Oct. 1: OK, let’s cut to the October chase. The deadline for most procrastinators to file their extended 2023 tax year returns is just 15 days away. Whether you’re just starting on that Form 1040 (really?) or just need to add the finishing touches, check out the ol' blog's monthly tax tip links a bit higher up in this column. The January through April ones that focused on the main Tax Day deadline should be most helpful.
Most taxpayers file electronically, and the Internal Revenue Service’s Free File option is still available through Oct. 15 for taxpayers with adjusted gross income of $79,000 or less, regardless of your filing status.
One of the eight tax software companies participating this year should meet your no-cost filing needs. If your income is too high, you still can file for free by using Free File's Free Forms option.
Oct. 7: Halloween brings us all types of scary situations, but Mother Nature can be a true witch. She showed her dark side late last month as deadly and devastating Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Florida Big Bend, and then barreled through the south. Even as rescue and recovery efforts continue for Helene, our eyes remain on the tropics. Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30 and late-season storms are not uncommon. So, if you haven’t already, make your storm preparations.
We’re still far from the predicted number of tropical systems for the 2024 season. Uncle Sam's official forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center said we could get 17 to 25 total named storms, which are those with winds of 39 mph or higher. Of those, eight to 13 are forecast to become hurricanes, meaning winds of 74 mph or higher. Four to seven becoming major hurricanes; that’s category 3, 4 or 5, with winds of 111 mph or higher.
Here’s hoping their storm predictions were too high. But regardless of the count, it only takes one to wreck your world. So, get ready for whatever dangerous weather that’s common where you live. If that is hurricanes, the countdown clock above can help you keep track of how many more days you have to worry about tracking any size or type of tropical storms. You also might want to check out the ol' blog's special Storm Warnings collection of special pages with posts offer tax advice on preparing for, recovering from, and helping those who sustain damages from the many ways that that weather goes wild.
Oct. 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 get all the tips you deserve for doing your job well. Remember, though, that those tips are taxable income.
Whether you're dining at your favorite eatery 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.
And if you got at least $20 in gratuities in September for your extraordinary services as a food server or hair stylist or parking valet or whatever job where tipping is common, you must report that amount by today. Use Form 4070 to let your employer know the total tips you took in last month.
Oct. 14: Today is the federal Columbus Day holiday. Yes, that is what is still officially on the federal calendar. But many states, cities, and even the White House now also designate today as Indigenous People's Day.
If today is a holiday for you, it’s the perfect time to finish up your extended 2023 tax return. You must get the form to the IRS by tomorrow, or at least have the envelope postmarked 10/15 if you are snail mailing a paper tax return, or you’ll get hit with late-filing and, if you owe more than you paid when you got your extension, late-payment penalties and interest charges. So get to work! See the Oct. 7 info for some help here.
Oct. 15: It’s extension Tax Day!
File. Now!
Oct. 21: With your 2023 tax return finally done, it's time to work on reducing your 2024 tax bill. One way to do that is to reduce your taxable income, but in a way that’s to your benefit. Yes, I’m talking about contributing to your retirement plan(s), either your workplace 401(k) and/or a traditional or Roth IRA .
Oct. 28: Been seeing some frost on the pumpkins or whatever you grow in your yard? That’s a signal to get yourself and your home ready for the coming colder weather. The Inflation Relief Act includes extension of older and addition of new energy-related tax breaks, including some for residential energy improvements.
Oct. 31: Boo and Happy Halloween! No time for taxes today. Got to get your costume ready for tonight’s trick-or-treating with the kiddos, or if you’re on your own, for that theme party with a cauldron of some fitting potent potable! Whichever way you celebrate, have fun and stay safe!
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.
You Bail Them Out, We Opt Out.
Dear, I should say Expensive Chairman Ben S. Bernanke,
All of Our Economic Problems Find They Root in the Existence of Credit.
Out of the $5,000,000,000,000 bail out money for the banks, that is $1,000 for every inhabitant of this planet, what is it exactly that WE, The People, got?
If my bank doesn't pay back its credits, how come I still must pay mines?
If my bank gets 0% Loans, how come I don't?
At the same time, everyday, some of us are losing our home or even our jobs.
Credit discriminates against people of lower economic classes, as such it is unconstitutional, isn't it? It is an supra national stealth weapon of class struggle.
Credit is a predatory practice. When the predator finishes up the preys he starves to death. What did you expect?
Where are you exactly in that food chain?
Credit gets in the way of All the Principles of Equal Opportunity and Free Market.
Credit is a Stealth Weapon of Mass Destruction.
Credit is Mathematically Inept, Morally Unacceptable.
You Bail Them Out, We Opt Out
Opting Out Is Both Free and Strictly Anonymous.
My Solution: The Credit Free, Free Market Economy.
Is Both Dynamic on the Short Run & Stable on the Long Run, The Only Available Short Run Solution.
I Am, Hence, Leading The Exit Out of Credit:
Let me Outline for You my Proposed Strategy:
✔ My Prescription to Preserve Our Belongings.
✔ Our Property Title: Our Free, Strictly Anonymous Right to Opt Out of Credit.
✔ Our Credit Free Money: The Dinar-Shekel AKA The DaSh, Symbol: - .
✔ Asset Transfer - Our Right Grant Operation - Our Wealth Multiplier.
✔ A Specific Application of Employment, Interest and Money.
[A Tract Intended For my Fellows Economists].
If Risk Free Interest Rates Are at 0.00% Doesn't That Mean That Credit is Worthless Already?
Since credit based currencies are managed by setting short-term interest rates, on which you have lost all control, can we still say that are managing?
We Need, Hence, Cancel All Interest Bearing Debt and Abolish Interest Bearing Credit.
In This Age of Turbulence The People Wants an Exit Out of Credit: An Adventure in a New World Economic Order.
The only other option would be to wait till most of the productive assets of the economy get physically destroyed either by war or by rust.
It will be either awfully deadly or dramatically long.
A price none of us can afford to pay.
“The current crisis can be overcome only by developing a sense of common purpose. The alternative to a new international order is chaos.”
- Henry A. Kissinger
What Else?
Until We Succeed the Economy Will Necessarily Keep Sinking Into a Deeper and Deeper Depression
You Bail Them Out, Let's Opt Out!
Check Out How Many of Us Are Already on Their Way to Opt Out of Credit.
Let me provide you with a link to my press release for my open letter to you:
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, Quantitative [Ooops! I Meant Credit] Easing Can't Work!
I am, Mr Chairman, Yours Sincerely [Do I really have the choice?],
Shalom P. Hamou AKA 'MC-Shalom'
Chief Economist - Master Conductor
1 7 7 6 - Annuit Cœptis
Tel: +972 54 441-7640
Fax: +972 3 741-0824
http://edsk.org/
Posted by: MC-Shalom | Sunday, January 25, 2009 at 11:03 AM
Interesting blog. I don't think that raising taxes on the wealthy will necessarily solve this crisis. I wrote a blog entry on this last week, which you might be interested in reading.
Cheers,
Adam Powell
adampowell.com/invest
Posted by: Adam Powell | Friday, January 23, 2009 at 05:34 PM