Classes are back in session in many communities across the United States. And part of the supplies that are being used to help educate our youngsters were paid for by their teachers. Every year, studies by both private groups and federal agencies report that most public school teacher pay for products they need to get their lessons across to the students. The amounts vary, ranging from nearly $500 in a U.S. Department of Education survey from several years ago to nearly twice that (or more) in some of today’s classroom situations. Easy to claim: The good news for these dedicated…

If you love the annual July 4 pyrotechnics, thank Founding Father John Adams. If you have the fireworks, blame him!

Amy Farah Fowler, played by Mayim Bialik, and Sheldon Cooper (as Betsy Ross), played by Jim Parsons, in the Big Bang Theory. Here, in Sheldon’s Fun With Flags podcast, they discuss Old Glory.

Each year, the Internal Revenue Service assesses estimated tax penalties against millions of taxpayers. This added money typically is due the IRS when a taxpayer pays too little total tax during the year. The last time the IRS released complete estimated tax penalty data was three years ago. The federal tax agency said back then that the average estimated tax penalty, which is based on the interest rate charged by the IRS on unpaid tax, was about $130. Back in September 2015, the IRS said it was seeing more taxpayers run into the estimated tax penalty. The number jumped about 40…

This time of year, my social media streams are full of photos of my friends’ children as they head back to class. And it’s not just the youngest students being celebrated. Yes, I’m old enough to have peers with kids in college. While all these students’ parents are proud of their progeny’s new educational milestone, there’s also a bittersweet tinge to all those Facebook postings of surprisingly grown up kids. And, of course, there’s the realization that this next phase of their youngsters’ lives is going to cost them. In some cases, the costs will be a whoooooole lot. Ever…

Photo by Sandra Seitamaa on Unsplash …School’s out. Summer is here, at least unofficially judging by the temperatures. And thousands of Americans are planning vacations. There also are a sizable number of homeowners hoping to make some extra bucks off all those seasonal travelers. Home rental popularity: Alternative accommodation, as the segment is known in the industry, appeals to those looking to immerse themselves in a new place culturally. Other opt for such lodging for the privacy (no paper-thin hotel walls), convenience (cooking meals instead of always eating out; use of the owner’s Wi-Fi or streaming services) or amenities (a…

Estimated taxes can be confusing, but they are required when you get income that isn’t subject to withholding. Here’s the scoop on the process in this estimated tax primer.

This is the original blog post copy that ran on Monday, March 24, 2014. It was updated on Friday, March 31, 2017. Business tax reform has been getting a lot of attention the last few years, with both President Obama on the Democratic side and House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Dave Camp on the Republican side pushing for change. While Congress and the White House debate tax reform as it relates to big business, the Internal Revenue Service already has made a change to ease tax filing for many owners of smaller companies. For 2013 returns, individuals who claim…

On this Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday, the last MLK Day that Barack Obama will serve as U.S. President, the 44th commander in chief will once again spend part of his afternoon volunteering. President Obama and younger daughter Sasha helped out during an earlier MLK Day at DC Central Kitchen. (Image is screenshot from Corporation for National and Community Service video.) The national holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader has evolved into a day of service. The Obamas take that role seriously.  In the past, the president and his family have volunteered at kitchens that feed the…

Today, Oct. 16, is National Dictionary Day. It was created to honor Noah Webster, the publisher of the first dictionary in 1806. Oct. 16 was chosen because it was the day 257 years ago on which Webster was born. Dictionary Day is a day to learn new words with the help of a dictionary. I’m doing my part by updating — OK, creating in large part — a tax dictionary for the ol’ blog.  Photo by eFile989 via Flickr Creative Commons  Many years ago, I posted a mini-glossary of tax terms. Since that day, I’ve meant to put together a…

Starting a business is a big move. It also can pay off at tax time thanks to the many deductions an owner can claim as he or she works to make it a success. But a businessman or woman better make sure that those tax breaks truly are for a business that’s started with the intention of turning a profit. One business operator didn’t convince the IRS or a Tax Court judge of his commitment to making money and he ended up owing $3,955.55 in added taxes. The core issue before Tax Court Judge Carolyn P. Chiechi was whether Theodore…

One of the hardest things about filing your taxes is trying to decipher the forms. You practically have to learn a new, tax- specific language. And the IRS-speak makes that dang VCR manual (yes, a few of us still use those antiquated devices!) seem almost coherent! To help out, Don’t Mess With Taxes is gathering some common tax terms and phrases and their plain English meanings in this post. This is an ongoing list, so don’t be discouraged if the word that’s stumping you isn’t here yet. It soon will be. In fact, just go ahead and e-mail it to…

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…

You, being a normal human, probably think it’s holiday time. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Christmas is bearing down. But it’s really tax time. OK, maybe not tax time in the conventional sense, but we all face taxes every day — sales taxes, gas taxes, property taxes, the list goes on and on — not just on April 15. So I’ve created this blog to (1) vent about taxes (the good, the bad and the inevitable) and, I hope, to (2) offer a bit of help in negotiating this generally unwelcome task. I’m not precisely a tax pro,…