Say yeah! Because the IRS is finally accepting e-filed returns as of Monday January 31st. After visiting irs.gov I saw that they actually have an option to free file and a couple of websites available to help low income filers. I thought it was an awesome idea considering the measly $4,200 and stimulus funds they gave to single individuals, SSI and SSDI recipients last year. Enough to cover a security deposit and one half of a month's rent. Once the president declared the state of emergency it made it super clear that a number of retail, hospitality, travel, health care and direct consumer occupations were definitely going to have them make some changes for things to actually begin to make sense. They implemented the social distance rules and placed hand sanitizers and face masks in most convenience and corner stores. In addition, they shut down numerous doctor's offices, government buildings, and educational venues and schools to handle this impact.
What we haven't had time to see is how these mandates have affected the average American household's bottom line financially. The U.S. Census Bureau also reports the median income for each family. In 2019, it was $86,011. That's 7.4% higher than the $80,071 earned in 2018.2 It has been rising since 2012. Since then a number of individual States, cities and townships have instituted eviction memorandums and the state of California has even had the opportunity to send their residents additional payments above and beyond the federal unemployment help and emergency pandemic benefit. Even with all of that I found that too many citizens are either living by credit or barely making ends meet to make matters worse the local authorities have increased street sweeping and homeless persons removal to an all-time high in the last 5 to 10 years; so where does that leave it? Half of the population is concerned about their state lifting the eviction band and the other half is scoring between jails, homeless shelters and hospitals that are already overcrowded by patients suffering from covid-19 and have other major health concerns. None of which are a help or hindrance when it comes to tax season and you're either looking for a break or hoping for a refund of some sort. So take the time and review some of the links listed here and I hope you find some ideas and support.
References:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.uschamber.com/co/run/finance/home-based-business-tax-deductions/amp
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