🎆 Happy 🎉 New 🥂 Year! 🎆 via GIPHY
Hello 2023! I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you! I know, I said that about 2021 and 2022, but I really, really mean it. And I'm hoping you reciprocate, you brand spanking new year, on the personal front by letting go of COVID-19, and, on the tax side, by making this the year that taxes also get back to normal. Don't laugh. A gal can hope!
Jan. 1: Once more for the official date — Happy New Year! One way to make things more enjoyable on the tax front is to get organized this month. Early this month. It will help you keep track of the myriad tax documents — W-2 earnings statements, 1099 forms, charitable donation receipts, year-end account statements — that will soon be on their way to your email or snail mail box. You'll need those (and more) to file your 2022 tax return as soon as the Internal Revenue Service starts accepting them.
Jan. 3: It's the first official work day of 2023. It's also a deadline for employers, including those who are self-employed, who took advantage of the COVID relief option in 2021 to defer the employer's portion of the Social Security payroll tax; that's 6.2 percent of each worker's wages. If you didn't remit thr taxes before the end of December, today is the absolute final due date for paying the balance of those postponed tax collections.
Jan. 6: It's Friday, the end of the first holiday-shortened work week of 2023. Even though most of us are thinking about filing our 2022 returns when the IRS opens filing season later this month, we also need to start our 2023 tax planning. Start with the inflation adjustments that apply to a variety of tax situations. You can find this year's figures in the ol' blog's 10-part tax inflation series.
Jan. 9: Tonight, TCU's Horned Frogs and Georgia's Bulldogs face off at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles to decide the men's college football championship. Thousands of fans are rooting for their teams. Even more people with no personal connections are betting on the game, thanks to the Supreme Court's 2018 ruling to allow states to accept sports wagers. If you're one of those bettors and your pick pays off, remember that you'll owe taxes on your winnings. The good news is that you won't have to share your luck with Uncle Sam until you file your 2023 return next year. The better news is that there are ways to reduce your taxable winnings.
Jan. 10: 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, still COVID leery and 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.
Jan. 13: It's the first Friday the 13th of 2023. That might not worry you, but even non-superstitious folks are frightened a bit by taxes. However, on this or any other day, don't fear, or fall for, these
13 scary, but wrong, tax myths.
Jan. 16: Every
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, millions of people commit to a
day of service.
Click image to find out ways
you can volunteer on MLK Day. Taking time on the Rev. Dr. King's holiday to volunteer at a charity isn't tax deductible, but some costs associated with
volunteering could help reduce your tax bill if you itemize.
Jan. 17: Today is the due date for the final
estimated tax tax payment for the 2022 tax year. It's usually on the 15th, but that fell on Sunday. Then Monday was the federal MLK Day holiday. So the final estimated tax payment deadline was shifted to the next business day, Tuesday, Jan. 17.
Jan. 17: This date isn't firm yet, but the IRS and its Free File Alliance partners usually offer their no-cost online tax preparation and electronic filing program Free File around the middle of January. When the special
Free File website at IRS.gov is available, take advantage of it if you qualify.
Free File last year was open to taxpayers whose adjusted gross income was $73,000 or less, but that earnings limit should be bumped up a bit for the 2023 filing season. Whatever the amount, the income level applies to all
filing statuses.
Jan. 23: If you make too much to use Free File, and don't want to use its Free Forms option, you always can purchase your own tax prep software or high a tax pro to handle your taxes. If you looking to hire someone, get to it now. At this point, if you can
find a tax preparer taking new clients, you'll be at the end of the filings list. But at least you'll be on the list.
Jan. 27: It was this week last year that the IRS started accepting and, more importantly, processing tax year returns. If you plan to be among the earliest of filers, you need to make sure you have all the necessary information and documentation. Check out
this list of the statements, documents, and forms you'll need before you start work on your return.
Jan. 31: Wow! The first month of 2023 is over? Time really does fly when you're having tax fun. We'll keep it going here in this new year with new Tax Moves to Make each month, which you also can find on their monthly tax tips pages.
January already is filling up!
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.
Despite Texas coming in number one in this analysis, I'm happy to report that our school district tax rate
has dropped a bit from last year. So our combined 2007 property tax bill should
be a little smaller. 
I live 75 miles east of St. Louis in Southern Illinois, which is for the most part an economically depressed area. Med. Income around low $20's.
I live in a town of 16,000 people, and our property taxes here are atrocious. I have friends who have had their home on the market for 3 years, a lot of interested parties, until they see the property tax bill, no thanks. The homes aren't appreciating much in value either. My taxes for a 2900 sq. ft. home were over $8000. I could live for less in a City with a lot more to offer, than what I pay to live here. Our schools have failed to met the Average Yearly Progress for the last 2 years, yet the taxes increase every year, so I pay more and get less. As a point of reference, property taxes in the Chicago area, are on average less than in our fair city south. Less population = more taxes.
Posted by: MW - (Fed-Up with Taxes in Mousetown) | Monday, October 08, 2007 at 03:59 PM
Unfortunately this argument does not include state income taxes. Since state income taxes range from 1% to 4% of income (vs property value), it is difficult to compare apples to apples. What would truly be valuable would be a chart that compared the cost to live in each state for someone making $200,000 per year and living in a $500,000 home.
Posted by: Randy Walker | Monday, October 08, 2007 at 03:20 PM
The piece about taxes in Texas brought back not so fond memories of living in the Austin area. Currently, I'm in Key West and have a house roughly 3 times the value of my old house back in Austin. My current tax bill is still about $300 less per year than the TX house. I still maintain a lake house outside Austin and it's tax bill is about the same as mine here in FL. Like Texas, Florida has no state income tax and our sales tax is 6.5% so I'm not sure what makes up the difference or where the money goes, but it might be a good question to ask.
Posted by: Jeff R in Key West | Monday, October 08, 2007 at 02:48 PM
I live in TX (#1 on the list above), and my parents live in AL (#49 on the list). In fact I pay around double the property taxes they pay. That doesn't sound too crazy until you realize that I live in a 792 SF condo and they live in a 10,000SF house worth almost 10 times what my property is valued! But thank God I don't live in NY or NJ where people who inherit paid off homes are forced to sell because they can't afford the property taxes.
Posted by: Meg | Sunday, October 07, 2007 at 01:50 PM