The financial news that actually matters
Covers tax deadlines, filing updates, government changes, and important financial calendar events. It ensures readers stay updated with time-sensitive financial requirements.
Self-employed workers and gig contractors face a hard deadline in seven days. June 15, 2026, is the cutoff for the second quarterly estimated tax installment, covering income earned from April 1 through May 31. Anyone who underpays will owe the IRS interest at a 6% annual rate, and that interest compounds daily on the prior…
Tens of millions of taxpayers who paid failure-to-file or failure-to-pay penalties on returns from 2020 through 2023 now have 32 days to claim refunds before a practical filing cutoff on July 10, 2026. The National Taxpayer Advocate flagged the deadline after a federal court ruling reinterpreted how the COVID-19 disaster period affects penalty assessments, opening…
Taxpayers across all 82 Mississippi counties face a single hard deadline today: June 8, 2026. The IRS set that date as the final extension for federal filing and payment obligations originally due between January 23 and June 8, giving storm-battered residents and businesses nearly five months of breathing room after a severe winter storm struck…
Married couples filing jointly will see their standard deduction rise to $32,200 for tax year 2026, a figure shaped by both annual inflation adjustments and newly enacted changes under Public Law 119-21. The increase directly lowers taxable income for the millions of joint filers who do not itemize, and it takes effect for returns filed…
Families with children under 17 will receive a child tax credit capped at $2,200 per qualifying child for tax year 2026, with no more than $1,700 of that amount available as a refund to households that owe little or no federal income tax. Those figures, locked into federal law through the FY2025 reconciliation process, set…
Workers earning the lowest wages in Alaska will see a dollar-an-hour raise less than a month from now. The state’s minimum wage jumps from $13.00 to $14.00 per hour on July 1, 2026, the second step in a phased schedule that voters locked into law during the 2024 general election. The increase affects hourly employees…
Millions of adults who gained Medicaid coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s expansion will face eligibility checks twice a year instead of once, beginning with redeterminations scheduled on or after the first quarter after December 31, 2026. Section 71107 of Public Law 119-21 doubles the renewal frequency for this population, compressing what has been a…
Oregon workers facing wage garnishment will keep more of each paycheck starting July 1, 2026, when a new weekly floor of $400 takes effect for most garnishment calculations. The change, enacted through the Family Financial Protection Act, raises the minimum amount of earnings shielded from creditors and applies alongside the existing rule that protects 75%…
Workers with family health coverage through a high-deductible plan will be able to set aside more than $9,000 in a health savings account for the first time when the 2027 tax year begins. The IRS announced the new annual ceiling in Revenue Procedure 2026-24, published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-24, following the statutory inflation-adjustment formula…
Parents who borrowed federal PLUS loans to help pay for a child’s college education face a hard cutoff: any consolidation application must be fully disbursed by June 30, 2026, or those borrowers will permanently lose access to every income-driven repayment plan. Starting July 1, 2026, unconsolidated Parent PLUS loans will no longer qualify for lower…