Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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Trump’s tax law adds a 1% federal tax on cash, money orders and cashier’s checks sent abroad, and the sender owes it
Since Jan. 1, 2026, a 1% federal excise tax has applied to money sent abroad when the sender pays with cash, a money order, a cashier’s check or a similar physical instrument. President Trump’s 2025 tax law created it, and the sender owes it. A transfer funded from a bank account or with a U.S.-issued…
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Rhode Island Energy bills rise $16.42 a month on Oct. 1, then a $20.45 winter credit arrives
Rhode Island Energy customers face two separate bill changes this winter. The average residential bill rises by a net $16.42 a month on Oct. 1, and a $20.45 monthly credit follows on the January, February and March 2027 bills. The credit is a later, distinct change and is not built into the October figure. The…
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Maryland homeowners earning up to $60,000 must apply for a property tax credit by Oct. 1
Maryland homeowners with combined gross household income of up to $60,000 must apply for the state’s Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit by Oct. 1, which falls on Thursday. The State Department of Assessments and Taxation still lists the 2026 application as open, and its online form closes at 11:59 p.m. Eastern that day. The credit limits…
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Columbia Gas of Virginia customers face a $10.81 monthly increase starting Oct. 12
Columbia Gas of Virginia customers face an interim increase of $10.81 a month, about 11.11%, beginning Oct. 12. The step applies to the average residential bill and is the first half of a two-part request now before the Virginia State Corporation Commission. Cardinal News reported the details on Sept. 25. An 11.11% step on an…
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A Pennsylvania senior with $15,000 in income gets a $770 property tax or rent rebate, with applications due Dec. 31
Pennsylvania’s Property Tax/Rent Rebate pays a senior with $15,000 of countable income a rebate of $770, according to the Department of Revenue’s bracket table. That amount belongs to a band running from $8,551 to $16,040 of annual income. Older residents, widows and widowers, and adults with disabilities have until Dec. 31, 2026 to file for…
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Chinese toys, fireworks, umbrellas and Christmas ornaments are on Trump’s list for lower tariffs, but no cut has taken effect
Fireworks, toys, garden umbrellas and Christmas ornaments made in China are on a list of 77 U.S. tariff lines that Washington and Beijing have recommended for lower duties, covering roughly $30 billion of trade each way. The list came out of a board that President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping set up in May.…
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T-Mobile customers will pay $2.60 a month on each tablet or hotspot line starting Oct. 12, up 50 cents
T-Mobile is raising the monthly fee it charges on data-only lines. Starting Oct. 12, the Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery Fee on mobile internet lines, the category that covers tablets and hotspot devices, goes from $2.10 to $2.60 a month per line, an increase of 50 cents. Voice lines take a larger jump, from $4.49…
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Aldi’s Honeycrisp apples drop to $1.99 for a 2-pound bag, and chicken breast family packs to $1.99 a pound
A 2-pound bag of Honeycrisp apples at Aldi now carries a $1.99 price tag, and family packs of Kirkwood chicken breast are $1.99 a pound. Both prices come from Aldi’s Sept. 23 fall price announcement, and the chain says they run through at least Nov. 3. Each is a claim by Aldi about its own…
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Aldi says its fall price cuts at 2,600-plus stores will save shoppers $86 million
Aldi has attached a dollar figure to its autumn markdowns: $86 million in shopper savings, across more than 2,600 U.S. stores, from Sept. 23 through at least Nov. 3. The grocer announced the round in a Sept. 23 press release. The number is Aldi’s own estimate, and the release does not lay out how it…
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Minnesota’s Cold Weather Rule starts Oct. 1, capping lower-income households’ utility payment plans at 10% of income
Ten percent is the number at the center of Minnesota’s Cold Weather Rule, and it describes a ceiling on a payment plan rather than a cut to the bill. The rule runs from Oct. 1 to April 30, and the ceiling reaches lower-income households that ask their utility for an agreement. The Cold Weather Rule’s…