Updated, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 Millions of taxpayers already are filling out their 2024 tax returns. Now they just need to know when the Internal Revenue Service will start processing them. On Friday, Jan. 10, Free File opens. The no-cost online tax preparation and e-filing option can be used by taxpayers whose adjusted gross income (AGI) is $84,000 or less. Business taxpayers will be able to electronically file their returns on Jan. 15. As for individual filers who make more than the Free File AGI threshold, they can start using Free File's Fillable Forms on Jan. 27. That date follows... Read more →
U.S. Holiday
AARP While we were ringing in 2025, some new tax laws took effect when the clock officially clicked over to Jan. 1. Since I know many of you, and by you I mean me, have hangovers from eating, drinking and/or just plain staying up way past your normal bedtime last night (I'm guilty of all three!), I’m going to ease into the tax news on this first day of the brand New Year. I’m starting with a couple of reminders of tax changes announced as last year was winding down. You got it. The Internal Revenue Service's annual inflation adjustments... Read more →
No tax talk today. Just some personal shots of our Christmas decorations, starting, of course, with the tree, which the hubby so expertly takes care of each year. Then, scattered around the house, wreaths … … and our Texas nativity with a Mexican folk art armadillo getting in on the greeting of the Christ Child … … and me in my traditional Santa sweatshirt! I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Read more →
My phone is blowing up today, with every app suggesting that if I’m stumped for a present or two, considering giving a digital gift card from their establishment. Ditto my email. It’s not a bad idea. But the key here is to make sure that the gift card is real. So, on this Christmas Eve I’m harking back not to herald angels, but to my post earlier this month noting that gift cards are for good boys and girls, not to pay IRS tax bills. Avoid gift card scams: That post looks at how crooks tamper with actual plastic gift... Read more →
Our Christmas traditions include hanging on our tree all the U.S. Capitol ornaments we collected during our years in the Washington,D.C., area. (Photo by Kay Bell) Christmas is just days away. As long-time readers of the ol' blog know, I love this holiday. And like millions of others worldwide, the hubby and I enjoy our holiday traditions. One of them is watching Christmas movies. A particular favorite is “A Christmas Carol.” It even has a passing reference to taxes. A classic's tax reference: In the classic Charles Dickens' novella and subsequent cinematic representations, the infamous penny pincher Ebenezer Scrooge rebuffs... Read more →
Prescription copays are a common way to spend flexible spending account (FSA) money, but there are lots of other options to use so you don't lose the tax-favored funds. Your most important list this time of year is the one detailing all the Christmas gifts you’ve got to find by Dec. 25. But you also need to make another for flexible spending account eligible items you need to buy by Dec. 31. A medical flexible spending account, or FSA as it’s usually referred to, is workplace benefit that allows you to set aside some pre-tax money from each paycheck. Then... Read more →
Giving the perfect Christmas gift for your true love can be better than receiving a present. It also can be costly if you use "The 12 Days of Christmas" lyrics as your shopping list! Stubborn inflation means a costlier holiday season. That’s especially true of Christmas gift givers who follow the True Love shopping list in the classic carol The Twelve Days of Christmas. The 41st annual PNC Bank Christmas Price Index® (PNC CPI), which is based on a whimsical tabulation of the price to gift all dozen items in the song, rose 5.4 percent. That’s double last year's 2.7... Read more →
Stumped when it comes to some Christmas presents? It can happen to even the most experienced gift-giver. Here are some tax-related suggestions that might help you be a good Tax Santa this year. Not that anyone is counting, but Christmas is just two weeks away. OK, we’re all counting. And some of us are freaking out a little bit over what to get certain people in our lives. If you, like me, haven’t finished your holiday shopping, here are five financial gifts, some with Internal Revenue Code benefits, that could help you be a great Tax Santa. Open a Roth... Read more →
Okay, one more turkey, but the Thanksgiving dinner version. To go along with the leftovers from this meal, below is a wrap-up (sans foil) of last week’s Five Tax Turkeys to Avoid. (Photo by cottonbro studio) How are you doing this post-Thanksgiving weekend? Still feeling a bit stuffed, and now looking at way too many leftovers? With the 2024 calendar pushing Turkey Day to the end of November, maybe you can repurpose some of the excess food for the Christmas gathering that will be upon us in less than a month. But rather than worry right now about the next... Read more →
Five turkeys might not technically be enough to be classified a rafter or gang or death row of turkeys — and yes, all are among the many collective nouns for a gathering of this particular fowl — but these birds represent today's fifth and final Tax Turkey to Avoid. (Photo by Chris Henry on Unsplash) Are you enjoying your Thanksgiving break? Maybe time off from work this week has you thinking about when you can leave the 9-to-5 completely. Whenever that happens, you’ll want to have enough of a nest egg to enjoy your retirement. That will be possible if... Read more →
In addition to donating cash to your favorite charity, there are other ways to give. Here are three alternative charitable giving options. (Photo by Mark John Hilario) 🦃 Happy 🍗 Thanksgiving! 🦃 Millions of Americans gather today with family and friends to give thanks for all the good things in their lives. This November holiday also is a major fundraising time for charities. Donations to nonprofits that help those in need — shelters, food banks and other meal programs, support services for those needing special services — increase this time of year. Technically, these donations could provide donors a tax... Read more →
You need to get your medical flexible spending account (FSA) expenditures in a row so you don’t lose any of the tax-favored account money. (Photo by Jackie A) Thanksgiving get-togethers can be wonderful. They also can be stressful. And in many cases, literally painful. There are headaches caused by traffic hassles, anxiety prompted by annoying relatives, indigestion from over eating, and back pain from sleeping on that horrid bed in your parent’s guest room. The good news is that you can use your flexible spending account (FSA) funds to pay for the Tums, aspirin, or whatever over-the-counter (OTC) remedies make... Read more →
You have two main deduction options when you file, standard or itemizing. This gobbler duo represents that choice, which you make each year, based on which gives you the most beneficial tax result. You can make sure you make the most of your deductions by having a bunching strategy. (Photo by sterlinglanier Lanier on Unsplash) Deductions are one way to trim you tax bill. But since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 essentially doubled the standard deduction amounts, most taxpayers claim that set amount instead of collecting receipts and itemizing. That’s the wisest tax move for most... Read more →
This showy Texas turkey, not to be confused with music icon Bob Wills' Turkey, Texas, hometown, is a spectacular representation of the ol’ blog’s first tax turkey to avoid this holiday season, or any time of year. It’s Thanksgiving week. Most Americans are looking forward to the upcoming fourth Thursday in November, when they’ll gather to share food and fun with family and friends. A turkey will be the featured food on most tables, a tradition dating from the turn of the 19th century. But turkey also is disparaging slang for loser. Tax turkeys, in addition to being unwanted, can... Read more →
The construction sector is one of the areas in which veteran-owned companies play a major role. Veterans Day is tomorrow, Nov. 11. This solemn day is one of the few federal holidays that isn't shifted to Monday. It is always commemorated on Nov. 11 because the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 was the specific moment marking the armistice between World War I's Allied forces and Germany, ending the fighting on the Western Front. The Veterans Day date has held firm, but its focus was expanded in 1954. That year, at the urging of... Read more →
Updated, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024 Tuesday, Oct. 15, is Tax Day again, this time for most taxpayers who got an extension to file their annual tax return. (Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich) Another Monday holiday has come and gone. At the federal level, yesterday was Columbus Day. But some states and localities instead celebrated Indigenous Peoples' Day. Even the White House recognizes both, issuing separate proclamations for Christopher Columbus’ landing in the Americas and the native people already here. Technically, Columbus Day still is a legal holiday, meaning U.S. government workers had the day off and no mail was delivered. But... Read more →
Updated Oct. 3, 2024, to include tax relief in newly declared major disaster areas. Photo by Vlad Chețan October is a scary month. Of course, there’s Halloween. As an adult, I’ve learned one of the most frightening things is a bad Oct. 31 costume party! It’s also the time of year when weather turns colder, sending a chill along the spines of those (me!) who prefer warmer weather. And scariest of all, it’s the start of the final quarter of the annual tax year. If you got a filing extension, you’ve got to face your fears and submit that extended... Read more →
Labor Day isn't a holiday for some workers. They are on the job helping customers. (Photo by Ron Lach) Happy Labor Day! This holiday, which we celebrate with a three-day weekend, was created in the late 1800s to “recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.” States were the first to officially adopt the holiday. New York led the way as the first state to introduce a bill, but Oregon was the first to pass a law, on February 21, 1887, recognizing Labor Day. That year, four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and... Read more →
Photo by Rene Bernal on Unsplash Happy Independence Day, America! Or as we call it at our house, the July 3 Until Whenever Our Neighbors' Fireworks Stash Is Fully Exploded holiday. Yep, residents of our suburban enclave started celebrating last night. It's an annual dress rehearsal for the full array of pyrotechnics today. And it continues for days. I’m sure the hubby and I are not alone. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, private display of certain types of fireworks are legal. Which jurisdiction is the outlier? Massachusetts is the only U.S. state where it is illegal to... Read more →
Unsplash+ in collaboration with Leire Cavia Juneteenth commemorates a key stage in the end of slavery, June, 19, 1865. That’s the day when official word arrived in Galveston, Texas, that President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation 2½ years earlier. But even as we celebrate the newest U.S. federal holiday, we are aware that work remains to ensure fairness throughout the country. The latest challenge involves Fearless Funds, an Atlanta-based venture capital (VC) firm's nonprofit grant program. Grant issuance was halted this month by a federal appeals court panel ruling. Grants program, lawsuit background: Fearless Funds was sued last... Read more →