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…

Every business trip in a personal vehicle now carries a slightly different tax value than it did earlier in the year. For eligible self-employed workers, the federal optional mileage rate is 76 cents for each business mile driven from July 1 through December 31, 2026. The rate does not turn commuting or personal errands into…