Books Kay wrote as sole author or as a contributor
The Truth About Paying Fewer Taxes: I wrote this book in 2009 as part of the popular FT Press "truth about" series. It covers just what the title says.

Personal Finance: An Encyclopedia of Modern Money Management: This reference book, published by ABC-CLIO in 2015, is designed for high school and college students and the educators who teach those subjects. I contributed chapters on an overview of the federal tax system, tax returns, tax deferral, online personal finance options, and flexible spending accounts.

Future Millionaires' Guidebook: I joined several of my Bankrate colleagues to produce this Book Baby ebook in 2012. My chapters? Taxes of course! I provided a comprehensive (but succinct) look at everything from payroll withholding to deduction options to saving for retirement. In addition, I wrote the estate planning chapter, which included, you guessed it, the tax component of this important financial step and cited the wise words of the great Canadian rock bank Rush.

The Gambler's Guide To Taxes: How to Keep More of What You Win: Several of my Bankrate.com tax articles are included in this handbook, published by Lyle Stuart in 2003, for bettors looking to protect more of their winnings from the IRS.

Other writings by Kay
Bankrate Taxes as former contributing tax editor
Last Week at My Other Tax Blog for some of my tax bloggy thoughts at Bankrate

Worth: A look at personal finance from the pages of Austin Woman magazine

Crazy Woman Driver: Kay's auto racing rants and raves from the pages of Randall-Reilly truckers' magazines

As time goes on, I'll be tweaking this index, adding new features, refining what's here.

If you're looking for something not listed here, try the search feature over in the right column under the "What are you looking for?" header.

Don't forget the Archives page, which compiles all my posts chronologically by month, as well as alphabetically lists the categories for my blog posts.

Finally, you can always contact me -- via email or send a 140-character Twitter message (I'm @taxtweet) or jot a wall note at the ol' blog's Facebook page -- if you have questions about a tax topic you think/know I blogged about but can't find.

And if you want to get the ol' blog's tax news and information on a regular basis, you can subscribe via RSS, email or social media.

Thanks for reading!

Weekly Tax Tip

Where's your refund? — Whether you finally filed your taxes on the Oct. 15 extension deadline or got them in earlier, you're now eagerly anticipating the refund you're due. The Internal Revenue Service's online Where's My Refund? tool can help you track your tax cash. (Oct. 18, 2019)
Check out all the latest post-Tax Day tax advice in the 2019 edition of Weekly Tax Tips. Many of these once-a-week tips will focus on planning moves to cut your 2020 tax bill. If, however, you're working on a filing extension for your 2018 return, you can get a refresher of the 2019 Filing Season Tax Tips at their respective monthly pages: January, February, March and April.

All About Kay

OK, some about Kay

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

My Other Accounts

Tick ... Tick ... Tick

Tax Year 2019 Countdown
It's over! The final 2018 tax year extended filing deadline has passed, unless you get more time because your filing was affected by a natural disaster like Tropical Storm Imelda. For most of us, though, the passage of Oct. 15 means it's time to focus on the tax return we'll file next year. We have until Dec. 31 this year to make moves that will reduce our already accruing 2019 tax bill. The countdown clock below will make sure you don't miss these crucial actions or any tax deadlines.
Note: I'm in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.

Time for Tax Tasks

Oct. 1: Boo! Welcome to the scariest month of the year.

Screenshot from GIPHY

In addition to Halloween goblins, ghouls and hundreds of kids descending on your neighborhood at the end of this month, one of the scariest October items is that countdown clock a little higher up in this column. It's a stark reminder for millions of ultimate procrastinators — No, I'm not one this year. Amazing, I know! — that their deadline to file extended 2018 tax returns is nearly over. Don't worry. I'll remind you again as Oct. 15 nears.

But why push the deadline?

Gather all the documents you need to file your Form 1040, including 1099s and receipts associated with your self-employment income, be it full-time or side hustle earnings. This tax preparation checklist can help.

Oct. 4: OK. You're ready to finally file that Form 1040 before the 15th. Great! Now make sure you don't overspend to do so. Check out Free File.

This IRS-tax software industry partnership program that provides no-cost return prep and e-filing option is open for business through the October extension deadline for taxpayers whose income is $66,000 or less.

Oct. 10: If your job compensation includes tips and you received $20 or more in gratuities in September, use Form 4070 to report them today to your employer.

Oct. 14: So another week slipped by without you filing your taxes. No judging here. I've been there. The good news this year is that today is the federal Columbus Day holiday or, in many states and cities, now designated Indigenous People's Day. If you don't have to head into the office, it's a great chance to work on your taxes. The IRS has some final filing tips.

Oct. 15: It's here! The absolutely, positively final filing deadline for your 2018 return. Get your Form 1040 — remember, there's now just one tax return under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changes — en route to the IRS today or you'll face penalty and interest charges.

E-filers, whether using the previously mentioned Free File or a paid-for tax software package, technically have until midnight their time to hit "enter" on their computer keyboard. But I suggest you don't push that deadline. A late technical problem could turn into a costly late-filing issue.

If instead you're sending in an old-fashioned paper return, check with your post office to make sure the envelope is postmarked today, the paper filing proof of timely tax filing.

Oct. 21: Now that your 2018 return is finally done, it's time to work on reducing your 2019 tax bill. By now, you're probably familiar with how the TCJA changed your tax filing and planning. But it never hurts to review your prior year's tax return, whether you just filed it last week or earlier in the year. It's a good foundation to look at what tax breaks you qualified for might be able to use again on this year's taxes.

Note, too, that inflation has upped many tax-related actions. The income tax earnings brackets have been expanded a bit. So have the standard deduction amounts.

And definitely look at how much you can put this year into tax-favored retirement savings and medical accounts. Not only can they help lower current tax bills, they could pay off in the future.

Finally, peruse the Taxpayer Advocate Service's Taxpayer Roadmap.

This publication, designed along the lines of a subway map, shows the stages of a taxpayer's journey through our elaborate tax system.

Oct. 25: Those retirement and medical accounts also are part of many workplace benefit plans. Since October is the start of the annual benefits enrollment open season at lots of companies across the country, it's a good time to carefully review those employer-provided perks, such as 401(k) plans and flexible spending accounts (FSAs) for both health and child care purposes, to make sure you make the most of your options.

Oct. 28: With more than two months left in 2019, now's is the perfect time to set up your tax deduction bunching strategy. Here you gather potential write-offs together into one tax year to ensure you have enough qualified expenses to meet some of the popular deduction thresholds. This typically covers the itemized deductions for medical, home-related and charitable deductions.

Oct. 31: What's scarier than the ghouls and goblins wandering your neighborhood tonight? Another month of the hurricane season.

We've been lucky so far, with only Hurricane Dorian along the eastern seaboard and Tropical Storm Imelda in Texas causing major damages. But with a month officially left, we can't let down our storm guards.

The countdown clock below can help you track the days until the formal Nov. 30 end of the annual hurricane season.

You also can find tips 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 pages.

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.

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ...

Taxes are all about the numbers.
Check out these (mostly) weekly
By the Numbers figures.

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Kudos Et Cetera

National Association
for Women in Communications
Winner, Best Personal Blog
2012, 2014 & 2017
Plutus Financial Bloggers Awards
Celebrating the Best
in Personal Finance
Winner, Best Tax Blog
2011 & 2013

I gotta tell ya ...

AKA Disclaimer:
I am a professional journalist who has been covering tax issues since 1999.
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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is a registered trademark
of S. Kay Bell.

All content on this site is
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And a bit of housekeeping.
Note 1: Some of the links on this site
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If you discover dead links, please e-mail me the details. Thanks.

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October 2019

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