Happy tax filing month! To help celebrate, this month’s newsletter includes a tax quiz exploring the history of taxation in the United States. Also included is a reminder to help your favorite charitable organizations retain their nonprofit status, a simple four-step household budget building process and a reminder of some popular tax breaks that are no longer available in 2017.
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2017 Tax Quiz
Here is a quiz to see how well you know your income tax history.
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Three Popular Tax Breaks are Gone
As you make plans for the 2017 tax year, take note that three popular tax breaks expired last year and won’t be available unless Congress acts to extend them. | |||||||||
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Remember to plan for these changes. But also keep an eye on future action from Congress that could bring these dead tax deductions back to life. |
Spring into Household Budgeting
Spring is in the air! As you’re wrapping up your tax filing for 2016, now is a natural time to either create a new budget or refresh your existing budget. Here’s how:
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Sort your expenditures. Break down your expenses for each month into categories, such as mortgage or rent, utilities, groceries, vehicle, insurance, household goods, restaurants and entertainment. As you go through the categories, you will be able to distinguish those that are set costs, such as mortgage, insurance and utility payments. You’ll also see those that are flexible, such as restaurants and entertainment.
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Set financial priorities. Now that you have clear categories for how you’ve spent your money, write down a list of your financial priorities. These could be things like building a savings account for emergency expenses, growing your retirement savings, paying down debt, or saving for your children’s education. If you’re not spending enough on your priorities, resolve to shift more of your spending from the flexible categories.
Changing spending habits can be hard to do all at once and it’s easy to slide back into old habits. Using a budget keeps you honest with yourself and allows you to gradually shift your spending to better reflect your priorities. |
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Create your cushion. In addition to building up an emergency fund to cover three to six months of expenses, consider creating a month-to-month cushion. After you’ve set your budget, set aside a small percentage of your monthly income for your “cushion.” Your cushion is there to give you some leeway if you make mistakes and go over budget over the course of the month. Think of it as your margin of error.
If you get to the end of the month without going over budget, give yourself a small reward or at least a pat on the back. Rewarding yourself will help reinforce positive financial habits in the months to come. |
Nonprofit Annual Filing Due
Annual reporting is required for all organizations that wish to keep their nonprofit status intact. The due date for this filing is May 15, 2017 for calendar-year organizations. Here’s how you can help ensure your favorite charities stay compliant. | |||||
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As always, should you have any questions or concerns regarding your situation please feel free to call.
This newsletter is provided by
R.D.M. Tax Service & Notary Public
47865 Stillwater Drive
La Quinta, CA 92253-7119
Office: 760.564.1408
Office: 415.285.5384
This publication provides summary information regarding the subject matter at time of publishing. Please call with any questions on how this information may impact your situation. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission, except as noted here. This publication includes, or may include, links to third party internet web sites controlled and maintained by others. When accessing these links the user leaves this web page. These links are included solely for the convenience of users and their presence does not constitute any endorsement of the Websites linked or referred to nor does R.D.M. Tax Service & Notary Public have any control over, or responsibility for, the content of any such Websites.
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