Remember the suburban Pittsburgh woman who sued Kmart for charging her sales tax on her purchase of toilet tissue? If not, I blogged about the case here.
Well, we can all quit snickering. She won.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the district judge hearing the case ruled in plaintiff Mary Bach’s favor,
finding Kmart twice levied the tax improperly.
Bach was awarded $100 plus
court costs.
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.
November 4, 2026
Thanks to Nov. 3 midterm election wins Democrats will control both the House and Senate…
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.)
mapgirl
Awesome. As a former PA resident, there is a lot of stuff they don’t tax like clothing and TP. What baffles me is my VA grocery receipt where I seem to be charged different rates for different things. I can’t seem to figure out what gets 5% vs 4.5%. Very confusing.
Hm… Off I go to check the VA Taxation/Revenue site for info.
bathroom vanities
Five minutes later, you whisper to the Elmo doll, ‘Hey, Elmo, Bobby peed all by himself! Good job!’ And Bobby is thinking, ‘I’m hearing this a lot lately from people.’ The words don’t matter as much as the way you say them.”