These pups probably would be cooler in the air conditioned inside, instead of atop the cooling unit’s condenser. Everyone, including our furry family members, need to find ways to stay cool during the summer so as not to become victims of the heat. It’s officially summer and Mother Nature is not wasting any time. Summer 2025 is starting with sweltering heat across the central and eastern United States. Many escape hot temperatures by heading to the beach or cooler mountain areas. Those who stay closer to home can go to the movies, wander shopping malls (yes, some still exist), or... Read more →
Weather
If the White House goes through with its plan to phase out the current federal disaster relief program, states will have to cover more costs of storm damages, like those in Keaton Beach, Florida, when Hurricane Helene made landfall there on Sept. 25, 2024. (Photo: Florida National Guard) Forecasters from both the federally-funded National Hurricane Center and private weather services predicted the 2025 hurricane season would be active. That might well happen since the tropical season that started June 1 runs through Nov. 30. But so far, we’re off to a quiet start. Fewer than forecast storms always are welcome.... Read more →
Image by Tabea from Pixabay June is here. Summer officially arrives in a few weeks. Are you ready? Summer’s supposed to be the peak leisure season, but it takes some work. There are vacation plans to make. If you’ve got children, you’re probably ironing out day camp details. And, of course, you have made your June tax moves list, right? Oh, you don’t have taxes on your June to-do list? Sure, taking care of tax matters definitely isn’t the day at the beach you want. But some summer tax moves can help make next year’s filing easier, and potentially less... Read more →
Hurricane Milton as seen by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-16 satellite on Oct. 8, 2024. (Image credit: NOAA) Wild, and wildly destructively weather can happen any time, any place. But there’s one natural catastrophe that gets its own season, and it's almost here. The annual Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. That starting date is less that week away, and if you’re not already prepared for potential storms, now is the time to do so. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is once again predicting above-normal hurricane activity. For... Read more →
Photo by Los Muertos Crew This week in Austin is hot, and I'm not talking about one of the state capital's many music or technology or film or other festivals. It's going to be weather hot. Like sunny and 105 degrees hot tomorrow, according to forecasters. If that happens, it will break by a degree the record for May heat. I know, lots of places deal with extreme heat. Those residents also tend to face utility issues, like brown- or blackouts, when the temperatures put pressure on the electric grids. That’s why many across the nation have opted for their... Read more →
North Carolina filers originally facing next month's filing deadline now have until Sept. 25 to complete their tax obligations. Hurricane Helene was responsible for extreme flooding last September in Burke County, North Carolina. Taxpayers in the Tar Heel State were among those granted more time by the Internal Revenue Service to file their 2024 tax returns and pay any due tax. (Photo by NCDOTcommunications, CC BY 2.0) Hurricane season 2025 has yet to start, but the effects from last year’s major Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico storms is still being felt by many across the southern and southeastern part of... Read more →
Instead of my usual weekend watching of sports, I’m glued to the Weather Channel. There’s a dangerous and already deadly tornado outbreak rumbling across the south this afternoon. This year is turning out to be awful as far as severe weather and other disasters. We had Southern California’s wildfires in January. In February, a severe winter storm wreaked havoc and left parts of Kentucky and West Virginia deemed major disaster areas. Now, with spring officially here, the severe thunderstorm/tornado season is off to an unfortunately robust start. Billion-dollar disasters in 2024: All this is happening on the heels of a... Read more →
When severe weather leads to major disaster declarations, the tax obligations of the residents dealing with the aftermath also are affected. The Internal Revenue Service regularly announces tax relief for those taxpayers, including later filing deadlines. One of those delayed tax due dates is Monday, Feb. 3. Taxpayers in 14 states and two U.S. island territories who were struck by devastating hurricanes, floods, and various other lashings from an irate Mother Nature last year were given more time to file their 2023 tax returns for which they had received an extension. So, instead of having get their 2023 tax year... Read more →
Tropical Storm Ernesto's battering of the U.S. Virgin Islands was one of the major disasters last year that led to tax deadlines being postponed until 2025. USVI filers and those in other disaster areas across the country are facing a Feb. 3 deadline. (NOAA-GOES satellite image) If you follow me on social media, thanks. And thanks especially for putting up with my whining about the recent cold spell here in Central Texas. To be honest, it’s nothing like the prolonged freezes of a few years ago. I also realize that other parts of the Lone Star State and the country... Read more →
The first group of taxpayers in 14 states and two U.S. island territories hit by declared major disasters must get their forms to the IRS by Feb. 3. Residents in the other 10 states have until May 1. Photo by Analogue Kid at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 Much of the United States is facing the first weather catastrophe of the new year. A brutal winter storm is forecast to sweep through a 1,300-mile swath of the country, leaving an estimated 62 million people to deal with heavy snow, ice, rain, and severe thunderstorms. This early 2025 burst of anger... Read more →
UPDATE, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024: President Joe Biden today signed into law H.R. 5863, the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2023, which provides tax relief with respect to certain federal major disasters. Wildfires to the west, hurricanes to the east. An array of major disasters now are covered under a tax relief bill that, after more than a year, finally will be law. (Photo by Caleb Cook on Unsplash) A long-awaited disaster relief finally is headed to the White House, where President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law and was signed into law by President Joe... Read more →
Infrared satellite view of Hurricane Storm Rafael on late afternoon Nov. 5, 2024, (Image via National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) I apologize to all who live along the Gulf Coast. When I mentioned in the ol' blog's November tax moves column there to the right that we'd already hit the range of hurricanes predicted this year by Uncle Sam's forecasters, it crossed my mind I might jinx things. Not that I think I have that kind of power, but just days later Tropical Storm Rafael formed. This evening, he strengthened to Hurricane Rafael, so make of it what you will.... Read more →
And the disasters (and tax relief) keep coming. A glacial lake outburst in the Juneau, Alaska, area in August produced flooding in the state capital, prompting a major disaster declaration and a new May 1, 2025, tax deadline. Homes and roads in northern Juneau, Alaska, were inundated on August 8, as flood waters overtopped the banks of the Mendenhall River. The flood was caused by glacial lake outburst from Mendenhall Glacier near the Alaskan state capital. A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) time-lapse video from May 1 to Aug. 7 captures the dramatic rise and fall of water levels in Suicide... Read more →
Hurricane Milton seen from the International Space Station on Oct. 8 as it approached the Big Bend of Florida. Milton made landfall as a Category 3 near Siesta Key late Oct. 9. (Photo by NASA/Michael Barratt, Public Domain) It’s been a horrific hurricane season. More than 300 people have lost their lives due to storms in the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Millions in the United States alone have lost at least some property. Some have lost everything. Federal officials are offering assistance to hurricane victims, but misinformation has created problems in delivering that help. The Federal Emergency Management... Read more →
Update, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024: The Internal Revenue Service today announced disaster tax relief and a Feb. 3, 2025, deadline for individuals and businesses of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in the state of Arizona who were affected by a wildfire that ignited in July. Photo by Matt Howard on Unsplash Hurricane Helene, and now Hurricane Milton, and their deadly aftermath have, naturally, garnered most attention. But other parts of the United States also have been hit by disasters. Wildfires erupted on June 22 in parts of Washington state. Less than a month later, on July 10, the lands of... Read more →
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Weather Service The people whose lives have been devastated by Hurricane Helene obviously are not thinking about taxes. But the Internal Revenue Service has acted to officially ensure that they don’t have to worry about this for a while. The IRS has announced disaster tax relief for all individuals and businesses in seven states that were affected by the deadly hurricane, which made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend as a category 4 and then proceeded to wreak havoc across the south. Major disaster declarations have been issued by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the... Read more →
UPDATE, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024 — Glacial outburst flooding in Alaska in early August means Juneau filers have a May 1, 2025, tax relief deadline for a variety of tax filings and payments, including September's estimated amount. 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, 2024:The IRS today announced... 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 →
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 →
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 →