Many have already pronounced the death of NFTs, and in part, they are correct. Amidst the fervor of the NFT hype cycle, we saw huge valuations and sales such as Beeple’s ‘The 5000 Days’ collection selling for a staggering $69.3 million. However, not substantiated by anything beyond the hype, the market came crashing down with […]
Source link
Kseniya Ovchinnikova | Moment | Getty Images
The opening of tax season is approaching — and experts have a few reminders before you file.
The IRS expects to receive more than 128.7 million individual tax returns before the deadline for most filers, which is April 15.
Generally, the best way to avoid a delayed refund is by filing a complete and electronic return and using direct deposit. Last year, the average refund was roughly $3,200.
Here are the key things taxpayers need to know before filing this season.
House lawmakers last week advanced a bipartisan tax package with proposed changes to the child tax credit for 2023. If enacted, the adjustments could provide a bigger tax break to lower-income U.S. families, according to estimates from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
Currently, the child tax credit is worth up to $2,000 per qualifying child for 2023, which reduces your taxes on a dollar-for-dollar basis. For 2023, $1,600 of the credit is refundable, meaning you can still get at least $1,600 without taxes owed.
“There are 19 million children who do not get the full child tax credit because their parents’ income is too low,” said Chuck Marr, vice president for federal tax policy for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
There are 19 million children who do not get the full child tax credit because their parents’ income is too low.
Chuck Marr
Vice president for federal tax policy for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
The proposed changes would increase the refundable portion of the credit to $1,800 for 2023 and make the formula more generous for families with multiple children.
However, negotiations for the bipartisan tax plan are ongoing. If enacted, the child tax credit changes could happen after the tax season begins Jan. 29.
Experts say eligible families shouldn’t rush to file before possible legislation changes. If you claim the refundable part of the child tax credit, you may not get a refund earlier than Feb. 27, according to the IRS.
If you received business income via payment apps such as Venmo and PayPal, or from e-commerce companies such as eBay, Etsy or Poshmark, you’re less likely to get a tax form for 2023 — thanks to an IRS change in November.
For 2023, you can expect payment apps to send Form 1099-K if you had more than 200 transactions worth an aggregate over $20,000. But the IRS will phase in a $5,000 limit for 2024.
Don’t lean towards that inclination to cheat if you didn’t get a 1099-K.
Bill Smith
National director of tax technical services at CBIZ MHM
Regardless of whether you receive Form 1099-K for 2023, you still must report business income, according to Bill Smith, national director of tax technical services at financial services firm CBIZ MHM.
“Don’t lean towards that inclination to cheat if you didn’t get a 1099-K,” he said.
There are several options for filing your federal taxes for free this season, including a limited Direct File pilot through the IRS.
While there’s not an official launch date for Direct File, the agency aims to have the pilot widely available to certain taxpayers by mid-March, according to IRS officials.
Eligible states include Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.
“The 2024 pilot is an opportunity for the IRS to learn how best to deploy Direct File to meet the needs of taxpayers and test core improvements to the tax filing experience,” Laurel Blatchford, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s chief implementation officer for the Inflation Reduction Act said in a statement Thursday.
Other free tax filing options may include:
Home Depot Inc. posted better-than-expected third-quarter earnings early Tuesday, but said its customers were avoiding certain big-ticket items.
“Our quarterly performance was in line with our expectations,” said Ted Decker, chair, president and CEO, in a statement. “Similar to the second quarter, we saw continued customer engagement with smaller projects, and experienced pressure in certain big-ticket, discretionary categories.”
Consumers have been struggling this year with higher interest rates and inflationary pressures, that have some conserving cash for essentials. The housing market has been under pressure as rates have risen, leaving some unable to afford to take out mortgages.
See now: Mortgage rates plunge amid signs of a weakening consumer
The Atlanta-based home-improvement retailer
HD,
had net income of $3.8 billion, or $3.81 a share, for the quarter, down from $4.3 billion, or $4.24 a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales fell 3% to $37.7 billion.
The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $3.75 and sales of $37.6 billion.
Same-store sales fell 3.1%, while FactSet was expecting a decline of 3.6%
The company narrowed its prior guidance for the full year and said it now expects EPS to fell 9% to 11% and for sales and same-store sales to be down 3% to 4%.
The FactSet consensus implies an EPS decline of 9.4%, and a sales decline of 3%.
The stock rose 1% premarket, and is down 9% in the year to date, while the S&P 500
SPX,
has gained 15%.
D.A. Davidson analyst Michael Baker noted one bright spot in total comps that were 155 basis points better than the industry decline of 4.65%.
“This is the widest positive gap in HD’s favor since 1Q21,” he wrote in an early note to clients.
Baker also noted that the guidance brackets the consensus at the high end. “That does imply some downside to 4Q23 versus consensus, but while HD’s business trends clearly remain soft, this is likely no worse than most expected, and as a result we think the stock should act fine today.”
The company will hold its earnings call with analysts at 9.00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Text size
Chris Goodney/Bloomberg
By now, you might have heard that
Costco Wholesale
sells gold bars. But actually getting your hands on one may be harder than finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
The company started selling gold bars online in the past few months for about $2,000. They have become a fan favorite, garnering hundreds of five-star reviews and frequently selling out.
“I have wanted to purchase gold for some time now, but was never really confident about trusting a dealer,” reads one five-star review on
Costco
‘s website. “When I saw Costco carried this bar, I jumped on the opportunity because I trust Costco for vetting the vendor, and the price seemed really good!”
The gold bars have become so coveted they often sell out hours after they are listed on the website.
“When we load them on the site, they’re typically gone within a few hours, and we limit two per member,” Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said on a call with investors Tuesday.
The bars are currently available online only, but the company may test it in a few stores in the near future, said Josh Dahmen, Costco assistant vice president of financial planning and investor relations, on a call with Barron’s Thursday.
Costco members looking to stock up can buy a one-ounce bar of 24-karat gold from Pamp Suisse or from Rand Refinery for just under $2,000, according to a Yahoo Finance report. Because the bars are currently sold out, Barron’s couldn’t verify their prices, and Costco didn’t immediately provide the prices. List prices may be even lower for people holding Costco’s Executive Membership, which gives an annual 2% back reward on qualifying purchases.
While it may come as a surprise that a big-box retailer like Costco is selling gold bars, it isn’t unheard of. Competitor
Walmart
(WMT) has an array of gold bars on its website at similar prices to Costco.
The same one-ounce Pamp Suisse gold bar that Costco sells is listed for $1,952.99 on
Walmart
‘s website—and it is currently available for purchase. As of Thursday morning, Pamp Suisse bars were on sale at Canadian precious metal seller Kitco for $1,935.25 an ounce.
Gold tends to perform well in periods of economic uncertainty, and is often used as a hedge against inflation. Indeed, gold prices have been on a tear since the pandemic, creeping close to a record high earlier this year.
Prices have since come down—an ounce of gold priced at $1,890 Thursday, according to Nasdaq. But if Costco’s gold rush is anything to go by, many investors are still looking to build up a stash for a rainy day.
Write to Sabrina Escobar at sabrina.escobar@barrons.com