The financial news that actually matters
Tax filing season is about to begin, and for millions of Americans the 2026 calendar comes with more moving parts than usual. The Internal Revenue Service is set to begin accepting 2025 federal returns on Jan. 26, while a string of tax-law changes tied to the One, Big, Beautiful Bill could alter how much many…
The IRS has opened its Free File program ahead of the official start of tax season. This gives millions of taxpayers who earned $89,000 or less in adjusted gross income for 2025 a chance to get their returns ready early at no cost. That early opening does not mean refunds started going out in early…
Homeowners planning a renovation may see headlines about the Trump tax law and become curious. They may wonder whether a new kitchen, upgraded HVAC system, or finished basement now comes with a business-style tax break. The short answer is that the new home improvement tax deductions law could help some property owners. However, it may…
Retirees aged 65 and older stand to keep significantly more of their income out of the IRS’s reach. This development starts effectively with tax year 2025, thanks to a newly enlarged standard deduction. This reform targets seniors and a lesser-known strategy involving charitable IRA withdrawals. Together, these two provisions create a tax-free retirement income strategy…
The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law on July 4, 2025 as Public Law 119-21. The law has rewritten several rules governing tax deductions for individuals. The IRS on its part, has spent months translating the IRS deduction changes 2026 into concrete guidance for the 2026 filing season. With new breaks for…
Most homeowners know they can write off mortgage interest. That single line item, however, barely scratches the surface of what the tax code allows. The IRS publishes a web of guidance across multiple publications that, taken together, outlines at least eight additional breaks. Interestingly, many filers either misunderstand or skip them entirely causing them to…
The Internal Revenue Service set the maximum Earned Income Tax Credit for tax year 2026 at $8,231 for families with three or more qualifying children, a bump from $8,046 in 2025. That increase, driven by annual inflation indexing and shaped by provisions in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, means larger families filing returns in early…
State governments across the country collected a record $1.2 trillion in tax revenue during fiscal year 2025, a milestone that reflects strong personal income tax receipts and steady consumer spending. Yet the headline figure conceals sharp disparities between states, and the full national picture will not be official until the U.S. Census Bureau publishes its…
Homeowners in a handful of states pay dramatically less in property taxes than the national norm, a gap that can amount to thousands of dollars in annual savings. Federal data from the U.S. Census Bureau and analysis from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy show that states with the lowest effective property tax rates often…
The 2026 tax filing season is officially underway, which means millions of Americans can now begin sending in their federal returns for the 2025 tax year. For early filers, the opening of tax season is the moment when returns stop sitting in a queue and start moving through the IRS system for processing. For most…