Ho 🎅 Ho 🎅 Ho! You better watch out.
You better not cry. But you better make some year-end tax moves this December or next April 18 (yes, Tax Day is later next year) could turn out to be the tax equivalent of Santa Claus putting coal in your stocking!
Click image to hear a musical Santa message from Bruce Springsteen.OK, St. Nick can't deliver a festively wrapped, already prepared tax return for you (unless he's even more magical than I think!) to file next year, but he does have a tax connection.
Santa's tracking of naughty and nice boys and girls basically is the same method that the Internal Revenue Service uses. That's why we all need to be nice, especially to ourselves, in this final month of the year by making some important tax-saving moves.
Dec. 1: Did you struggle through 2022's tax season? Even though the IRS tried to get things back to more normal after two prior years of
COVID-19 delayed and complicated return filing things were still a mess for many. If that experience made you realize you need professional tax, pandemic or no pandemic, now is the time to
find a tax preparer who can help ensure your return filing next year goes more smoothly. There's also a December bonus. If you a tax pro this month, you might get some year-end tax tips!
Dec. 5: Did you get a part-time
seasonal job this year to earn extra cash for the holidays? Or maybe took on a variety of
gig work to help make up for income lost due to pandemic precaution? Any or all of that extra employment as a
contractor instead of as an employee means you're responsible for paying income taxes due on the money, as well as any
self-employment tax. Now is the time to start gathering those records and tallying this taxable income so you're not surprised at filing time.
Dec. 12: Do you work as a server at a restaurant or at any other establishment where gratuities from customers are part of your compensation? I hope you got lots of financial thanks for doing your job well, but remember that those
tips are taxable income.
Whether you're dining in or getting food delivered to your home, if a tip isn't included on your restaurant or delivery bill, click the image above to calculate how much to tip the person who brought it to you.
If you got at least $20 in gratuities in November, you must account for the tips today by using
Form 4070 to report last month's tips total to your employer. Today.
Dec. 15: Christmas is just 10 days away! Are you still shopping for gifts? This year, you're probably doing more search for the perfect present online. But beware and wary. Crooks are looking to
steal your money and identity, using many of the techniques they employ in tax scams. By stealing your personal information now, the ID thieves also can use it at tax time to file a fake return in your name and claim a fraudulent refund. So be careful out there, now and next filing season, and, well, unfortunately all the time.
Dec. 20: It's Christmas Week! That means holiday treats, final decorations — or first, if you wait until the very end to get a tree — and frantic last-minute shopping! Although more are heading to shopping centers, continuing COVID concerns (thanks, no thanks, yet more Omicron variants) mean a lot of us are still shopping online, even with the cyber crime concerns. Rather than worry about how you'll get the perfect gift, instead consider some easy tax-favored gifts. Open a
Roth IRA for your child or grandchild who earned some money this year. Or
pay tuition for classes that will start in the first quarter of 2023 by Dec. 31, then use those costs to claim the
American Opportunity Tax Credit.
Dec. 24: Christmas Eve!
No taxes tonight. It's early to bed for kiddies of all ages. Santa's on his way!
Click image to watch
Santa's delivery route as tracked by NORAD.Dec. 25: Merry Christmas! My gift to you is another day without tax thoughts.
Just enjoy the holiday and your family and friends.
Dec. 26: Happy
Boxing Day. This unofficial holiday on
St. Stephen's Day is celebrated by additional giving. If you donate to your favorite charity on this Boxing Day or any other day by Dec. 31, on your 2022 taxes you'll have to itemize your gifts on Schedule A to claim them. The option to claim a limited amount
directly on your Form 1040 expired at the end of 2021. What didn't expire is the IRS'
donation tax rules.
Dec. 31: This is it. The drop-dead deadline to make most 2022 tax moves. A quick and easy action today is to zero out your
medical flexible spending account (FSA). This is especially important if your employer doesn't offer a
grace period to use the money or let you
roll it over into 2023. Without those alternatives, you'll
lose any FSA funds you don't use Done? Great! Make sure the champagne is chilling and settle in for your New Year's Eve party, either as a vaccinated reveler or, if you're still a bit leery because of yet more COVID variants, via remote celebrations. Either way, cheers and
Auld Lang Syne as the ball drops at midnight.
Small Business Tax Calendar: Important
filing, deposit and record keeping dates throughout the year that your company needs to know. You can get more tax calendar information at the IRS'
online calendar page and view the full year's important business and individual tax dates in
IRS Pub. 509.
Sorry, couldn't resist. I'm just using a pitifully poor joke to temper my sadness that the International Astronomical Union, instead of going with the proposal that would have made our solar system larger by three orbs (mentioned earlier today in my post "Taxonia"), opted instead to deplanetize poor Pluto.
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