Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
With Direct File gone for the 2026 season, filing a return without paying a preparer or software fee now takes more planning. I still see at least four solid ways to file 2026 taxes for free, but each has its own rules, limits, and fine print that matter if you want to avoid surprise charges….
The Internal Revenue Service is pushing deeper into free online tax prep, turning what used to be a niche experiment into a mainstream option for 2025 filers. After testing a government-built system with a limited group of taxpayers, the agency is now widening access and pairing it with long-standing no-cost tools that already serve millions….
Tax filing season is officially open, and for millions of households that refund will be the single biggest cash infusion of the year. Locking in the best possible 2025 payout is less about luck and more about choices you make right now, from how you file to which credits you claim. I want to walk…
For millions of people who split dinner on their phones or sell the occasional couch online, a single $600 payment can be the moment a casual side deal collides with the tax system. What looks like harmless pocket money can trigger extra IRS forms, mismatched records and, in the worst cases, an unexpected bill or…
The Treasury Department has taken the extraordinary step of cutting off one of Washington’s most entrenched contractors after a former employee leaked private tax data for President Donald Trump and other ultra-wealthy Americans. By terminating every agreement with Booz Allen Hamilton, officials are signaling that a single breach inside the Internal Revenue Service can now…
New rules for the 2026 filing season are quietly tilting the tax code in favor of older Americans, but most of the benefits will only show up if seniors know where to look. Between richer deductions, targeted breaks on retirement income and smarter ways to handle medical and charitable costs, it is realistic for a…
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has ordered a nationwide cleanup of its rental assistance rolls after an internal review flagged thousands of ineligible or fictitious tenants, including people who are dead or lack required documentation. The agency has given local housing authorities and private landlords just 30 days to scrub their files, a…
Millions of Americans are heading into tax season with something unusual on the horizon: the prospect of meaningfully larger refunds driven by a sweeping set of new IRS rules and federal tax law changes. The combination of fresh deductions, higher standard write offs and updated brackets is poised to shrink taxable income for a wide…
California’s richest residents have always had reasons to eye the exits, from high income-tax rates to a cost of living that makes even a Gulfstream feel modest. What is new is the intensity of the scrutiny that greets anyone who claims to have left, just as the state lines up a one-time levy on fortunes…
For millions of households, the dog on the couch or the cat on the keyboard is as central to family life as any child. Yet when tax season arrives, that emotional reality collides with a tax code that treats animals very differently from human relatives. The idea of listing a pet as a dependent is…