November 1, 2021
For all of you asking me about your unemployment tax refund – the IRS just announced 430,000 of them recently went out.
Those taxpayers in this latest batch of corrections had an average payment of $1189. The IRS says it has nearly completed all the corrections and refunds for the simplest tax returns and has now started concentrating more on complex returns – like returns for those filing married and those with dependents.
This is all a result of the stimulus bill that passed in march when lawmakers decided to exclude the first $10,200 dollars of 2020 unemployment benefits from being taxed. The problem is – by then lots of people already paid their tax bill. So, the IRS has been going through the process of returning the *taxes* paid on that first $10,200 dollars to those who are eligible.
If you got one of these refunds, you need to keep an eye on your mail. Because within about 30 days of the refund, the IRS will send you a letter explaining how much you got, and if it was offset by any other debts that you owe.
There will be one more batch of unemployment tax refunds to those who are eligible before the end of the year.
Read more about this from the IRS here.
PLUS
There is *no* decision yet from the Supreme Court after the Justices heard arguments for three hours today over the controversial Texas abortion law.
The high court is not hearing arguments about the substance of the law which bans abortions after 6-weeks with no exception for rape or incest. Instead, the Justices are determining whether it’s lawful for state and local governments to pass laws that side step judicial review by instead allowing private citizens to enforce the law through civil action. The supreme court is also determining whether the federal government can sue the state of Texas over this.
Lots is being made over the lines of questioning from conservative Justices Amy Coney-Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh talked about his concerns over the implication that if Texas is allowed to do this with abortion – could other states use the same mechanism of citizen enforcement to intrude on other rights protected by the constitution. For example, would this open up more liberal states to perhaps infringe on gun rights in this same way with no judicial review?
It is always good policy to take what the justices say during oral argument with a grain of salt. Just because they may appear to lean a certain way during questioning doesn’t mean that’s how they’ll ultimately rule.
Speaking of the ruling – because this case was expedited by the supreme court it’s possible that this ruling would come much sooner than the court’s normal ruling release date of early summer.
