Yes, it’s already tax season again.
While it seems like the 2020 tax season just ended (you may recall that it was extended from its normal April deadline to June last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic), it’s time to get your W-2 forms together and get ready to file your 2020 taxes before the April 15, 2021 deadline.
But before we get into a few of the reasons why tax season could potentially be a rude awakening for many this year, let’s first cover some good news associated with tax filing:
- If you received one or both of the stimulus checks issued in 2020, you won’t have to pay taxes on it and you won’t have to claim it toward your earned income. The IRS does not consider stimulus checks as taxable income.
- Standard deductions increase from last year, per terms of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In 2019, the standard deduction was $12,200 for single taxpayers and $24,400 for married couples filing jointly. This year, it increases to $12,800 and $24,800, respectively.
Now let’s get into some of the reasons why this tax season could be a bit more frustrating for you:
New W-4
The new W-4 ushered in by the aforementioned Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was delayed in 2019, meaning that it was rolled out and took full effect in 2020. The new form essentially intends to minimize refunds and maximize take-home pay with each paycheck. In theory, this is the ideal situation, as any refund you receive during tax season is nothing more than an interest-free loan the government is now making good with you on. But the fact is that many Americans bank on tax refunds and may not have noticed a marginal increase in their checks throughout 2020. It could be a tough pill to swallow for many. To get an idea of how much this could impact you, compare your W-2s that were issued in 2020 versus those issued in 2019. If the amount of tax that was withheld was similar, then you’re still likely in store for a comparable refund. If there’s a noticeable gap, your refund could be much less. You can correct this issue for the forthcoming year by changing how much tax is withheld.
Unemployment Benefits
If you’re among the tens of millions of Americans that were – or still are – out of work due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, know that the unemployment benefits that you received are not tax-free. While you should have had the option to withhold taxes when you filed for such benefits, if you didn’t, you’re going to be owing it come tax time. Not only could this eat into most of the refund that consumers could be expecting, but it could also mean that many Americans may have to cut a check to the IRS. This could put millions of Americans still reeling economically in an increasingly challenging situation.
I HATE SEEING MY MONEY GOING TO THE PEOPLE WE HAVE RUNING THIS COOUNTRY NOW…..
I couldn’t agree more! Not to mention abortions, both here and in other countries! No one can tell me why we have to pay for this because people are so irresponsible.
Thanks Biden, you told us, I didn’t vote for you anyway. The 20 million people that are going to be unemployed at the end of the year did
Biden wants to make sure everyone is equal, equally poor that is. if you are not one of the elite, you will be one the plebeians, dependent on the government. Socialism….that is how it works.
I couldn’t agree more, it’s unbelievable to me the number of people I talk to who actually belief our country is already partly a Socialist country because of social security and Medicare, which we all pay into, their not free! They actually believe we will all benefit from our country getting rid of capitalism and implementing Socialism. They don’t realize that the income inequality they are trying to work on would as you said, make us all equally poor and government officials and the rich will be the only other class of people in our destroyed country! Impeach Harris first and then Biden!!!!
Truth isn’t “hate speech”. It will take real patriots to put this country back together. I have already heard people talking about their being mislead in the last election and what mistakes they made. The Rinos who have sided with the left are now found out. When the country can’t seem to accomplish anything it is a sure sign of corruption. Duh!
Remember Bill Clinton’s slogan…”it’s the economy stupid”. People have a short memory. As a kid, I heard the term “he’s a yellow dog democrat” ….meaning he would vote for a yellow dog before he’d vote republican. Well, this election, we have some Republicans that should have voted with that mind set. And those others, I don’t know about them…what on earth were they thinking?
You forgot about all the dead people who voted for Biden, and the vote switching Dominium software that moved votes to Biden as needed to beat Trump, not a major shift, that would have been too easy to uncover! The millions of fake ballots that were printed and processed as a vote for Biden, no other candidates, or questions answered on ballot, an anomaly, yes, it is seen in every election, except this election it was substantially more than in all prior elections. Republicans must stick together just as the Democrats have done for decades, they vote for whoever the Democratic candidate is, never questioning his or her credibility or experience, and certainly not their lack of any integrity! The 74 million Trump voters and hopefully millions of the living Biden voters, who have realized Biden’s huge bait and switch by now. His only actions to date are to try his best to erase everything Trump accomplished, just for spite and perpetuating the hate in this country towards conservatives of both parties. It is a sad day for all of America! He’s asking for our country to unite, while he and his party are trying to ram through any and all of their bills without any Republican input, and illegally trying to impeach the greatest President in decades at the same time! Anyone who thinks this is an atmosphere for uniting this country is deranged and extremely delusional!
If I thought for a minute our taxes would go to a good humanitarian cause, I would pay them with a smile on my face. But when we can’t trust a single thing with the criminally Totalitarian changes this puppet is making, it’s more like flushing our money right down the toilet! I do not trust one Democrat. That will be forever after watching them at war with the GOP for four yrs..
I would give it with the attitude of a giver and let God bless it. With the last stimulus being such a joke, we decided to put it into people (in the Kingdom of God) … We already got a $12,500 return on it from God. We do not have to follow the world’s way of doing things.
1.9 trillion dollars , what else did they hide in it ? Everything nobody in there right mind would have accepted . I’m sure pelosi’s flying finger is in there like bailing out her son-in-law gavid screwsome . So now open boarders what’s with illegal immigration , and with the pandemic looming . Texas you better get your lawyers together and build that wall for your own protection . Getter done !
Well said Randy!
This is so sad we let our country go into such corruption. It’s real obvious on the rigged election what these people are planning to do. First a pandemic started and since that wasn’t good enough they created a hate movement. The Elites are sitting back watching us hate on each other and enjoying it.
But in my view is we will unite but it will be at a human level.
But we need to all stand together.
If we have another war it will be terrible. We need to get rid of this dictator and it isn’t Joe Biden he is just the POSER. STAND UP AMERICANS