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In 2020, the government gave taxpayers an automatic six-month extension due to the coronavirus. Individuals who were affected by the damaging wildfires were also given additional time to meet most tax deadlines. However, in 2021, the deadline for submitting your income tax return is likely to return to the regularly scheduled time slot on April 15.

After months of intense debate, the House and Senate voted to pass a second COVID-19 economic stimulus bill and the President has signed it into law.1 At a total cost of $900 billion, this 5,600-page bill1 contains everything from individual payments to taxpayers2 through increased broadband access3, all the way through funding for vaccine distribution.4

While the 2020 tax year saw some significant changes to filing deadlines due to the effects of the global pandemic, the 2021 tax season seems to be set to be on track with normal filing deadlines. With the pandemic still in sight, it is important to consider that these dates may be subject to change.

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, the number of U.S. data breaches hit a new high in 2017. Nearly 20% of breaches included credit and debit card information, a nearly 6% increase from the prior year. The actual number of records included in these breaches grew by a dramatic 88%.1

Tax aware investing focuses on optimizing your returns by reducing your tax liability as much as possible. In theory, this investment strategy has the potential to help you earn more money on your investments, but you need to be aware of some potential pitfalls. When getting started with tax aware investing, you may want to avoid the following practices.

There are no great secrets where tax planning and tax cutting are concerned. The principles around which all tax-cutting strategies revolve can be reduced to six basics:

1. Income splitting. Taxes are reduced for the total family unit by shifting income among several family members or legal entities in order to get more of the income taxed at lower rates.

With the global pandemic leaving millions of people in the U.S. without jobs, unemployment numbers hit an all-time high. To help ease the burden for many jobless Americans, the federal government also included an additional $600 per week in pandemic unemployment insurance, helping many people earn a weekly payment higher than their previously earned wages.

There’s no doubt that it feels great to help someone in need through charitable giving. There are more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States that range from food banks and disaster relief centers to churches and cultural centers. And in 2018, Americans contributed over 4 billion dollars to charitable organizations. 

Paying fees for professional investment management is something we’d all like to avoid. Why pay for some guy in a suit to manage your investments when you can do-it-yourself with a simple online brokerage account? There are many reasons to trust a professional - read on to find out whether it’s worth it to go with the pros.

Active vs. Passive

The holiday season is just around the corner and many charitable organizations are in desperate need of donations to help provide the vital services needed in the community. You are most often inundated with a number of charitable requests towards the end of the year, which could be ideal time to take advantage of charitable giving from a financial standpoint.