Tag: IRS

Under the Radar Tax Law Changes

Consider this edition of TGIF 2 Minutes an “automatic Part 1” in a 2-part series on changes to the taxation of 401k contributions.

Calling these tax changes “under the radar” may be underestimating the level of attention paid by the average TGIF 2 Minutes reader to tax news. But fear not! Missing these tax changes is common and mostly due to

  1. the IRS typically making substantial tax law changes overnight in the last two weeks of December (see: 2015, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022 and prior) thus easily missed by the most attentive of savers amidst year-end and holiday activity,
  2. the complicated language used in the changes, confusing both savers and employers and their HR departments.

Continue reading “Under the Radar Tax Law Changes”

Beware of Money Scams

Just in the past week, two friends notified me they had been party to a money scam or potential money-related email hack. Going back further in time, there are numerous instances where a client or friend has made it known they were, regrettably, on the losing side of a money-related scam.

Look no further than this week’s news on a larger scale: due to recent, repeated money-request scams via the online payments network Zelle, major banks and financial institutions including JP Morgan, Bank of America, Capital One, and PNC Financial announced talks to reimburse scammed Zelle customers (Zelle is an online payments network in which various major banks participate).

All of these events prove that money-related scams are no longer isolated incidents.

Even intelligent people can accidentally find themselves in the midst of these gift card scams or urgent calls for money from what seems to be the IRS, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), or Social Security.

Continue reading “Beware of Money Scams”

Tax Payment Deadline

A quick note regarding taxes and upcoming tax payment deadlines. These details could come under the category of “Captain Obvious” but are worth mentioning all the same.

The April 15th filing deadline for 2019 taxes was extended to July 15th. There have been rumors of the deadline being extended even further to September or October. This looks ABSOLUTELY NOT to be the case.* The 2019 Tax Filing deadline remains July 15th . See here: IRS.GOV


Continue reading “Tax Payment Deadline”

We are nearing the 2019 “Tax Year Finish Line”… but there’s still time to address a handful of potentially tax minimizing items*.  One that was a major item of confusion for taxpayers in 2018 was withholding elections. Especially for taxpayers making under $250,000 (and ALL taxpayers) these elections can make a big difference between getting a REFUND** and NOT getting a refund.

IRS W4
The proper withholding election can make a big difference between getting a refund and NOT getting a refund.

Continue reading “”