Category: Taxes Made Simple
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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The IRS set 2027 health savings account limits at $4,500 and $9,000
People saving in a health savings account already know a number that most other taxpayers won’t see for months: what 2027 looks like. The IRS has set next year’s HSA contribution limits at $4,500 for someone with self-only coverage and $9,000 for a family, according to the revenue procedure the agency published this year. It’s…
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The IRS raised the business mileage rate to 76 cents for the second half of the year
Anyone still logging business miles for the second half of 2026 at 72.5 cents apiece is leaving real money on the table. The IRS raised its standard mileage rate for business driving to 76 cents a mile for trips taken from July 1 through December 31, a jump of 3.5 cents from the rate that…
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Online sellers get an IRS 1099-K only above $20,000 and 200 transactions
Someone who sold roughly $8,000 of secondhand furniture and thrifted finds through Facebook Marketplace and eBay this year likely will not see a Form 1099-K from either platform — and under the rule now in effect, they are not supposed to. The IRS’s own guidance confirms that a 2025 federal law retroactively restored the reporting…
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The IRS now requires a 1099 only after a company pays $2,000, up from $600
A freelance graphic designer who earns $1,800 from a single client this year should not expect a 1099 form to show up in January — and should not mistake the silence for a tax-free payday. The IRS’s own instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC confirm that the reporting threshold businesses use to decide whether to…
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The IRS says overtime left off box 12 of a W-2 cannot be deducted
A worker who put in overtime hours in 2026 and finds nothing listed in box 12 of their W-2 under code TT is not looking at a paperwork oversight the IRS will quietly fix later. Updated guidance the agency issued in August closes out a one-year grace period that let some 2025 filers claim the…
