Every tax filing season we hear the stories. Folks claim, often successfully, a variety of wacky tax deductions. There’s the bodybuilder (No, not Arnold, but c’mon, what a great poster shot! I had to use it!) who was allowed to write off body oil as a business expense. The exotic dancer whose breast implants were deemed deductible stage props for her job. (Did you really think I’d go there with the image choice for this post?) The gas station owner who gave his customers free beer and then legally deducted the brewski promotion as a business expense. As all my…
It’s one of my most favorite times of the year. Girl Scout cookies are on sale! I’m a Thin Mints addict. I could eat a whole box in one sitting. They are great alone or crumbled over a bowl (or gallon) of vanilla ice cream. This has been a tasty temptation for as long as I can recall. So every year I buy more boxes than I should. I tell myself that the purchase is for a good cause, and it is. Thin Mints and the other varieties of cookies are a fund-raising project for the local Girl Scout troops.…
It’s one of my favorite times of the year: Thin Mint Season! I admit it. I have no willpower when it comes to Thin Mints and any kind of ice cream. I could eat a whole box of these wonderful Girl Scout cookies (ideally crumbled atop a big bowl of creamy vanilla ice cream) in one sitting. So the hubby is the keeper of the GS cookies, storing them on a high shelf in the pantry. And, when we do munch them, guarding the foil sleeve containing the addictive treats. Aside from their scrumptiousness, one of the other great things…
During this string of hot and dry spring days, it’s hard to image that 25 years ago today, Austin suffered a deadly flood. Austin’s Memorial Day Flood of May 24, 1981, killed 13 people, destroyed 600 homes, flooded dozens of businesses and left $36 million in damages in its wake. The picture below shows damage done to a car dealership along Shoal Creek. Flood photograph courtesy of Austin Public Library and Austin History Center. …The power of water has always captivated me. Much of the fascination is because I grew up in desert West Texas, where not a stream was…
He wanted a red coat. I don’t know his name. He didn’t say. In fact, he didn’t say a lot, probably due as much to the fact that he was the only boy in a group of four females as to his own natural temperament. I could see where it would be hard to get in a word with his grandmother and three more ebullient sisters alternately (and sometimes simultaneously) taking charge. But he did manage to tell me he wanted a red coat, not the blue one that had been picked out for him. So we found him a…
Credits/Deductions
The More Tax Posts tab at the top of this page will take you to, well, more tax posts. You also can search below for a tax topic.
October 20, 2026
Tax and financial documents are needed to file claims after major disasters. If they are…
TO WRAP UP 2026
It’s over! With October’s extended filing deadline behind us, it is now time to focus on year-end moves to reduce your 2026 tax bill.
You’ll find ways to do just that on the Tax Tips page (see the More Tax Posts drop-down menu at the top of the blog), as well as the separate tax tip pages for each month, notably October through December. If you’re on the Tax Tips page, you’ll find a monthly list at the end of this column. If you’re on another blog page, you can head straight to the October tips; at the bottom of that tips page you’ll find links to all the other 11 months’ collections of tax advice.
Not to spoil what you’ll find in that tax advice, but it does cover such things as tax deductions for charitable donations, investment moves that could reduce tax due, and ways to max out your tax-favored retirement savings.
Finally, as the year winds down, things get hectic. There are lots of other things to occupy our time, like the much more fun upcoming holidays. But don’t lose sight of taxes, since timing is key. To be of use, most tax moves must be made by the end of the tax year. That’s Thursday, Dec. 31, which also is the last business day of the year.
So that you don’t miss that final tax year deadline, also keep an eye on the countdown clock below. It will keep you on top of just how much time is left to make important, tax-saving moves. (Note: I’m in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.)