All tax eyes nowadays are on coronavirus relief measures, both the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act that became law in late March and The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act that passed...

Earlier this year as the coronavirus was surreptitiously infecting Americans, lots of parents were going about their usual business, which included making summer plans for their children. They knew that they needed to get applications to day camps well before school...

Property protection costs: If you have a mortgage, your bank will require you to insure your home in case something terrible happens. Since your financial institution actually owns your home even though you're making monthly payments, it wants some guarantee that...

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...

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....

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...

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,...

More than 80 million stimulus checks went out last week, mostly to people who filed federal 2018 or 2019 returns and had the Internal Revenue Service directly deposit those tax years' refunds. Millions more have been anxiously checking the IRS' Get My Payment...

Parents know that kids are costly. That fiscal fact is especially notable when mom and dad have been laid off during the coronavirus crisis. That's why the Internal Revenue Service is making what it's dubbed the Plus $500 Push. It's an effort to ensure that everyone...

This weekend many businesses and their tax advisers are still trying to sort out the complexities of Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program.  It's part of the $2 trillion federal coronavirus relief package, officially known as the CARES Act,...

The Treasury Department is about to kick off the distribution process that will get some much-needed cash to millions of Americans who are struggling because of COVID-19's effects. The good news is that in most cases, folks eligible for the economic relief payments...

Today is the first day of the 2020 tax filing season and already folks are wanting to know when they're get their refunds. That question is totally understandable. Despite last year's refund confusion caused by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changes, the...

Even before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) greatly increased the standard deduction amounts, most people opted to claim the standard deduction amount. But one thing that the latest tax reform law didn't change is the ability for many to get some added...

Tax season is about to start in a less than two weeks. Jan. 27, in case you forgot. Many of us are already working on our 2019 returns, either by working with a tax preparer or filling out our forms on our own. Doing taxes has never been a fun job for most folks....

You just read my post on tax filing requirements (thanks!) and discovered you don't have to file a Form 1040 this year. So, as fictional television attorney (though not a tax specialist) Jimmy McGill might say, "'S'all good, man." Right? Not necessarily....

The year's first obvious and, for some, painful acknowledgement of taxes is next week. Jan. 15 is the due date for the final estimated tax payment for the 2019 tax year. That upcoming deadline day is this weekend's By the Numbers figure. Generally, if you...

As we head toward the gift-giving season, you may be considering giving gifts of cash or securities to your loved ones. Taxpayers can transfer substantial amounts free of gift taxes to their children and others each year through the use of the annual federal gift tax...

If you’re adopting a child, or you adopted one this year, there may be significant tax benefits available to offset the expenses. For 2019, adoptive parents may be able to claim a nonrefundable credit against their federal tax for up to $14,080 of “qualified adoption...

I don't know who came up with all these holidays in quick succession at the end of each year, but that person needs to be fired. We, and by we I mean U.S. residents since Canadians are smarter about Thanksgiving's timing, have a lot of special days in the last...

Congress finally decorated its Christmas tree early this morning. The ornaments were myriad tax breaks. Or, in some cases, elimination of taxes. With Dec. 25 bearing down and special interest groups sending more requests to Capitol Hill than kiddos' letters to Santa,...

If you moved this year and rely on the U.S. Postal Service for your interactions with the Internal Revenue Service, make sure that agency (among others) is on your list of those who are informed of your new address. I've always been a fan a snail mail. I...