The IRS has put out a couple of notices over the past couple of weeks about charitable donations, so there must be something brewing about these and how they affect your tax picture. The most obvious change is that starting with tax year 2026 there can be a deduction available for these donations without having to itemize your deductions. This then is a good time to think about these transactions while there is still time to potentially put them to use next tax season.

The first big note then is just being aware that such donations can benefit you to the tune of $1,000 for a single taxpayer and $2,000 for a married couple. If you have been taking the standard deduction for years, you may not be in the habit of saving receipts for charitable donations, so you should start doing that, for even if it’s a smaller amount, it will still help lower your tax obligation.

There are some things to remember when it comes to this, though, and one of the biggest may be knowing what qualifies as a charitable contribution. All donations to legitimate charitable organizations are pretty much good to go. Please note, though, that there are places to send your money that do not qualify. The most obvious are these are many political donations and campaigns set up on sites like GoFundMe, which may be for charitable causes, but the money is not going to actual charitable organizations, they are not legitimate to claim on a tax return.

For those that are legitimate, keep proof of all donations you make during the year and be sure that you have written acknowledgement for any donation larger than $250.

If this is something that may play a big part in your tax return, please be sure to look into the information that the IRS is releasing and do not hesitate to reach out to us if you it still does not answer your questions.  These and all tips from the IRS are available on irs.gov/newsroom/irs-tax-tips.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
Connect to Us ~ Facebook ~ X

And there it went – the first half of the year.

For many, it seems like summer has just started since the kids only finished school what feels like days ago. And wait, the start of the summer can’t mean that the year is half over, that doesn’t happen until the end of summer, right?

I don’t want to come in with strict calendar logic and ruin anyone’s holiday daydreaming. In fact, I hope that you only have many good beach and ice cream days upcoming. Things are what they are, though.

And of course, it is then my job to make the time of year mean something to your larger financial picture. But again, I will try to not make this a tale of good times ending.

January 1 comes with so much mental push to do something new and I can’t pretend that July 1 will provide the same impetus. And how is this for a positive spin, maybe it doesn’t even have to!

If you are in the same spot of life as you were to start the year, I will allow you a pass. If whatever you had going on Jan. 1 looks like it’s going to be much the same until Dec. 31, then hey, good job and carry on.

But if something has changed in your life, let’s make sure that everything is in place so that it won’t cause a problem. This can from something as simple as having a new address. If some people now have one address for you and some have another, that can cause some potential issues next tax season when the IRS is trying to put together everything that happened in your financial picture. So just make sure everyone has your most current information.

And now that it is the summer, it is marriage season, and proper authorities are going to need to track if that also leads to a move or possibly even a name change. Your tax filing status is also going to change, and checking in with your withholding is a good idea to make sure you’re not having too much or not enough withheld from your paychecks.

Maybe you’ve changed jobs since the start of the year or picked up some extra part-time work. When doing this, did you take the time to see how much you would likely owe in taxes at the end of the year? Did you make the necessary adjustments across jobs to be sure this will look like you want it to look at the end of the year?

When some of these big changes happen, these aren’t the types of questions you think of first, and they shouldn’t be, for they are not the biggest parts of such life moves. Now that we are halfway through the year, though, it’s time to give it a little deeper look and make sure that things are changed while there is still time for them to make an impact.

And from there, please, enjoy the season!

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
Connect to Us ~ Facebook ~ X

1. Don't panic. Receiving one of these notices does not mean you've done something wrong.
2. Don't pay it immediately. Before spending money or signing up for a service, take a few minutes to determine exactly what the notice is offering and who sent it.
3. Send it to us. If you're a TSBAS client, email us a copy or upload it through your client portal.

We'll let you know:

• Whether it's an actual government notice.
• Whether your business is required to take any action.
• Whether the service being offered is something you actually need.

A quick review can often save you money and eliminate unnecessary stress.

When tax season ended, I wrote a couple times about how it made sense to work quickly to make any changes that came up as good ideas in that time before the ideas faded into the background and things remained unchanged until next year. Maybe some people listened, maybe many more didn’t.

It’s a classic type of task that leads to procrastination. You know that getting it done will be a good thing.  Most of you may even want to get it done. But if you don’t do it … well, how much is really going to change? Very little at that moment, and that’s the problem.

In many of the same ways, there are long-term tasks that you probably know you should have done in your life or business. There are always things that we would want to do more than them. How long did it take you to get your will in order after all? Or have you still not done it?

So here is another little warning – from both the personal and business side - as we head into the summer, which may be known as the start of hurricane season in some parts. Do you have your insurance in order? Are important documents saved in a way that they won’t be lost?

If you are comfortable with things surrounding potential disasters, great, you get a gold star. If you worry that you may be able to do better, though, this is the time to get on it before you wish you would have. I don’t have anything specific actions to harp upon here, but did want to bring up the idea and hopefully start the conversation for you if you needed it.

So if there is something you feel you need in this area, I would like to point you toward ready.gov where you can find multiple resources surrounding various potential disasters and emergencies so you can set things up to make yourself feel more comfortable about your current situation.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
Connect to Us ~ Facebook ~ X

For all our talk of tax season (and especially our excitement and subsequent hibernation when it ends), it’s not as if it is something that ever fully goes away. The IRS may do the bulk of its work early in the year during tax season, but it never fully rests. This is something that uglily rears its head when you open your mailbox and find a piece of mail from the agency.

Now I know I can’t sit on too high of a horse and tell you that you shouldn’t worry in this situation. First, it’s impossible to not get a little jolt when it happens. After all, there’s no way that good news is inside that envelope, right? Well, it could be. The agency will definitely tell you if they think you did something incorrectly on your tax return, but it occasionally does tell of one that occurs in their favor.

But yes, chances are still that any news from the IRS is not going to be grand. You still must open that envelope, though, because no matter how bad the news is, there is no way that it’s going to get better by procrastinating finding out what it says (or ignoring it completely).  After, all, there’s a good chance that it’s speaking to a debt with interest involved, so the longer it goes on, the more that interest mounts.

So, especially if you work with us concerning tax matters, open it, read the news, and send a copy of the notice to us. We can then help you understand what it says and if there is anything that can be done to combat it.

In addition, all correspondence from the IRS is part of its Taxpayer Bill of Rights that includes a taxpayer’s right to be informed. So these notices aren’t always giant pieces of bad news of which you were completely unaware. They feel that way when you first see the envelope, but it could also be an update on an issue you are already dealing with.
On the whole, we find that anyone receiving THAT bad news out of nowhere is very rare. Even if someone doesn’t file taxes, they know somewhere in their head that they should and their bill is growing. So, if the IRS is trying to tell you something, being informed of that can then become a strength for you. When you know what’s going on, you can fight against it or at least plan to handle it.

​So don’t hide and know that we are, as always, on your side if you need help traveling the path that any envelope opens.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
Connect to Us ~ Facebook ~ X