fbpx
7 ways to pay your tax bill due July 15

7 ways to pay your tax bill due July 15

We're into the home stretch of the coronavirus extended 2020 tax season. That means that millions of taxpayers (or their tax preparers) are working on 2019 returns or extensions to finish up those 1040s. While you can send the Internal Revenue Service Form...

IRS allows RMD reversal through Aug. 31

IRS allows RMD reversal through Aug. 31

The last few months have been interesting for older individuals exploring ways to make the most of their retirement money. This demographic got some more, and mostly good, news again this week. The Internal Revenue Service has decided they now have more time to return...

TIGTA says IRS needs to get tougher delinquent tax pros

TIGTA says IRS needs to get tougher delinquent tax pros

Tax professionals have always played an important role in the lives of taxpayers. Their value has been underscored during coronavirus tax time, with the many new COVID-19 tax laws. (Yes, I'm looking at you Paycheck Protection Program.) But, as with just about...

Interest offers tax savings, costs and more forms

Interest offers tax savings, costs and more forms

We're heading, finally, into the heart of tax return filing season 2020. Even if you fill out and submit your Form 1040 electronically, as most of us do, you still need the documents that provide the figures you transfer to your return. One area of interest to...

How Estimated Quarterly Taxes Work

How Estimated Quarterly Taxes Work

Depending on the sort of work you do or how you’re paid, you might need to settle your tax bill via estimated quarterly taxes. Some tax rules have changed due to coronavirus As part of the U.S. government's ongoing response to the coronavirus, the tax deadline is now...

Taxpayer Advocate not taking coronavirus payment cases

Taxpayer Advocate not taking coronavirus payment cases

Millions of folks — around 152 million of us, by the Internal Revenue Service's latest count — have received COVID-19 economic impact payments, or EIPs as they are called in the acronym crazy federal government (and tax) world. The payments of up to $1,200...

IRS to start accepting some e-filed amended returns

IRS to start accepting some e-filed amended returns

As long as I've been blogging about taxes, I've included in every post about correcting previous tax filings some version of this instruction — An amended return cannot be filed electronically. You must use snail mail, using the appropriate address shown in...

HSA contributions offer tax savings, but add to filing time

HSA contributions offer tax savings, but add to filing time

I've been rearranging some upcoming doctors' appoints that I made months ago, well before anyone had heard of COVID-19, much less watched as it overtook our lives. A couple were able to be conducted as teleconferences with my physicians. Some, however, require...

Remembering military families, too, on Memorial Day 2020

Remembering military families, too, on Memorial Day 2020

Memorial Day 2020 has an added poignancy. This solemn day to commemorate those who gave their lives in military service to the United States is overshadowed by the coronavirus. Almost 100,000 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded, with reporters often...

COVID-19 economic relief debit cards are in the mail

COVID-19 economic relief debit cards are in the mail

Americans are plastic addicts. I'm not just talking packaging. We depend on plastic payments, aka credit and debit cards. That financial transaction method has made its way into the COVID-19 economic impact payment (EIP) distribution. This week, the Internal Revenue...

Sharing mom’s love with good causes on Mother’s Day

Sharing mom’s love with good causes on Mother’s Day

It's Mother's Day 2020. This holiday, first celebrated regionally in 1908 before going nationwide six years later, usually means that children spend the day with their moms. Such closeness, however, has been happening every day for weeks for many families....

IRS ‘People First’ COVID-19 effort eases collections, audits

IRS ‘People First’ COVID-19 effort eases collections, audits

You've been sheltering in place. You've applied for unemployment benefits. You're alternately checking your bank account and the Internal Revenue Service's Get My Payment online search tool (good luck!) for your COVID-19 economic relief payment. And then...

EITC filers have more time to answer claim questions

EITC filers have more time to answer claim questions

When your job doesn't pay much, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can be a big help. This tax break for lower- and middle-income workers has been a part of the tax code since 1975's Tax Reduction Act. It was a logical extension of the 1960s-era War on Poverty,...