Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
President Donald Trump has promised that the 2026 filing season will deliver the biggest tax refunds in history, powered by his One Big Beautiful Bill and new breaks for workers. On paper, many households really are in line for larger checks because withholding stayed high even as the law cut taxes for 2025 income. In…
For older Americans trying to stretch Social Security and savings, the new “senior bonus” deduction is one of the most valuable changes in the tax code this season. It effectively lets qualifying taxpayers subtract an extra $6,000 from taxable income on top of already expanded standard deductions, potentially lifting total write offs into the mid…
President Donald Trump promised that his corporate tax overhaul would unleash a wave of investment and jobs. Buried in the fine print, it also delivered a quiet windfall to one of the country’s most powerful companies, Amazon, by sharply reducing what the retailer owes the federal government. The result is a multibillion dollar shift in…
Several of the most familiar write-offs in the federal code are being reshaped or erased as 2026 rules lock into place. The Internal Revenue Service is implementing a package of changes tied to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the newer One Big Beautiful Bill framework, and some of the quietest shifts will hit…
President Donald Trump is promising a banner year for tax refunds, with his signature cuts poised to fatten checks for households that have already weathered years of inflation and higher borrowing costs. Yet the very agency that has to deliver those windfalls is heading into filing season with fewer workers, a growing backlog and a…
The Internal Revenue Service is quietly tightening the rules that decide how fast your refund hits your bank account. If anything about your return or your payment details looks off, the IRS can park your money for weeks until you prove who you are and where the refund should go. The one document that increasingly…
Washington is moving from theory to reality on a new levy aimed squarely at its richest residents, and the details suggest it could bite harder than many casual observers realize. Lawmakers in Olympia are advancing a so‑called millionaire tax that would, for the first time, tie state revenue directly to high earners’ personal income and…
Housing costs are crushing first-time buyers, and the idea of tapping retirement savings to finally get the keys to a home can sound like a lifeline. The catch is that turning a 401(k) into a down payment tool risks solving one crisis by quietly supercharging another: a shortfall in retirement that you cannot fix in…
California’s latest fight over how to pay for roads has erupted into a full‑blown backlash, with drivers accusing Democrats of plotting a per‑mile tax that would drain their wallets. The anger is real, even as state officials insist there is no new mileage fee on the books and that the current push is limited to…
President Donald Trump’s push to let Americans raid their 401(k)s for home down payments is being sold as a shortcut to the housing ladder, but Peter Schiff argues it is more likely to torch retirement savings than build real wealth. He sees the plan as a way to encourage buyers to overpay for homes at…