf Coast prompted the IRS to once again move previously announced disaster relief tax deadlines. Now all Sunshine State taxpayers have a May 1, 2025, deadline. Update, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 — Deadly Hurricane Helene has changed deadlines for areas in four states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina — that earlier were in Hurricane Debby’s path. Instead of Debby’s Feb. 3, 2025, deadline, affected taxpayers in those states now have a later Helene-prompted deadline of May 1, 2025. Update, Wednesday, Sept. 18,... Read more →


We had the second U.S. landfall of the 2024 hurricane season today, and federal disaster (and tax) relief is likely to be announced soon. Meanwhile, those who earlier were in the paths of an angry Mother Nature outburst already are facing new tax deadlines, starting with the one this week for those who endured the fires on Maui and Hawai'i's Big Island. The horrific aftermath of the wildfire that destroyed the historic Hawaiian town of Lahaina on Maui last August. (Photo by U.S. Civil Air Patrol via Wikimedia Commons) Hurricane Debby made landfall as a category 1 early Monday, Aug.... Read more →


UPDATE, Sept. 5, 2025: Has your state joined Direct File? Check out this special Direct File 2025 Participating States page. Two more states, New Mexico and Pennsylvania, joined Direct File last week. Direct File is the Internal Revenue Service created no-cost online tax preparation program. Eligible taxpayers can use it prepare and then e-file their annual tax returns for free. It is similar to Free File, the IRS partnership with some in the tax software industry, but Direct File cuts out the private sector and allows taxpayers to take care of filing directly with Uncle Sam. When Direct File launched... 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 →


UPDATE, Sept. 5, 2025: Has your state joined Direct File? Check out this special Direct File 2025 Participating States page. GOP members of congress and the Internal Revenue Service are on a collision course when it comes to the agency’s Direct File program. Republican Reps. Adrian Smith of Nebraska and Chuck Edwards of North Carolina last week introduced legislation to block the IRS from continuing its Direct File program. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department also announced last week that another state has joined the Direct File program for the coming 2025 filing season. New Jersey is the latest jurisdiction to allow... Read more →


UPDATE, Aug. 2, 2024: The The Internal Revenue Service also has granted the delayed Feb. 3, 2025, deadline to taxpayers in separate disaster areas in Kentucky and Missouri. Tax relief for Kentucky applies to those in 58 Blue Grass State counties who were affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, landslides, and mudslides that began on May 21. Similar tax relief is provided Missouri residents in 15 Show Me State counties that sustained damages from severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding that began on May 19. The bold-faced links earlier in this update will take you to the official... Read more →


Photo by Pixabay It’s true that correlation does not imply causation, but some Kentucky data seems to indicate that the Bluegrass State’s decision in 2018 to increase its cigarette tax rate not only boosted the state’s revenue, but also lowered smoking rates. It is also true that Kentucky's initial large tax revenue collection has steadily declined since the latest tax rate hike was implemented. But Kentucky Health News (KHN) reports that the last revenue count from the state’s department of revenue, $270.5 million as of June 30, is still well above the $211.8 million that was collected before the tobacco... Read more →


A view of some of the vast acreage of Big Bend National Park in Brewster County, Texas. (Photo by Kay Bell) This summer, millions of people will visit national parks, forests, and wilderness areas. While the folks who live in near those sites appreciate the associated increase in the local economy, they also pay a price. Land owned by the federal government is generally not subject to taxation by state or local governments. But those jurisdictions still cover services for the tax-exempt U.S. acreage within their borders. Much of the expense is borne by counties that pay for road upkeep,... Read more →


For most U.S. families, summer vacation involves a road trip. Taking to the country’s highways is a chance to enjoy new landscapes, listen to (and sing along with) favorite playlists, and share time with the family. Road trips also mean stops for fuel, both for auto occupants and the vehicle. The good news for summer 2024 drivers is that the cost of gasoline isn’t that bad. AAA data show that the average price of gas as of mid-July is just more than $3.50 a gallon. That’s the same as the average price per gallon in 2023. Motorists in seven states,... 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 →


Next Monday, July 15, is Tax Day for residents of disaster areas in three states. This tax deadline applies to taxpayers affected by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) major disaster declarations in parts of Alaska, Maine, and Rhode Island. The disaster areas are listed below. The bold-type state names are links to the Internal Revenue Service's tax relief announcements for each area. The Wrangell Cooperative Association of Alaska Tribal Nation off coastal Alaska. That area was hit by severe storms, landslides, and mudslides that began on Nov. 20, 2023. Eight counties in Maine that sustained damages from severe storms and... Read more →


Updated Tuesday, July 9, 2024 Residents whose lives are disrupted by a major disaster are targets. So are those who want to help. Either way, don’t become a victim. Hurricane Beryl, the second named storm of the 2024 tropical storm season, made her third landfall early today along the Texas Gulf Coast. The good news is that Beryl was a category 1 when it blasted into the Lone Star State. That's far less powerful than the category 5 it reached on its travel through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The bad news is that Beryl was still a hurricane.... Read more →