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By the Numbers 2014

Happy 2014! Another year has arrived and that means it's also time for a whole new set of By the Numbers.

As with the 2011, 2012 and 2013 numerical posts, a new figure -- a percentage, dollar amount, piece of tax legislation, raw number and the like -- that has a tax connection will be featured. I aim for Sunday posting, but….

Whatever day the new number goes up, you can find a link to it here.

  • 2.3 cents
    Wind power generators get 2014 tax break, but 2015 iffy (Dec. 28, 2014)
  • 61 percent
    Congress gets low marks for honesty, ethical behavior (Dec. 21, 2014)
  • 18.4 cents and 1993
    Gas prices, taxes and mileage deduction rates (Dec. 13, 2014)
  • $46.4 million
    IRS holding millions of dollars in frozen taxpayer accounts (Dec. 7, 2014)
  • 14 percent
    IRS' positive public perception picking up a bit (Nov. 30, 2014)
  • 30,000
    Possible break in hunt for Lois Lerner's lost IRS emails (Nov. 23, 2014)
  • 2 percent
    Navajo lawmakers approve 2% sales tax on snacks, sodas (Nov. 16, 2014)
  • 2015
    2015 inflation adjustments for exemptions, deductions, more! (Nov. 10, 2014)
  • $100 million
    Illinois recovers $100 million+ in unpaid gasoline sales taxes (Nov. 2, 2014)
  • $253.39 million
    Dolce & Gabbana tax conviction overturned by Italy's top court (Oct. 26, 2014)
  • 10 percent
    More businesses are electronically filing tax returns (Oct. 19, 2014)
  • $14 million
    Estate gets $14 million tax refund on value of art (Oct. 4, 2014)
  • $20
    Arizona smokers get tax bills for old online cigarette purchases (Sept. 28, 2014)
  • $5.2 billion
    Identity theft tax refund fraud is increasing, but ways to prevent the crime are not likely to be popular (Sept. 22, 2014)
  • 3
    Amounts you'll need to calculate your estimated tax payments (Sept. 15, 2014)
  • 3
    NFL 2014 season underway, along with the taxable betting (Sept. 7, 2014)
  • 6.2 percent
    Labor Day 2014 facts, figures, fun and taxes (Sept. 1, 2014)
  • 12
    Coverdell Education Savings Account's pre-college options (Aug. 25, 2014)
  • $40 million
    Elvis estate seeks tax breaks for Graceland expansion (Aug. 17, 2014)
  • $1.6 million
    Actor Robert Redford sues NY tax office over $1.6 million bill (Aug. 9, 2014)
  • Sept. 8
    Congress is required to take August off. Really! (Aug. 2, 2014)
  • $16 million
    $16 million in tax breaks ensure CBS' Late Show stays in NYC (July 27, 2014)
  • $1.5 million
    Philadelphia loses effort to collect $1.5 million from strip clubs (July 19, 2014)
  • 1961
    Do you know when you state adopted its sales tax? (July 13, 2014)
  • $846.2 billion
    Tax collectors want us to keep shopping (July 6, 2014)
  • $125,000
    N.C. police discover that some crime does pay ... them! (June 29, 2014)
  • 12 cents
    Federal gasoline tax hike among proposals to stave off the Highway Trust Fund's impending bankruptcy (June 23, 2014)
  • 2 million
    A Father's Day gift for single dads: 5 tax breaks (June 15, 2014)
  • 29.1 percent
    A look at the wide range of corporate U.S. tax rates (June 8, 2014)
  • 3 percent
    Illinois voters will get a say, sort of, on a millionaires' tax (June 2, 2014)
  • $3.3 billion
    Federal workers, including members of Congress and Treasury employees, owe Uncle Sam $3.3 billion in back taxes (May 27, 2014)
  • 47 percent
    Rich, poor, middle class: Where are you on the income scale? (May 18, 2014)
  • 10
    All U.S. taxpayers now finally enjoy Tax Freedom Day (May 10, 2014)
  • 4544
    Representatives want to prevent Los Angeles Clippers' owner Donald Sterling from deducting his $2.5 million NBA fine (May 5, 2014)
  • 46 million
    Electronic tax filing popularity continues to grow (April 26, 2014)
  • $2,751
    How are you spending your federal tax bill? (April 21, 2014)
  • 15
    15 tax-filing tips for April 15 (April 14, 2014)
  • 1 million
    Being DIFferent could prompt a tax audit (April 8, 2014)
  • 200 million
    How much is your tax refund and where the heck is it? (April 2, 2014)
  • $1,500
    IRS offers an easier way to deduct your home office (March 24, 2014)
  • $1.17
    Tax collectors raise a glass of green beer to St. Patrick (March 17, 2014)
  • 49.72 cents
    Daylight Saving Time + gas taxes = boon for tax collectors, but some money-saving options for added daylight drivers (March 9, 2014)
  • 74,608
    Tax code still ginormous, but growth has slowed a bit (March 1, 2014)
  • 96 percent
    Most taxpayers support tax preparer competency standards (Feb. 24, 2014)
  • $3,317
    IRS' first batch of 2014 tax refund checks averages $3,317 (Feb. 16, 2014)
  • $25,000
    IRS takes a bite out of U.S. Olympic medalists' winnings (Feb. 10, 2014)
  • $1,250
    Paying taxes on Super Bowl (and other gambling) winnings (Feb. 3, 2014)
  • $379 billion
    Mortgage tax break contributes to fading American dream (Jan. 28, 2014)
  • $4 billion
    $4 billion more tax breaks for Boeing from Washington State (Jan. 21, 2014)
  • $16 million
    California has $16 million in undeliverable 2012 tax refunds (Jan. 14, 2014)
  • $117,000
    Social Security taxable earnings cap in 2014 is $117,000. Thousands have already hit that tax limit. (Jan. 5, 2014)

Happy tax counting!

Today's Tax Tip

  • Summer's arrival brings sales tax holidays in Florida and Texas — Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer. The long weekend also is the start of sales tax holiday season. Texas has three days of no taxes on certain energy- and water-saving products, starting May 27. In Florida, shoppers will start the holiday weekend with sales tax exemptions on hurricane preparedness products, followed season the Sunshine State's wide-ranging no-tax Freedom Summer. (May 27, 2023)

  • Tax Tip; click pencil for all tax tip links

  • The 2023 Tax Tips offer ways to file your annual return, along with post-filing advice, important tax news and, of course, ways to cut your current tax year bill. You'll find the monthly assemblages on their own respective pages: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December. Remember, tax tasks and tips don't stop after you file your annual return!

All About Kay

  • OK, some about Kay
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    Kay Bell — Native Texan
    (the blog title totally makes sense now, right?). Professional journalist. Tax geek.
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Tick ... Tick ... Tick

  • Tax Season 2023 Continues!

    Tax Day 2023 is finally over … unless you're one of the millions who have more time to file — looking at you taxpayers abroad and those in major disaster areas — or you got an extension to file your 2022 tax year return. That's fine. In fact, the Internal Revenue Service appreciates some of us spreading out our filings, especially when it means we are taking the time to submit a complete and correct return.

    This tax focus shift means the ol' blog will continue to provide filing tips through the Oct. 16 extension deadline. Yep, it's a day later this year, since 10/15 is on Sunday. But I haven't forgotten my organized taxpayer readers, who are looking for ways to reduce their 2023 tax year bills. Yep, that amount already is adding up, but there are moves you can make. The monthly tips and reminders a little further down this column can help everyone, regardless of which tax year now is in your sights.

    Those on extension should also keep a keen eye on the countdown clock below. It will help you track the days tick, tick, ticking off toward that absolutely final fall filing due date. They'll speed by quickly when you're having tax fun, and aren't we always having tax fun?!?
    Note: I'm in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.


Time for Tax Tasks


  • monthly tax moves


  • 💐 May 💐 is 💐 here!!! 💐

    Those exclamation marks and emoji bouquets are sincere and deserved. I don't know about you, but I'm more than ready for May flowers.
    Plus, you've got to love a month that starts with a celebration.

    May Pole Dance via GIPHY


    After the May Day dances are done, the commemorative days just keep coming. There are well-known ones, like Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day, and Memorial Day, as well as some more obscure ones, like Pick Strawberries Day, Be Millionaire Day (if only!), and my favorite, Eat What You Want Day.

    But even with all these (and more!) celebrations, there's still time to make some money-saving May tax moves. Let's get to it!

    May 1: While May Day isn't a big holiday in the United States, globally the first day of May is a time for celebrating workers' contributions. But that can apply here, too, in connection with some employment-related tax tasks. If you got a big refund or owed more tax than you expected when you filed (or got an extension) last month, today's the perfect time to do adjust your paycheck withholding.

    May 5: ¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

    Feliz Cinco de Mayo

    Fiestas are always en vogue in Tejas, but the epitome of them is this Mexican holiday. No, it is NOT Mexican Independence Day, and May 5 tends to spur more festivities here north of the border, especially when it comes to imbibing margaritas. With every Cinco toast, remember that the cost of state and federal alcohol taxes are included in the mixing. Your state tax collector also will raise a glass to your fiscal contribution, since sin taxes usually are a revenue bright spot for many states.

    May 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, especially from those Cinco celebrants. But don't forget that those tips are taxable income.

    restaurant check tip iStock
    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.

    And you, as the server or delivery person, must account for those tips. If you got at least $20 in gratuities in April, you must report the amount by today by using Form 4070 to let your employer the total of the tips you took in last month.

    May 14: Happy Mother's Day!

    Happy Mother's Day

    If you're just this year making up for pandemic paused family visits (side note: May 18 is Visit Your Relatives Day), give your mom a longer hug on her special day. Love, flowers, and the best of health and happiness to every mother, from the new ones just discovering the joys, tax and otherwise, of new parenthood to those gracefully maneuvering their Golden Years while getting some tax-advantaged help from their families.

    May 22: Just because you got an extension to file your 2022 tax return doesn't mean you have to wait until the Oct. 16 deadline to finish it. And you might be able to complete all those forms at no cost. Free File, the online preparation and electronic filing web page for eligible taxpayers created by the IRS' partnership with the Free File Alliance is still operational for, as its name says, free.

    This year, the income threshold is adjusted gross income (AGI) of $73,000 or less, regardless of your filing status. You should be able to find a software that works for you from the seven tax prep companies that are participating.

    IRS Free File; click image for details


    May 26: If you're heading out early today to further extend the already long Memorial Day weekend, be sure to plan for added costs, like the price of getting to your holiday destination. Most travelers this weekend that marks the unofficial start of summer will hit the highways, so even though gasoline prices are at the exorbitant levels they were this time last year, pump prices still will take a bite of travel budgets. Maybe that will get you to look more closely at getting an electric vehicle (EV) before your next road trip. Check out the tax rules to see if your new EV comes with a $7,500 tax credit

    May 29: This Memorial Day as you honor the military personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice, don't forget about their families. There are some tax considerations offered survivors of lost soldiers, sailors, and air crew.

    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.

State Tax Help

  • Don't forget your state taxes!
    Forty-three states and D.C. collect personal income taxes. But even if you live in of the seven states without an income levy, you still face other state (and local) taxes.

    State Tax Departments provides links to your state's Web page. The companion page, Tax Tidbits, is the compilation of blurbs about each state's tax laws. And for more state tax news, check out all our state tax bloggings.

Tax Forms

  • Tax Forms
    Thanks to our increased use of tax preparers and computer software, many of us don't see our tax forms until we sign and file them. But knowing what's on these documents, either in paper or digital form, and why the IRS wants it is key to understanding our tax system. And knowledge definitely is power, especially when it comes to tax savings. Find this valuable information in the ol' blog's special Tax Forms 2023 page.

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I gotta tell ya ...

  • AKA Disclaimer:
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    I am not a professional tax preparer.
    The content on Don't Mess With Taxes is my personal opinion based on my study and understanding of tax laws, policies and regulations. It is provided for your private, noncommercial, educational and informational purposes only. It is not a recommendation of any specific tax action(s) you should or should not take. Similarly, mentions of products or services are not endorsements. In other words, my ramblings on the ol' blog are free advice and you know what they say about getting what you pay for. That's why when it comes to filing your taxes, I urge you to get additional, professional, paid-for guidance from an accountant, Enrolled Agent or other qualified tax preparer who is familiar with your individual tax circumstances.

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COVID-19 & Taxes

  • COVID-19
    Coronavirus has wreaked havoc
    on the 2020 and 2021 tax seasons.
    These three Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Taxes pages have details:
    March-July 2020,
    August-December 2020,
    January-December 2021, and
    January-December 2022
    You can find medical coronavirus resource links in the next section.

COVID-19 Resources

  • COVID-19
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    Call 1-800-232-0233
    or TTY 1-888-720-7489.
    More information and resources at:
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    HHS Combat COVID
    USA.Gov COVID Info

May 2023

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Tell it to the Hill

  • DMWT Politics Posts
  • While it's easy to rail at the IRS, for the most part we can thank — or blame — our tax laws on Congress and the White House. So if you have an issue with tax legislation or want a tax bill passed, you need to let your federal legislators and the White House occupant know of your concerns. You can find out who in Washington, D.C., to contact (and how), as well as get information on your local lawmakers for matters, tax or otherwise, closer to home, at USA Gov.

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