Remember the IRS redesign? Like many others, I was puzzled by the new color combination (blue and orange, really?). As promised, I sent IRS an email asking them why those particular colors. To my surprise, they replied fairly quickly. Perhaps not so surprising, there was no real answer. Instead, I received this reply: We have…
I know I’m dating myself but I remember when people used to pay for purchases in cash and occasionally, with checks. Not so much anymore. Now, debit cards are all the rage. You know the ones (of course, since you likely have one). They look and function much like credit cards – only except instead…
There’s no way round it: Americans are getting fat. According to the CDC, there has been a “dramatic increase in obesity” over the past twenty years. Across the country, about a third of all adults are classified as obese, meaning that they have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher. To put that…
Just a few months after I reported seeing a bump in scam e-mails purporting to be from the IRS, a new version is making the rounds. The new version is very similar to the prior version. As before, the header is a variation on Federal Tax payment canceled or Your Federal Tax Transaction. The ones…
Last December, Congress pushed through a whole set of changes meant to make them look good on Election Day things easier for taxpayers. One of the changes was the new portability provision which allows spouses to “share” their federal estate tax exclusion amounts with each other. Each person is allowed an exclusion for federal estate…
So wow. I hope you stayed up last night – like I did – to catch those baseball games. And by those baseball games, I mean a set of four baseball games that made up what was possibly the greatest night in baseball regular league play. If you didn’t catch it, I highly recommend you…
I hate to fly. There. I said it. It’s not a phobia or anything. I just find the whole experience grossly unpleasant from start to finish. I can’t figure out ticket prices to save my life. I don’t like being treated like one of a number of cattle. And I hate the whole nickel and…
It’s nearly the end of September (whew) and we’re wrapping up back to school. To help you stay organized, I’ve made a list of five quick tax tips – for everyone but especially students – to keep in mind: April 15 of each year is the due date for filing your federal individual income tax…
So, every morning, I surf on over to the IRS website because: (a) I’m a geek like that; and (b) I want to keep on top of the latest tax news. This morning, I got quite the shock. The website is completely re-vamped. Since I hadn’t yet gotten through my first sip of coffee, I…
Is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) about to throw his hat into the race for the GOP nomination for President? It sure looks like it despite declining to enter the fray earlier. Gov. Christie is a relative newcomer to the national scene. He made news by handily besting former Gov. Jon Corzine (D) in…