Sept. 1: Today is Meteorological Fall, the three months from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30 when days get shorter and cooler, but not cold. It's also the start of the annual National Preparedness Month. This year’s theme is “Start a Conversation,” since it's important to talk with your loved ones about potential emergencies. It's also critical to be prepared, as the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico hurricane season usually peaks in September.
We’ve already had three tropical systems do enough damage to prompt Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) major disaster declarations. The 2024 tropical storm season’s second named storm, Hurricane Beryl, landed as “just” a category 1 on the Texas coast, but still took 38 souls and left Lone Star State residents facing an estimated $30 billion in damages.
Hurricane Debby made two U.S. landfalls, in the Big Bend area of Florida and then again in South Carolina before moving up the Eastern Seaboard, producing disaster declarations all the way up to Vermont. Tropical Storm Ernesto, followed, slamming the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as spawning deadly rip tides along East Coast beaches as the storm moved toward Bermuda.
And, coinciding with Meteorological Fall, we’ve still got three months of the 2024 hurricane season to go!
That has coastal residents on edge, since Uncle Sam's official forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center say 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.
Regardless of the count, it only takes one to wreck your world. If you haven’t already, get ready for not just tropical systems, but whatever dangerous weather that’s common where you live. 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.
Sept. 2: Happy Labor Day! This annual celebration of workers' contributions is a federal holiday and day off for many.
When you get back to work after this three day holiday, take a few minutes to check the federal tax amount that’s coming out of your paychecks. If you need to adjust your withholding so that you have the most accurate amount of taxes withheld, now is the time to do that. Submitting a new W-4 early this month will mean any changes are spread over the last four months of the year, making any impact less noticeable.
Sept. 3: If you live in Auglaize, Crawford, Darke, Delaware, Hancock, Licking, Logan, Mercer, Miami, Richland, or Union counties in Ohio, today is your Tax Day. The Internal Revenue Service granted individual and businesses in those counties tax relief since they were declared major disaster areas following a tornado outbreak in March.
Sept. 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 August 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.
Sept. 16: Today is the deadline to pay your third installment of estimated taxes. This tax is due on income that’s not subject to withholding, such as investment earnings or contract work. Most estimated tax filers make the payments four times a year. The September payment is for such earnings received in June, July, and August. It’s usually on the 15th, but since that was Sunday, the deadline is pushed to the next business day — today!
Sept. 23:
Sept. 22: The Autumnal Equinox arrives today at 8:44 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time in the Northern Hemisphere, marking the first day of Fall for all us who don't follow the meteorological fall calendar. Adjust for your time zone, since the equinox occurs at the same moment worldwide. It's also a go-to day to think about home maintenance that will help you weather 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.
Sept. 30: Wow! Where did September go? That’s a good question to ask if you got an extension to file your 2023 tax return earlier this year. The last day of this ninth month means that your absolutely final Oct. 15 due day is another month closer. So you might want to get to work on that Form 1040 now. The easiest way to do do is to use tax software and electronically file.
If your adjusted gross income is $79,000 or less, you should check into Free File, the no-cost online tax preparation and electronic filing program offered by the IRS and its Free File Alliance partners. It’s open through the Oct. 15 extension deadline. This year, eight tax software companies offer programs to qualifying taxpayers.
Note that the Free File $79,000 or less income threshold applies to all filing statuses. If your income is too high, you still can file for free by using Free File's Free Forms option.
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.
Larry, sorry but this option expired at the end of 2009 and wasn't extended for the 2010 tax year.
Posted by: Kay | Saturday, February 12, 2011 at 01:42 AM
The Schedule L for 2010 returns does not include real estate taxes. Where does one insert the $500 or $1000 real estate tax deduction?
Posted by: Larry | Friday, February 11, 2011 at 09:06 PM
Is there a worksheet for Schedule L ?
Posted by: Ollie Canfield | Wednesday, February 09, 2011 at 11:30 AM
Thank you! Trust me, I know how you can look at things too long. I take two or three days to finish our taxes; do them, take a break, check again. Always something new!Glad it all worked out for you and your mom.
Posted by: Kay | Friday, February 19, 2010 at 09:44 PM
Kay, you are a sweetheart! Between my own taxes and my mom's, I think my eyes have seen too much this year! When I checked "No" on line 2, I was supposed to skip line 3 and go straight to line 5. I ended up putting the $950 from line 3 where the $5700 should go on line 4. And now I'm all "lined" out for the evening! You were right, I just needed to take another look at it. Believe it or not, I've been doing this stuff for many years!
Anyway, thanks again, very much appreciated!
Posted by: Brian | Friday, February 19, 2010 at 09:33 PM
Brian,
Schedule L asks for the standard deduction amount to start with (line 1), as well as adds in the extra for older and/or blind filers (line 5). So your total should have been more than the $2,850 you came up with since the standard amount for a single filer starts at $5,700. Did you fill out the full form, or just lines related to the property tax? You need to complete the full form, so I suggest working through it again. Don't figure your mom's standard amount separately, just fill out Schedule L and you should come up with $7,600 that covers the standard amount for a single filer, extra for her age and the $500 for her property taxes. I hope this helps. I really hate to see folks injure themselves at tax time!
Kay
Posted by: Kay | Friday, February 19, 2010 at 03:51 PM
If anyone can help me, I would appreciate it. I do my mother's taxes, and this pertains to form 1040A. Because she is a senior, I checked box 23a and figured her STANDARD DEDUCTION to be $7,100. BUT, since she did in fact pay real estate taxes, I worked through Schedule L and came up with an amount of $2,850 on that form. My question now is: Am I supposed to ADD that $2,850 to the $7,100 and put that total in box 24a? Nothing I have read makes that clear at all. Thanks in advance to anyone who can keep me from shooting myself...LOL.
Posted by: Brian | Friday, February 19, 2010 at 02:57 PM
Thanks for this. You will be happy to know that I missed this when I did my 2008 taxes. Today I went back and filed a 1040X for 2008 in order to get the increased standard deduction. Yes, it was another stupid form, but for an extra $150 refund it was worth the time. I was also a good lesson, to make sure that I check the What's New each year. I already have my Schedule L filled out as well as my schedule M.
Posted by: Charlie | Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 02:42 PM
Once again you have to be a tax expert to find the smallest of deductions.
I confess I missed this last year and I'm sure I'll miss something this year.
Simple is not in the IRS's vocabulary.
Posted by: Butch | Friday, January 29, 2010 at 10:57 AM
I bought a 2008 model Ford Oct. 2009. It is new car for me. But it was not a 2009 model, can I still take the new car deduction?
Posted by: Larry Logan | Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 02:29 PM
Need copy of Schedule L
Posted by: Anthony J. Arcoraci | Friday, January 08, 2010 at 12:09 PM
It's well worth it to fill out a short form and get back two or three hundred dollars more in my return.
Posted by: Fritz Ehlers | Tuesday, December 29, 2009 at 05:18 PM
Yikes! But I'm sure this will all change when Obama's tax advisory panel shares its findings in December. Taxes will get simple. And I will win American Idol.
Posted by: Monica | Monday, August 17, 2009 at 12:40 PM
How much do you think the IRS received from companies such as HRB to add this form? Nothing gained except another form to be able to charge for.
Posted by: Jeff Day | Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 09:30 PM