Category: Taxes Made Simple
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The IRS sends a CP53E notice with a 30-day deadline when it cannot deposit a refund electronically, and a filer who misses it gets a paper check after six weeks
A tax refund the IRS cannot send by direct deposit now comes with a clock. The agency mails a notice, called a CP53E, asking the filer to respond within 30 days, and if nobody answers and nothing else is wrong with the return, the refund is released as a paper check after six weeks. The…
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The IRS replaced its old mobile app on September 25
The Internal Revenue Service announced on September 25, 2026 that its new mobile app has replaced the old one, IRS2Go. The new app adds ways to check a refund, see a balance, make a payment and read some IRS notices from a phone. IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano said in the agency’s news…
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The Treasury Department counts 30 states already opted in to the new federal scholarship credit, which a donor may claim in any state
Treasury counts 30 states signed up for a new federal tax credit for scholarship donations, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The credit is worth up to $1,700 for one person and up to $3,400 on a joint return, and it begins with gifts made in 2027. A donor can give to a scholarship group…
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Trump’s diesel order also directs Treasury to look for ways to wipe out any deferred tax altogether, including through legislation
President Trump’s October 5, 2026 executive order on diesel fuel does more than offer a deferral. It also tells the Treasury Department to explore ways to cancel any deferred diesel excise tax altogether, and it names legislation as one of the routes. Nothing has been canceled so far, and the order only asks Treasury to…
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HUD said on October 16 that Opportunity Zones are now permanent and credits them with more than $100 billion of private investment in the areas they cover
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is telling the public that Opportunity Zones, a federal tax program aimed at struggling neighborhoods, no longer have an expiration date. The department also puts a large number on what the program has done so far. In a release from Grand Rapids, Michigan, HUD said on October 16,…
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The IRS began phasing out paper refund checks ahead of the 2026 filing season under an executive order, and House Democrats count more than 830,000 taxpayers told their refunds were on hold by March 9
The IRS has been winding down paper refund checks for individual taxpayers under an executive order, and the change caught many households short this spring. By March 9, House Democrats said, more than 830,000 taxpayers had been told their refunds were on hold. The paper-check phase-out began on September 30, 2025, according to the IRS…
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The IRS will not penalize dyed diesel sold for highway use through December 31 under an executive order signed October 5
The Internal Revenue Service says it will not charge a penalty when dyed diesel fuel is sold for highway use, or used on the highway, from October 1 through December 31, 2026. The announcement on October 14 follows an executive order President Donald Trump signed on October 5. It is relief for fuel sellers and…
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The IRS is mailing CP321J notices telling savers they can get up to $1,000 a year paid straight into a retirement account from 2027
Letters from the Internal Revenue Service labeled CP321J are going out to people who may be able to collect a new federal match on their retirement savings. The notice says savers could get up to $1,000 a year added directly to a retirement account, starting in 2027. The money is not a check and does…
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Unemployment benefits are taxable, and recipients can have tax withheld with IRS Form W-4V
Unemployment benefits count as taxable income, and the IRS lets people who collect them have federal tax taken out of each payment. The tool is Form W-4V, and it asks for a flat 10 percent. Without it, nothing is withheld, and the bill can arrive all at once the following spring. The IRS says in…
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Taxpayers in the Oglala Sioux Tribe area hit by the June storms have until February 1, 2027 to file various federal returns and make tax payments, the IRS says
The IRS has pushed a long list of federal tax deadlines to February 1, 2027 for people and businesses in the Oglala Sioux Tribe area who were hit by the storms that began June 2, 2026. The relief covers many returns and payments, but not all of them, and it does not cover taxes that…