Category: Changes and Deadlines

Borrowers counting on Public Service Loan Forgiveness to erase their federal student loans after ten years of qualifying employment now face a new wildcard: starting July 1, the Education Secretary can strip an employer’s qualifying status if the organization’s activities are deemed to have a “substantial illegal purpose.” The rule, rooted in Executive Order 14235…

Homeowners who want to claim a federal tax credit for installing an electric vehicle charger at home are running out of time. The Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit under Section 30C of the tax code covers 30% of the cost of a qualified charger, up to $1,000 per charging port, for property placed in…

Self-employed drivers who rack up tens of thousands of business miles each year now have a slightly larger per-mile deduction to work with. The IRS set the 2026 optional standard mileage rate at 72.5 cents per business mile, effective January 1, 2026, up 2.5 cents from the 2025 rate. For a gig driver logging 30,000…

Families planning cash gifts to children or grandchildren in 2026 will work with the same per-recipient ceiling that applied in 2025. The IRS confirmed that the federal gift-tax annual exclusion for tax year 2026 stays at $19,000 per recipient, and a married couple electing to split gifts can transfer up to $38,000 to each donee…

Every worker earning above $176,100 in 2025 already faces a cap on how much of their pay is subject to the Social Security payroll tax. That ceiling is about to jump. The Social Security Administration has set the OASDI contribution and benefit base at $184,500 for tax year 2026, an $8,400 increase that will push…

Every child born in the United States between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, who holds U.S. citizenship and a valid Social Security number will receive a $1,000 federal deposit into a new savings account when the Trump Accounts program officially opens on July 4, 2026. The launch, timed to coincide with the nation’s…

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…

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…

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…

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…