Good morning, it’s Monday, and if THAT wasn’t enough bad news, let me lay one more on you…
It’s Tax Day.
Yupper. Did you forget? Well, you better get a move on, then. Because the clock is ticking, and Uncle Sam doesn’t like lateness.
This year’s deadline, which applies to most filers, is three days later than the normal April 15 deadline, as a result of Washington, D.C.’s Emancipation holiday.
By law, Washington, D.C., holidays impact EVERYONE’s tax deadlines – just like federal holidays. Also, if you’re lucky enough to be a Mainer or Bay State resident, you have until April 19 to file, thanks to the Patriots’ Day holiday.
This year’s tax season ends the earliest it has since 2019 (for most states). In 2020, the deadline was in July and last year’s extension was mid-May.
The IRS started accepting and processing2021 tax returns Jan. 24, 17 days earlier than last tax season’s start of Feb. 12.
And there are a number of changes to keep in mind if you’re still scrambling to get your filing in under the wire.
For example, there are differences in how jobless benefits will be treated compared with the 2020 returns. You need to account for advance Child Tax Credit payments, the return of the Recovery Rebate Credit, and a special break for charitable contributions.
Pandemic-related relief had a big impact the latest round of returns. For 2021, there is no more age cap or ceiling set at 64 or younger for workers to qualify for the earned income tax credit. (This is, thus far, a one-time-only deal).
The EITC also now applies on federal returns to workers 65 or older – even those without dependent children – and to childless workers, age 19 to 24, who aren’t half-time or full-time students and are claimed as dependents by their parents, all as a result of the 2020 American Rescue Plan.
An important reminder: There’s also a cryptocurrency question on the top of your tax return that you MUST answer, even if you did not engage in any so-called “virtual currency transactions.”
The IRS actually first asked about cryptocurrency in 2019, but only on Schedule I forms, which not all taxpayers use. In 2020, the crypto inquiry was prominently placed on the front of the 1040, and it’s still there, though the wording is different.
Oh, and by the way, the mailing address for where you should send your federal taxes differs based on the state in which you live. Here’s a handy list. If you can’t get yourself together to file in time, today is also the deadline for requesting an extension, which will give you until Oct. 17 to file.
BUT, be forewarned: There’s extension on payments. If you think you owe the government money, best send a payment by EOD today to avoid interest and penalties. And for all you New Yorkers – I assume most Rise and Shine readers are Empire State residents – today is the deadline for your state taxes, too.
You certainly won’t be able to blame the weather for keeping you from the post office. Today will be sunny in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon, with temperatures around 60 degrees.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden and his immediate predecessor issued Easter messages that were as different as the men themselves. Other living presidents weighed in as well.
“Jill and I join fellow Christians around the world in celebrating Easter Sunday — a day of joy and hope, of renewal and rebirth,” Biden’s message began. (He also released a Passover message).
The U.S. saw multiple mass shootings over the Easter weekend, leaving two teenagers dead and at least 31 people injured.
Russia unleashed further destruction on Kharkiv and Mariupol, major cities in the east of Ukraine that are crucial to Moscow’s apparent goal of controlling a large arc of its neighbor after its effort to take Kyiv, the capital, was blocked.
Ukrainian forces besieged in Mariupol have rejected Russia’s demands to surrender and are still resisting an unrelenting assault on the southeastern port city, top Ukrainian officials said.
Biden and his allies face a new precipice in deciding how far the US can go in arming the embattled country, as Russia signals that it may take more aggressive action to stop the flow of weapons from the US and NATO.
Biden’s accusation last week that Russia is seeking to commit genocide in Ukraine came at the start of a week in which the White House began escalating pressure on nations that remain neutral on the war to pick a side.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva to discuss post-war plans to rebuild Ukraine and maintain financial stability.
Zelenskiy has urged Biden to visit Ukraine and reiterated that he is not willing to cede territory in the country’s east to end war with Russia.
“He’s the leader of the United States, and that’s why he should come here to see,” Zelensky told CNN.
Zelensky warned that the world should “prepare” for Russian leader Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons in his invasion of Ukraine – and urged air-raid shelters and anti-radiation medicine to be readied for the potential calamity.
A group of Democratic lawmakers including four senators and a House member will travel to Poland, India, Germany and the United Arab Emirates on a nine-day trip to rally support for Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine is making it tougher for many emerging-market governments to make debt payments to foreign creditors, fueling concerns of potential crises that could shake markets and weaken the global economic recovery.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he sees an “opportunity” to become speaker of the House if Republicans flip the chamber in this year’s midterm elections.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden paid $150,439 in federal income taxes last year after earning $610,702, according to their joint tax return the White House released ahead of the tax filing deadline.
The Biden administration announced it would resume selling leases for oil and gas drilling on federal land, albeit at a higher cost to energy companies and with less available land.
The WHO’s global COVID-19 death toll estimate has been delayed for months because of objections from India, which disputes the calculation of how many of its citizens died and has tried to keep it from becoming public.
Yet again, the U.S. is trudging into what could be another COVID-19 surge, with cases rising nationally and in most states after a two-month decline.
In the latest phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, federal and local officials are telling people to decide for themselves how best to protect against the virus.
With COVID cases rising but hospitalizations apparently remaining steady, next steps in the nation’s pandemic response are up in the air, the White House’s COVID czar indicated.
The coronavirus remains new enough and its long-term effects unpredictable enough that measuring the threat posed by an infection is a thorny problem.
Federal regulators will review the official tally of COVID-19 deaths at one of the nation’s largest nursing home chains after the company cut its reported death toll by an unprecedented 42%.
Early data showed the mRNA vaccines were highly effective against infection, but experts say the virus has changed over time and people need to reconfigure their expectations.
Several million workers who dropped out of the U.S. workforce during the Covid-19 pandemic plan to stay out indefinitely because of persistent illness fears or physical impairments, potentially exacerbating the labor shortage for years, new research shows.
China’s latest wave of Covid restrictions has forced millions of people — roughly three times as many as live in New York City — to stay home and undergo mass virus testing in the metropolis of Shanghai.
Shanghai officials reported the city’s first COVID-19 deaths since imposing strict city-wide lockdowns due to the recent spread of the omicron variant.
New York is the sole state in the U.S. with multiple counties at high risk of COVID-19 impacts, according to the most recent data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Disease trackers are monitoring the spread of new, highly transmissible versions of the omicron variant in New York state and Europe, the latest evidence of the coronavirus’s ability to overhaul its genetic profile and pose a fresh threat.
Several counties in Central New York, Northern New York and the Southern Tier are now being recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for mask wearing, prompted by high case-counts of COVID-19, the health agency’s data reported.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a new interview that New York would never again be crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic, promising, “I’m not going to shut it down again, you can count on that.”
The Big Apple is expected to shift to a “medium-risk” COVID-19 alert level within the next week because of an increase in cases, the city’s health commissioner says.
A dissident MTA worker’s stance against vaccine mandates is a slam dunk with Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving.
Overdose deaths have nearly doubled from pre-pandemic levels in New York City, according to new city data.
Hochul and her husband reported $912,179 in income in 2021 and paid $295,001 in federal and state income taxes, according to their annual return released on Friday.
The Hochuls reported a joint federal taxable income of $825,457 and paid an effective federal tax rate of 28.8%. Their state effective tax rate was 6.84% on $833,364 in taxable income. They gave $72,153 in gifts to charity.
Hochul slammed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for “smiling” while signing into a law for a 15-week abortion ban in his state.
Newsday’s Dan Janison: “Hochul’s biggest mistake may not have been that she chose Brian Benjamin as lieutenant governor — but that she appointed anyone in the first place.”
“(Hochul) is trying to ventilate sexism and bullying out of the political ether — creating breathable air for women at the top of one of the most powerful states in the nation, all while governing.”
Alison Esposito, the New York Republican party’s lieutenant governor candidate of choice, opened up in a new interview about being its first openly gay candidate, steadfastly saying, “It can happen.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams gave a clipped response when asked if he’d commit to following in the footsteps of his predecessor, former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who made his tax returns public each year while serving as mayor. “No.”
“I will comply with whatever rules are in place, you know we do our disclosure also. I think that’s sometime in May,” Adams said. “Whatever rules are in place to ensure transparency for those who are in public office, I am going to comply 100 percent.”
“Common Cause/NY uniformly demands that candidates and elected officials from the executive on down disclose their taxes,” said Susan Lerner, who heads the government reform group. “This is about transparency, plain and simple.”
From the tragic to the triumphant, New York City’s mayor has stolen the headlines in his first few months in office.
Adams agreed with former NYPD commissioner William Bratton that progressive politics played a role in the increase of crime in American cities.
Bratton wrote in the Daily News: “Eric Adams is suffering from a condition that has been on the wane in New York, and I don’t mean his recent bout with COVID. It’s called ‘common sense.'”
Adams tried to assure the public that the subways are safe after last week’s rampage — while arguing other big cities have crime and Gotham isn’t nearly as dangerous as it used to be.
Tying an ongoing spike in New York City crime to trends across the country, Adams called for “a national and local approach” to violence.
Dozens of New York faith leaders on Good Friday condemned Adams’ campaign to break up homeless encampments, calling the policy “immoral and inhumane.”
Adams is backing off his proposed ban on chocolate milk at least for now — and instead urging Congress to pass a law allowing vegetarian alternatives in select New York City schools.
Car-company executives gathered at the New York International Auto Show painted a gloomy picture of the inventory constraints that will continue to affect availability for both new and used cars throughout 2022.
New York City employers are hustling to figure out what to do about impending salary-disclosure rules, while hoping for a delay.
Google plans to invest about $9.5 billion in U.S. offices and data centers this year, up from $7 billion in 2021, as it opens new branches, expands existing facilities and boosts its presence in New York.
A rapper whose social-media accounts are filled with anti-police rants is running to become a Democratic Party district leader in Brooklyn.
A Queens mom whose body was found stuffed in a bloody duffel bag went out the night before her killing, and cops are trying to trace her movements to unravel the mystery of her death, police sources said.
Financially strapped tenants facing eviction in Manhattan and Brooklyn will have to start representing themselves in housing court because of a shortage of public defenders.
A storm system developing today into Tuesday is predicted to bring moderate to heavy show in high elevations throughout eastern New York and western New England.
Mayor Michael Stammel has for years retained control of a building that formerly housed the now-inactive Rensselaer Volunteer Ambulance Service but is frequently rented for private events, with little accountability of its business dealings or finances.
A physician assistant who is a suspect in the killing of a 35-year-old New Scotland man was arrested by police and federal agents as he drove across the Virginia border from Tennessee on Friday evening, according to police.
Twitter moved to prevent Elon Musk from significantly increasing his stake, a day after he unveiled a $43 billion unsolicited takeover bid for the social-media company.
Food and Drug Administration officials said they are examining reports from more than 100 consumers who told the agency that they got sick after eating Lucky Charms cereal recently.
