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Quarterly estimated taxes are due in 12 days — self-employed and gig workers who underpay by June 15 get hit with an 8% IRS penalty plus daily interest

Self-employed workers, freelancers, and gig-economy earners face a fast-approaching deadline: the second-quarter estimated tax installment is due June 15, 2026. Those who underpay or skip the payment entirely risk an addition to tax that is calculated as an annualized percentage of the shortfall, plus interest that begins accruing the day after the deadline and does…

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IRS 1040 Individual Tax Return Fill out the US 1040 Individual Tax Return form and calculator

The IRS may owe you a refund for penalties paid between 2020 and 2023 — you have 37 days left before the July 10 deadline

Millions of Americans who paid late-filing or late-payment penalties on federal tax returns between 2020 and 2023 face a hard deadline of July 10, 2026, to claim refunds they may be owed. The National Taxpayer Advocate has warned that taxpayers who fail to act before that date will permanently lose the right to recover those…

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The 2026 federal adoption tax credit just rose to $17,670 per child — and up to $5,120 is now refundable for families with little or no federal tax owed

Families who adopt a child in 2026 stand to claim a larger federal tax credit than ever before, and for the first time in the credit’s history, a meaningful slice of that benefit will come back as cash even when a household owes nothing in federal income tax. The maximum adoption tax credit rises to…

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The 2026 Earned Income Tax Credit pays up to $7,830 for families with 3 or more qualifying children — but earned income above $59,899 single makes you ineligible entirely

Working families with three or more children stand to receive a larger Earned Income Tax Credit in 2026, with the maximum credit rising to $8,231, up from $8,046 for tax year 2025. But the credit phases out entirely once a single filer’s earned income crosses the threshold, creating a sharp cutoff that can erase thousands…

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The 2026-2027 FAFSA dropped to just 36 questions — and family-owned businesses with under 100 employees no longer count against the student aid index for the first time

Families who run small businesses and apply for federal student aid will no longer have those enterprises counted against them when colleges calculate how much help they qualify for. The 2026-2027 FAFSA form has been trimmed to 36 questions, and a new asset exclusion rule means that a family-owned business with 100 or fewer full-time…

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The ACA’s enhanced premium tax credit expired January 1 — average marketplace enrollees now pay $1,016 more a year and 4.8 million people are set to lose coverage entirely

Millions of Americans who purchase health insurance through Affordable Care Act marketplaces are facing steeper costs after the enhanced premium tax credits that Congress authorized from 2021 through 2025 lapsed at the start of 2026. The expiration restored an income cliff that blocks subsidies for households earning above 400% of the federal poverty level, and…

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Quarterly estimated taxes are due in 13 days — self-employed and gig workers who underpay by June 15 get hit with an 8% IRS penalty plus daily interest

Self-employed workers, freelancers, and gig contractors face a June 15 deadline to submit their second-quarter estimated tax payments to the IRS. Those who fall short will be assessed an addition to tax that accrues daily until the balance is paid, a cost that can quietly grow into hundreds of dollars on even modest underpayments. With…

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The 2026 federal poverty level climbed to $15,650 for a single person and $32,150 for a family of four — resetting eligibility for Medicaid, SNAP, Lifeline, and ACA premium subsidies

For a home health aide in Ohio earning $15,200 a year, the $590 increase in the 2026 federal poverty level is not an abstraction. It is the difference between falling just above the eligibility line for Medicaid and falling just below it. As of January 23, 2026, a single person earning up to $15,650 meets…

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The 2026 American Opportunity Tax Credit pays up to $2,500 per eligible undergraduate — and 40% of that ($1,000) is refundable to students whose family owes little or no federal tax

Every spring, the IRS processes roughly nine million returns claiming the American Opportunity Tax Credit, representing approximately $17 billion in total claims according to IRS Statistics of Income data. Yet millions more eligible families never file for the benefit at all. For the 2026 tax year, the AOTC still offers up to $2,500 per eligible…

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The OBBBA permanently restored 100% bonus depreciation for property placed in service after January 19, 2025 — saving about $40,000 first-year federal tax on a $200,000 capital expense at 21%

On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law. Tucked inside the sprawling legislation was a provision that tax professionals had been lobbying for since 2023: the permanent restoration of 100% first-year bonus depreciation under Internal Revenue Code Section 168(k). For any business that buys qualifying equipment, machinery, or…

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