Illinois’ Gas Tax Doubles & What That Means For You

illinois gas tax

Gas taxes are on the rise

However, Illinois is one of the states that increased dramatically. The motor fuel tax (such as gasoline, gasohol, and compressed natural gas) doubled from 19 cents per gallon to a whopping 38 cents per gallon.

The diesel fuel tax (such as diesel fuel, liquefied natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas) increased by 5 cents now making it 45.5 cents.

What’s the reason for the tax hike?

Continue reading “Illinois’ Gas Tax Doubles & What That Means For You”

Here’s the New 2019 W-4 Form!

2019 w4

The IRS has released the W-4 form for 2019

Due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the IRS has updated the W-4 to reflect the many tax changes. You may be wondering if there will be major differences.

Here’s the breakdown

Right off the bat, when comparing the 2018 W-4 and 2019 W-4, it looks similar. However, there are changes in income thresholds along with calculations. This also applies to changes from tax credits to allowance tables for two-earners/multiple job holders.

Personal Allowances Worksheet

To calculate your allowances, the first sheet you see is the Personal Allowances Worksheet. Typically, taxpayers with a simple tax situation who do not need to itemize, have no dependents and only work only one job just fill in this first sheet and leave everything else blank. Continue reading “Here’s the New 2019 W-4 Form!”

How to Fill Out a W-4 Correctly

Filling out a W-4 is less mind-boggling than you think.

One of the first things you have to do when you get a new job is filling out a Form W-4 [Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate]. It is essential to complete a W-4 correctly because it determines how much tax will be withheld from your pay and how large your tax refund will be.

The first half of the form is pretty easy. You just have to fill in your name, address, and marital status.

Then you have to figure out how many allowances to claim. This number will determine the amount of your withholding.

Number of allowances to claim

Generally, the number of allowances you should claim will correspond to the number of personal and dependency exemptions you can claim on your tax return, but this is not always the case. Claiming zero allowances will result in the maximum amount of tax withheld. Every additional allowance you claim on top of that means that a little less tax is withheld. Continue reading “How to Fill Out a W-4 Correctly”