Category: Taxes Made Simple
-
A new 1 percent tax on cash sent abroad loses its penalty grace period after this quarter
Every dollar a U.S. resident sends home in cash, a money order or a cashier’s check has carried a new federal tax since New Year’s Day this year, and the companies that collect it have been operating under real slack from the IRS while they build the systems to do it correctly. That slack runs…
-
The new car loan interest break starts shrinking once income passes $100,000, or $200,000 for a couple
A new federal tax break lets some car buyers deduct the interest on an auto loan, but the deduction was never designed to reach every household that finances a vehicle. Once a filer’s income clears a specific line, the break starts shrinking, and the IRS has not spelled out publicly exactly how far the reduction…
-
The IRS lists 71 occupations that qualify for the tip deduction, and it stops at $25,000
Tip income only qualifies for the federal “no tax on tips” deduction if the job that earned it appears, by name, on a specific federal list — and that list just got longer than a lot of workers realize. Treasury and the IRS finalized the roster this spring at 71 occupations spread across eight industry…
-
The home energy and electric vehicle tax credits are gone, and this is the first full year without them
Homeowners and car shoppers who spent the last few years factoring a federal tax credit into the price of a heat pump, a solar array or an electric vehicle are now shopping without one. Congress shut down three separate federal credits through the same law last year, and 2026 is the first calendar year households…
-
Marketplace customers who underestimate their income now repay every dollar of the subsidy
Every fall, people who buy their own health coverage through the ACA Marketplace tell the government what they expect to earn the following year, and that estimate decides how much of their premium tax credit arrives early as a lower monthly bill. Guess low and then earn more than expected, and the extra subsidy has…
-
The federal retirement match starting in 2027 stops at $71,000 for couples and $35,500 for single filers
Starting in 2027, the federal government will match half of what many low- and moderate-income workers put into a retirement account, but the match disappears entirely above a specific income line. That line isn’t one number for everyone. It shifts by filing status, and the IRS’s own income table shows married couples, heads of household…
-
The IRS keeps charging 7 percent on unpaid taxes through the end of the year, compounded daily
The Internal Revenue Service has confirmed that its interest rate on unpaid taxes will hold at 7 percent for the last quarter of 2026, and that rate compounds daily rather than sitting still once it’s set. For anyone carrying a balance from a filed return, an audit adjustment, or a missed estimated payment, that means…
-
The IRS says a permanent paid-leave credit now reaches part-timers working 20 hours a week
A tax credit that has quietly encouraged employers to offer paid family and medical leave for the past several years just became permanent, and its reach just got noticeably wider. The Treasury Department and the IRS issued Notice 2026-28 on August 5, spelling out how the employer credit for paid family and medical leave now…
-
Propane tanks and fire extinguishers would join the metal tariffs at rates up to 50 percent
A federal proposal that started as a national-security measure on raw steel, aluminum and copper is now reaching into ordinary hardware-store shelves. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security published a notice on August 6 proposing to add 14 new categories of everyday metal goods — including propane cylinders, fire extinguishers, electric conductor cable…
-
The IRS gave wildfire victims in seven Washington counties until February 1 to file and pay
Six counties in central and eastern Washington, three tribal nations, and one additional county are now working under a federal tax deadline that has effectively moved five months. The IRS announced August 31 that taxpayers affected by wildfires that began July 31 have until February 1, 2027, to file and pay most federal returns that…