Farm operators have until Friday, December 11, 2026, to enroll in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s two main commodity safety nets, Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC). Missing the date has a concrete cost: no 2026 payments from either program for the farm. The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) lists the 2026…

The White House says more than $735 million in emergency aid has reached nearly 53,000 Kansas farmers. The figure comes from a release dated October 19, 2026, which credits the Trump Administration with delivering the money. The numbers are the administration’s own, and the release does not break them down county by county. The payments…

A new federal law lets members of the clergy who opted out of Social Security opt back in, but the choice only goes one way. Under the enrolled text of H.R. 227, the Clergy Act, a minister who revokes the exemption cannot elect it again. The revocation then applies to all later taxable years. The…

Farmers and ranchers who sold livestock because of drought now have more time to buy replacement animals and still put off the tax on the gain. The IRS announced the extension on September 15, 2026, for drought-listed areas of 49 states and the District of Columbia. Trade coverage of the announcement confirms Alaska is the…

Farm country is in line for its biggest safety-net payout since the programs began. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on October 7 that Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage payments for the 2025 crop year total about $13.8 billion, and that is before payment limits and a 5.7 percent across-the-board cut are applied.…

For anyone earning money on the side, whether driving, freelancing, selling online, or picking up gig work, the tax bill does not wait until April. The IRS expects self-employed workers to pay as they earn, in four installments across the year, and the next one is due September 15. Skip them, and the penalty is…

Backup withholding is not a penalty and it is not a tax bill. It is a switch a payment platform flips when the taxpayer identification number it holds for a seller is missing or wrong, and once it is on, 24 percent of a payment comes off the top before the rest reaches the seller’s…

Some real money is going out in the mail this month, and it is not a scam. The Federal Trade Commission is sending payments totaling more than $23.8 million to people harmed by the food delivery company Grubhub, splitting the money among drivers the company misled about their pay and diners it treated unfairly. More…

A missing Form 1099 does not make app earnings, cash jobs or other gig income tax-free. The IRS requires workers to report taxable gig income regardless of the payment method or whether an information form arrives. At the same time, eligible independent workers can continue using the qualified business income deduction because current federal law…

Envelopes from a refund administrator are landing in 62,893 mailboxes this month, and the checks inside them come with an instruction printed on the paper. The Federal Trade Commission says recipients should cash them within 90 days. Together the checks total more than $2.7 million, and every dollar traces back to fees and fines that…