Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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The FTC is reissuing uncashed AT&T and Ring refund checks by Zelle
The Federal Trade Commission is sending Zelle payments to people who were sent an AT&T or Ring refund and never cashed the check. The agency says the money goes straight into the recipient’s bank account, with a note about the settlement. Two separate FTC cases are involved, and each has its own refund administrator and…
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SNAP subtracts a fifth of a household’s earned income before testing it against the net income limit
SNAP takes 20 percent off a household’s earned income before the program tests what is left against the net income limit, according to the Department of Agriculture’s eligibility page, which was updated October 1, 2026. The deduction is one of several, and it applies to wages and other earnings only. For a household of one,…
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Social Security generally recovers an SSI overpayment by withholding a tenth of the maximum federal benefit rate
When Social Security finds it overpaid someone on Supplemental Security Income, the agency generally withholds 10% of the maximum federal benefit rate from each month’s payment. The rule is spelled out in the agency’s overpayments publication, which in its currently posted edition is dated March 2024. The rate that tenth is measured against is a…
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A presidentially declared disaster can add up to a year to the three-year deadline for claiming a federal refund
A federal disaster declaration can buy extra time on a refund that would otherwise be lost. The Internal Revenue Service says taxpayers affected by a presidentially declared disaster “may have up to 1 more year” to claim a credit or refund, on top of the standard three-year deadline. The language comes from the agency’s page…
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An Ohio household that has been shut off pays only $175 of its balance and a reconnection fee of no more than $36 up front to get service back
An Ohio household whose electric or natural gas service has been shut off can get it back by paying only $175 of what it owes, plus a reconnection fee capped at $36 up front. That is the rule of the state’s Special Reconnect Order, a winter protection that applies even when the unpaid balance is…
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Ohio’s consumer advocate says Duke Energy Ohio’s electric filing would add about $8.32 a month for about 500,000 residential customers
A typical Duke Energy Ohio electric customer would pay about $8.32 more each month if the utility’s rate request is approved, according to the state’s residential consumer advocate. The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, which represents residential customers in rate cases, says in its fact sheet on the filing that it has intervened for…
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Farm and ranch households in qualifying drought counties of 49 states got more time to replace breeding, dairy and draft livestock and defer the gain
Farmers and ranchers who sold livestock because of drought now have four years, not the usual two, to replace the animals and put off paying tax on the gain. The Internal Revenue Service announced the extended relief on September 15, 2026, in release IR-2026-110, covering qualifying areas in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto…
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Treasury published temporary rules, effective December 1, for a scholarship donation credit on contributions made in 2027 and later
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued temporary regulations for a new federal tax credit for donations to scholarship groups, and the rules take effect December 1. The credit itself is for contributions made in 2027 and later tax years. The regulations, TD 10057, were published October 2 in the Federal Register…
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A taxpayer whose refund check never arrived can start a trace by phone, but a jointly filed return has Form 3911 as an alternative to calling
A federal tax refund check that never showed up can be traced, and the IRS sets out different first steps depending on how the return was filed. People who filed as single, married filing separately or head of household start with an automated phone line. People who filed jointly have a different number to call,…
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The IRS now drops failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties after three clean years
Under a program the IRS scheduled to begin in summer 2026, failure-to-file, failure-to-pay and failure-to-deposit penalties are waived automatically for taxpayers with three prior years of timely compliance. The agency’s fact sheet FS-2026-12 calls the program Automatic Exemption from Penalty, or AEP, and says no application, form or separate request is needed. It replaces First…