Money Today That Matters Tomorrow
During the COVID pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) included legislation that provided a “lookback” rule that allowed tax filers to use prior year income levels to calculate qualification for many of the expanded tax credits and stimulus programs. This was done to allow the …
With rising inflation many states are raising the minimum wages for workers, often above the mandated federal minimum. This is good news for lower-income workers, where the minimum wage is barely enough to survive on. Note that the federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 and remains unchanged this year. However …
The election certainly surprised many with Democrats retaining control of the Senate, while Republicans squeaked over the line to take control of the House with a small majority. Per my earlier update below, this does change the calculus of what may happen in the next two years as both parties …
[Updated for projected 2024 Increase] Soaring inflation and related Fed rate hiking actions had a silver lining for many eligible recipients in 2023, with a 8.7% increase (~$145 p/month) in Social Security (SS) benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments in 2023. The 2024 increase however is expected to much smaller as inflation cools, …
Are we headed for a recession or we are already in one? That’s the question many people asking nowadays. Even if your financial situation is relatively stable today, its important to pay attention to the economic headwinds. While we can all hope for the best, we should plan and prepare …
With short-term interest spiking thanks to the Federal reserve’s aggressive rate hiking cycle, the yield on short term treasuries have reached levels not seen in several years. In fact, the rates for the 1 year and 2 year treasury bonds are much higher than the average APY on the highest …
[November Update] With additional funding in place now, the IRS has now hired nearly 5,000 people across their operations and taxpayer assistance centers to deal with filing backlogs, delayed processing and customer service issues. Along with a new IRS commissioner (Danny Werfel) in 2023, the IRS is gearing up for …
Given ongoing processing delays, pandemic constraints, the IRS is providing a one-time relief payment for penalty fees they charged related to late filings of 2019 or 2020 federal returns. The total value of these penalties is estimated at $1.2 billion, meaning millions of tax filers will be getting a IRS refund …
The date for filing a tax return filing extension for the current tax season is April 15th. Maine and Massachusetts have 2 extra days due to state holidays. Not filing for an extension or not paying your tax liability could mean some stiff penalties. Given the ongoing IRS processing delays, …
With pandemic restrictions easing, many IRS offices are reopening to help tax filers struggling to get updates on their tax returns or who have been waiting weeks/months to get their refund payment, including missing stimulus checks and new tax credits. While the IRS says to check online for the latest …
Folks who have been waiting for a long time on their tax return processing and refund status may see transaction code 290 and 291 on their (free) IRS tax transcript once processing is moved forward by the IRS. Per the screenshot below, transaction code 290 will generally be accompanied by …
The Department of Education (DoE) has now provided guidelines and the beta application/website for the one-time Federal Student Loan Debt Relief program. You can see the application, eligibility criteria and how to check debt relief status in the sections below It is recommended that applications be done via the Federal …
Under the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), several new clean energy tax credits and subsidies were funded and/or expanded into the next decade. The goal of these extended and expanded payments is to “green-ify” homes (zero net carbon emission) and make them more energy efficient, which means fewer greenhouse …
Under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the EV Tax Credit was extended for several more years. It will also be expanded to cover both new and used cars. The original EV tax credit, known as the plug-in electric vehicle credit, has been rebranded to the Clean Vehicle Credit (CVC) under …