CBS News
You may owe the IRS money on Monday — skipping payment could cost you hundreds of dollars
Some taxpayers may not be aware that they owe the IRS a check on Monday, which could lead to their owing the agency a chunk of change come next April.
More Americans are getting caught up by the issue, which involves quarterly estimated taxes, or payments made to the IRS throughout the year on income that isn’t subject to withholding. People who are paid by an employer typically have their federal, state and payroll taxes withheld directly from their paychecks. But millions of Americans today earn extra money as self-employed workers or through their own businesses, where taxes aren’t deducted.
In those cases, taxpayers are required to send the IRS their estimated tax payments on a quarterly basis, with the next due date falling on June 17. The IRS says that taxpayers who are employed can also sidestep the issue by asking their employer to withhold more money from their paychecks, but of course that depends on workers first being aware that they might owe additional taxes.
“Taxes are pay-as-you-go, to be paid as income is earned, during the year,” the IRS said in a notice earlier this month about the June 17 payment deadline.
In other words, regardless of whether you earn money through a paycheck or a side gig, you’re required to settle up with the IRS on a regular basis throughout the year, either via paycheck withholding or quarterly estimated taxes. And here’s the thing: Skipping that step can lead to fines and penalties if you wait to until April 15 of the following year to pay up.
The number of Americans who are subject to estimated taxes is rising, with IRS data showing that 14 million individuals sent quarterly payments to the tax agency in 2023. That’s up 16% from 2022, when about 12.1 million people paid the quarterly tax. Driving that increase is the growing number of people who do gig work or who. have started their own businesses. A record 64 million Americans earned money through freelance work in 2023, a jump of 4 million from the prior year, according to an analysis from Upwork.
Higher penalties
Failing to pay estimated taxes can result in underpayment penalties, which have grown stiffer in recent years. That’s because the IRS charges interest, based on the federal short-term rate, on the amount that people underpaid — and that finance charge has spiked due to the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes since 2022.
The IRS’ current penalty assesses an 8% interest charge for underpayments, compared with 3% in 2021, when the Fed’s benchmark rate was close to zero. In 2023, the average penalty for underpayment jumped to $500 per person, up from about $150 in 2022, IRS data shows.
Who owes quarterly payments?
Generally, freelancers, gig workers and people who own small businesses via sole proprietorships, partnerships and S corporations must make quarterly estimated tax payments if they believe they’ll have a tax liability of at least $1,000 when they file.
Others may also be on the hook, though, including investors who sell assets like stocks or bonds throughout the year, according to Fidelity (Taxpayers can use this IRS online tool to determine whether they might owe quarterly taxes.)
Aside from June 17, the additional two payment dates for the current tax year fall on September 16 and Jan. 15, 2025. (The first quarterly estimated tax deadline for 2024 was on April 15.) Taxpayers can make payments online from their checking or savings account via an online account for individuals or IRS Direct Pay, or can use IRS.gov/payments or the IRS2Go app for credit or debit card payments.
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CBS News
McDonald’s investing $100 million to lure customers back to the fast food giant after E. coli outbreak
McDonald’s is investing $100 million to bring customers back to stores after an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning tied to onions on the fast-food giant’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers.
The investments include $65 million that will go directly to the hardest-hit franchises, the company said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that slivered onions on the Quarter Pounders were the likely source of the E. coli. Taylor Farms in California recalled onions potentially linked to the outbreak.
The E. coli outbreak has sickened 104 people in 14 states, federal health officials said in an update on Wednesday.
At least 34 people have been hospitalized, and four developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious condition that can cause kidney failure. An 88-year-old man who resided in Grand Junction, Colorado, died, as previously reported. The illnesses began at the end of September, and the most recent onset of illness occurred as of Oct. 21, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The Food and Drug Administration has said that “there does not appear to be a continued food safety concern related to this outbreak at McDonald’s restaurants.”
However, the outbreak hurt the company’s sales.
Quarter Pounders were removed from menus in several states in the early days of the outbreak.
In a statement Wednesday obtained by CBS News, McDonald’s said it had found an “alternate supplier” for the approximately 900 restaurants that had temporarily stopped serving Quarter Pounders with slivered onions.
“Over the past week, these restaurants resumed the sale of Quarter Pounder burgers with slivered onions,” McDonald’s said.
CBS News reached out to McDonald’s on Saturday for a statement regarding the reported investment.
Health officials said Saturday they have confirmed the first U.S. case of a new form of mpox that was first seen in eastern Congo.
The person had traveled to eastern Africa and was treated in Northern California upon return, according to the California Department of Public Health. Symptoms are improving and the risk to the public is low.
Mpox is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that’s in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals.
Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of mpox in Africa that was spread through close contact including through sex.
More than 3,100 confirmed cases have been reported just since late September, according to the World Health Organization. The vast majority of them have been in three African countries – Burundi, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Since then, cases of travelers with the new mpox form have been reported in Germany, India, Kenya, Sweden, Thailand, Zimbabwe, and the United Kingdom.
Health officials earlier this month said the situation in Congo appears to be stabilizing. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated Congo needs at least 3 million mpox vaccines to stop the spread, and another 7 million vaccines for the rest of Africa.
The current outbreak is different from the 2022 global outbreak of mpox where gay and bisexual men made up the vast majority of cases.
