Taxes: every guide we've published
Start with the basics, then go deep. Everything here is researched, sourced, and written to help you decide, not to sell you something.
Topics
Capital Gains Tax: How Selling Investments Gets Taxed
Short-term vs. long-term rates, the 0%, 15%, and 20% brackets for 2025 and 2026, the home sale exclusion, and the $3,000 loss rule, explained without the jargon.
TopicTax Credits: The Dollar-for-Dollar Tax Reducers
The Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the education credits explained, with the 2025 amounts and the rules for actually claiming them.
TopicTax Deductions: What You Can Actually Write Off
The standard deduction, the big itemized deductions, and the four new write-offs from the 2025 tax law. What reduces your taxable income and what is just internet folklore.
TopicHow to File Your Taxes: A Plain-English Walkthrough
What you need, where to file for free, which deadline actually matters, and what changed under the 2025 tax law. A start-to-finish guide to filing your federal return.
TopicSelf-Employment Taxes: What Freelancers Actually Owe
Self-employment tax, quarterly estimated payments, the deductions that matter, and the safe harbor that keeps the IRS off your back. The freelancer's tax system, explained.
Guides
1099 Basics: The Tax Forms Behind Non-Paycheck Income
1099-NEC, 1099-K, 1099-INT, and the rest of the family, with the new reporting thresholds from the 2025 tax law and the one rule that matters when a form never shows up.
GuideTax Extensions: How to Buy Six More Months, Correctly
Form 4868 gives you until October 15 to file, but not to pay. How to request an extension, what it costs if you owe, and the mistakes that turn extensions expensive.
GuideTax Refund Timing: When Your Money Actually Arrives
The 21-day rule, the mid-February hold on EITC and Child Tax Credit refunds, why paper anything slows you down, and how to track your refund without losing your mind.
GuideStandard vs. Itemized Deductions: Pick the Bigger Number
How the standard deduction stacks up against itemizing in 2025 and 2026, who still benefits from itemizing after the SALT cap change, and how to decide in ten minutes.
GuideWhen to File Your Taxes: Deadlines and Smart Timing
The April 15 deadline, when the IRS starts accepting returns, who should file early, and the cases where waiting is actually the right move.