Aug. 1: It's August, the month we experience some of the year's hottest temperatures and the
Dog Days of Summer. This pooch definitely knows how to deal with the warm weather.
via GIPHYCheck out these tips to help keep your
pet, yourself and possibly your taxes cool as thermometer readings rise.
You also can chill this month after you make some tax moves over the next 31 days to lower your potential 2019 tax bill.
Aug. 2, 3 & 4: School will be starting soon across much of the United States. That's why the bulk of the annual
back-to-school state sales tax holidays are or start this first weekend of August.
This year, that's 9 of 16 tax-free events.
Savvy shoppers who take advantage of these
six tax holiday shopping tips can save this weekend at sale-tax-free events in Arkansas (Aug. 3-4), Florida (Aug. 2-6), Iowa (Aug. 2-3) and from Aug. 2-4 in Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia.
Aug. 7: School supplies shopping notwithstanding, until classes actually start you'll need to keep the kiddos occupied for these final few weeks of summer. Day camp is a great option. Even better, the costs for these camp costs can count toward claiming the
child and dependent care tax credit, so hang onto those day camp receipts.
Aug. 9, 10 & 11: Two more states keep the sales tax holiday ball rolling starting this weekend. Certain items are tax free in Texas from Aug. 9-11. Maryland's sales tax holiday also starts on Aug. 9 and runs through Aug. 17.
Aug. 12: Does your job include
tips?
If so and you received $20 in tips in July, use
Form 4070 to report your tips today to your employer. Note that if you participate in a tip-splitting arrangement, like the
tip-pooling option recently approved by the Department of Labor, you only have to report the tips you receive and retain.
Aug. 17 & 18: The final two sales tax holidays are this weekend, with Massachusetts' set for Aug. 17-18 and Connecticut's week-long event starting Aug. 18 and ending Aug. 24.
Aug. 22: The wrapping up of the final back-to-school tax holiday sales are a sure sign summer is winding down. That means in addition to getting binders and backpacks and myriad other school materials, it's time for parents to do their homework on ways to pay for educational costs at from K-12 level through college. The tax code offers a variety of
educational tax breaks that can help cover educational costs.
Aug. 28: If you didn't file your 2018 tax return by April 15 and instead delayed the inevitable by getting an extension, now's a good time to finish filling out that
Form 1040 well before the final Oct. 15 deadline.
Free File can help. It's available through that final October filing deadline.
The IRS-tax software industry's no-cost return prep and e-filing option is open for business through the Oct. 15 extension deadline for taxpayers whose income is $66,000 or less.
Aug. 31: August is over, but not the Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico
hurricane season, which runs through Nov. 30.
We've been lucky so far, with only one storm, fsdafda, making landfall back in July. But as temperatures het up, so does hurricane formation. The countdown clock below can help you keep track of how many more days we have to worry about tracking any tropical depressions, storms or 'canes.
You can find more on getting ready, physically and financially, for hurricanes, as well as tax help for recovery efforts and tax deductions for donations to those who are hit by natural disasters at the ol' blog's
Storm Warnings page.
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.