Category: Taxes and Retirement

Yes, the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) can sometimes get a stuck refund released, but only once the IRS has started processing your return and only when you can show the delay is causing real harm. It's a free, independent organization inside the IRS, with at least one local office in…

The 2027 filing season, when you'll file your 2026 tax return, should open in the last week of January with a deadline of Thursday, April 15, 2027. The IRS confirms the exact opening day in January. Every year I get the same handful of questions from readers gearing up for…

If your refund feels smaller than you expected, you're not imagining it being out of step with the news — average refunds are actually up this filing season, which can make an unchanged or lower refund of your own feel especially confusing. Nationally, the average federal refund reached $3,397 as…

If you owe the IRS or your state after filing, paying by card costs you a convenience fee of 1.75% to 2.95%, depending on the processor and card type. That's the number that should drive this decision, not the rewards points. Cash flow gets tight for a lot of filers…

Tax season stalls out fast when you're missing a document. Here's exactly when to expect each form covering your 2026 income, what it reports, and what to do if February 2027 comes and goes without it. The Full Deadline List for 2027 Filing (2026 Tax Year) Form What It Reports…

Getting a tax refund feels good — it's easy to treat it like a bonus. But a refund is your own money, held by the IRS all year without paying you a cent of interest, then returned to you months later. Here's what that actually costs at today's rates, and…

Sales tax paid on a car purchase is a real, often-overlooked deduction — but it only applies if you itemize, and it comes with a catch that trips people up: you can deduct sales tax paid or state income tax withheld, not both. For years, this deduction mattered less than…

The biggest news for parents this fall: the IRS released the rules for the new Federal Scholarship Tax Credit on October 1, 2026. Starting January 1, 2027, you can give up to $1,700 to an approved scholarship group and get every dollar back as a tax credit. Married couples filing…

If you're past the tax deadline and haven't filed, the single most important thing to know is this: filing late costs far more than paying late. Even if you can't pay your full tax bill, filing your return or an extension on time avoids the harshest IRS penalty. The Two…

If you're self-employed and not taking full advantage of a SEP IRA or Solo 401(k), you're likely leaving a significant amount of tax-deferred savings on the table every year. I've talked to a lot of freelancers and small business owners over the years who are diligently contributing to a regular…

For 2026, the IRA contribution limit is $7,500 — the first increase from the $7,000 limit that held for 2024 and 2025. Whether you're putting money into a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA, that's your combined ceiling across all IRA accounts. The IRS announced this increase in IR-2025-111, along…

The maximum weekly unemployment benefit in California is $450, and it has been stuck at that level since 2005. If you lost a job paying $60,000 a year, that's about $1,154 per week — you'd be capped at less than 40% of what you made. It's a number worth knowing…

Getting through to a live IRS agent has always been a battle, and 2026 hasn't made it easier. Ongoing staffing cuts — accelerated by DOGE-related reductions earlier in the year — have continued to shrink the IRS workforce. At the same time, the IRS is actively pushing taxpayers toward digital…