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

Federal and state tax breaks for military members — A double tax tip this Pearl Harbor Day: U.S. service personnel have long contributed, sometimes with their lives, to the welfare of our nation. It's only fitting that these military men and women are provided some special tax considerations at various government levels. (Dec. 7, 2018)
Check out all the latest post-Tax Day tax advice in the 2018 edition of Weekly Tax Tips. Many of the once-a-week tax tips will focus on planning moves to cut your 2017 tax bill. If, however, you're working on a filing extension for your 2016 return, you can get a refresher of this year's Daily Tax Tips at their respective filing season 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 2018 Countdown
It's over! The final 2017 tax year extended filing deadline has passed, unless you get more time because your filing was affected by a natural disaster like Hurricanes Florence and Michael. For most of us, that means it's time to focus on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changes and the new (and old) year-end moves we need to make to reduce our already accruing 2018 tax bill. Most of the tax actions must be made by Dec. 31, which this year also is the last business day of the year. This countdown clock will make sure you don't miss these crucial tax deadlines.
Note: I'm in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.

Time for Tax Tasks

Ho, Ho, Ho! You better watch out.
You better not cry. But you better make some year-end tax moves this December or April 15 could turn out to be the tax equivalent of Santa Claus putting coal in your stocking!

Click image to watch
Santa's delivery route.
OK, St. Nick can't deliver a festively wrapped tax return for you (unless he's even more magical than I think!) next year, but he does have a tax connection. His tracking of naughty and nice boys and girls basically is the same method that the Internal Revenue Service uses. That's why we all need to be nice, especially to ourselves, in this final month of the year by making some important tax-saving moves.

Dec. 1: We've been living with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) for 11 months, but some of the provisions are still unclear and many more are confusing. That's why now is the time to find a tax preparer who can help ensure you get the most out of or don't stumble over the TCJA changes. By picking the perfect tax pro before the coming tax-filing season rush, your adviser can help make sure don't miss any year-end deadlines that could affect your final tax bill.

Dec. 3: Did you get a part-time seasonal job to earn extra cash for the holidays? If you're paid as a contractor instead of as an employee, remember that you'll be responsible for income taxes due on the money, as well as any self-employment taxes. The same tax considerations also apply if you're part of the gig economy, but you'll also want to check out ways to maximize your side hustle earnings.

Dec. 7: Medical itemized deductions survived the TCJA changes, but there's still a limit on how much you can claim on Schedule A. The good news is that the threshold for the 2018 tax year still is 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income.

Dec. 10: Does your job, either full-time or seasonal, include tips? If so and you received at least $20 in gratuities in November, use Form 4070 to report them today to your employer.

Click image
for a tip calculator.

And don't forget to include the value of out-of-the-ordinary tips, such as event tickets of gift certificates.

Dec. 14: Have you been riding the stock market roller coaster, which has been a bit bumpy as 2018 winds down? Then you probably have some capital gains you can take. The tax rate for long-term holdings likely is lower than your ordinary income tax rate, which makes such tax gain harvesting appealing. But even if you had some asset losses, those bad investments could help you reduce or possibly zero out any tax on your gains. Plus, you might consider selling profitable holdings in order to reset your basis.

Dec. 18: School may be out for winter break, but doing some tax homework can earn you a top tax grade. Pay tuition now for 2019 classes that will start in the first quarter of next year and you can use those costs to claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit.

Dec. 21: It's the last weekend before Christmas! That means holiday treats, final decorations and frantic, crowd-fighting last-minute shopping! Or you can make some easy tax-favored gifts, like opening a Roth IRA for your child or grandchild who earned some money from a summer or after-school job.

Dec. 24: Christmas Eve!
No taxes tonight. It's early to bed for kiddies of all ages. Santa's on his way!

Dec. 25: Merry Christmas! My gift to you is another day without tax thoughts.
Just enjoy the holiday and your family and friends.

Dec. 26: Happy Boxing Day. This unofficial holiday on St. Stephen's Day is celebrated by additional giving. If you donate to your favorite charity on this day or any other by the end of the year, you can claim the itemized deduction when you file your return next spring … as long as you follow the IRS' donation tax rules.

Dec. 31: This is it. The drop-dead deadline to make most 2018 tax moves. So do a quick check.

Although the TCJA now limits — and eliminates — some itemized deductions, depending on your personal filing situation you might want to look at Schedule A options. It could still be worthwhile to make your January mortgage payment early so you can deduct the loan interest this tax year. Ditto with your property taxes.

Don't forget to zero out your medical flexible spending account (FSA) if your employer doesn't offer a grace period or rollover. And if you must take a required minimum distribution (RMD), do so — or directly donate it — by year's end.

Done all that (and more)? Great!
Now go out and have fun
at your New Year's Eve party.

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.

©©©©© & ®®®®®

Don't Mess With Taxes®
is a registered trademark
of S. Kay Bell.

All content on this site is
© 2005-2018 S. Kay Bell
dba Write Here, a division of
SKB Editorial Services, LLC
And a bit of housekeeping.
Note 1: Some of the links on this site
are affiliate links. That means that
if you click through from
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If you discover dead links, please e-mail me the details. Thanks.

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December 2018

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Table of Contents