Category: Government Rebates and Payments

While Congressional Republicans were unable to muster the required majorities to pass several versions of House and Senate health care replacement bills, they were able to include a provision to repeal the individual mandate (i.e. the Obamacare penalty) via successfully passing their GOP tax reform bill to support President Trump’s tax reform…

The IRS has released its latest cost of living adjusted retirement plan contribution limits and qualifying income thresholds for 2021. The table below shows the recent year over year changes. I have also listed expected 2022 changes based on my research and recent inflation figures (which also resulted in a…

The title of this article is from a reader (Barry P.) who had this comment on Trump's proposed tax reforms: I live in Massachusetts and make $61,000.00 annually. I own a home and pay mortgage interest of around $12,000 dollars. My state income taxes and property taxes amount to another…

Will i still have to pay health insurance penalties (under the Obamacare individual mandate) in 2017 or 2018? This is the question a lot of Americans are asking under the House and Senate health care replacement bills. The short answer is NO. In fact both bills repeal the individual mandate…

The Senate has announced their health care plan -  the BETTER CARE RECONCILIATION ACT (BCRA) - which is in line with the house bill, with key changes being made to appease more moderate Republicans. NPR had a nice summary comparing Obamacare, AHCA (House bill) and BCRA (Senate bill) shown in the graphic below.…

With Donald J. Trump now America's 45th president many are now asking if he can bring around the economic change promised while on the campaign trail. A lot of people voted for him as a change agent and from an economic point of view at least are hoping he can…

[Latest Update] The repeal and replacement of Obamacare via the American Health Care Act, the Ryan-Trump administration proposal, is officially on hold following a lack on unity across the Republican party to get the AHCA bill approved in the House. With no Democrat member support, it had to be passed by all…

For the 2015 tax year, the Obamacare or Affordable Care Act (ACA) shared responsibility is set to double from a maximum $975 per household in 2014 to approximately $12,850 per household. This is based on the percentage of income criteria, versus the flat tax/penalty amount outlined below. To avoid being…

** See this article for the latest Earned Income Tax Credit adjustments released by the IRS ____________________________ [Updated following SOTU speech] Following President Obama's state of the union speech and in addition to the items below, he had some good news on expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)  for…

Listed in the table below are the latest maximum weekly unemployment insurance benefit amounts by state, current as of July 2026. The Unemployment Compensation (UC) program is designed to provide benefits to individuals out of work or in between jobs, through no fault of their own. Note that the table…

The Saver's Credit gives lower- and moderate-income workers a direct tax credit — not just a deduction — for contributing to a retirement account. For 2026, the income limits increased across all filing statuses, so more people now qualify than in prior years. The IRS confirmed these thresholds in Notice…

[Update March 31st 2013] Extension to purchase health coverage may now be in the works. The original deadline to purchase coverage, before incurring penalties was March 31st, 2014. But a number of state exchanges, like Covered California said that, "Individuals who start an online application by 11:59 p.m. on March 31, 2014, will have until…

The maximum federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payment for 2026 is $994 a month for an individual and $1,491 a month for a couple, confirmed by the Social Security Administration's 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). That's up from $967 and $1,450 in 2025. Most people don't actually get the maximum. Your…