Relief checks: 3 March summary news
US Finance: Latest Updates
Headlines: Friday, 3 March 2023
- Mortgage rates rise for fourth straight week, daily average tops 7%
- Initial unemployment claims fall by 2,000 to 190,000 for the week ending on 25 February
- IRS sends 90% of tax refund payments within 21 days
- Eli Lilly to cut price of brand insulin by 70% and generic to $25 per vial
- Consumer confidence slumps in February
- US Supreme Court heard oral arguements on legality of Student Loan Forgiveness plan
- Austin, Texas leads US capitals in terms of falling home prices: where else are prices falling?
2023 Tax Season
- Who can claim the additional standard deduction?
- The way to access IRS transcripts to ensure a faster tax refund
- Did you receive a state stimulus check? No need to report the payment as income to the IRS.
Read more from AS USA:
The Social Security Administration started off 2023 sending over 71 million payments to Americans in the first month of the year. The agency sends payments to contributors who have been disabled in their work, survivors or workers and the biggest group of all, retired contributors to the program.
While workers who have paid into the Social Security system can begin to claim benefits at age 62, they are penalized for not waiting until full retirement age. But for those that keep plugging away at their job until age 70, they receive boosted monthly payments. Here’s a look.
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Starting in April, CalFresh recipients will see a reduction in their monthly payments. Here the details on how much it will be reduced based on family size.
Jonathan Ernst / REUTERS
Fed issues report to Congress ahead of Chairman Powell testimony next week
The Federal Reserve issued a report to Congress on Friday ahead of two days of testimony by Chairman Jerome Powell to the panels in the Senate and House. In its latest semiannual report on monetary policy and the economy the Fed said that it “is acutely aware that high inflation imposes significant hardship, especially on those least able to meet the higher costs of essentials.”
The Committee reiterated that it “is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2 percent objective.”
The Fed sees cooling in the economy, after rebounding strongly in 2021, “economic activity lost momentum last year.” Despite “a solid 3.0 percent pace” in GDP growth in the second half of 2022, real private domestic final purchases slowed to just 0.6 percent which better reflects the underlying momentum of economic activity.
Consumer spending remained strong last year, “but the fundamentals that underpin household spending have deteriorated.” The expectation is that spending may slow based on business sentiments and profit expectations.
The Sunshine State offers state-funded jobless support to residents who have lost their job, been placed on furlough or had their hours cut through no fault of their own called Reemployment Assistance. However, claimants must satisfy some eligibility conditions including meeting a minimum income threshold during the base period of your claim.
The 2023 Child Tax Credit is available to parents with dependents under 17 as of 31 December 2022 and who meet certain eligibility requirements. In 2021, the American Rescue Plan made big changes to the credit for one year that helped many families by allowing them to receive half of the value of the credit over six months rather than as a bulk sum when they file their taxes.
We take a look at the Child Tax Credit for this year, and who is eligible to receive the support...
The situation for recipients of unemployment benefits has varied a lot in the past three years. During the covid-19 pandemic, extraordinary measures greatly expanded unemployment insurance coverage, providing increased amounts and longer periods for jobless workers to collect payments.
However, those enhancements were terminated in September 2021 and out-of-work Americans are now back to the less generous pre-covid conditions. We take a look at what that means for 2023...
The pandemic boom in the housing market felt in 2020 has created a tumultuous situation in the US economy. This week the Dallas Federal Reserve released an analysis warning that a major readjustment could be on the cards.
Prices in the US are currently way higher than the market fundamentals would suggest and experts believe that a decline of 19.5% would be required to bring house prices back in line.
Has inflation peaked?
For much of 2022 consumer in the United States were forced to contend with soaring inflation that pushed up prices and devalued wages. The Federal Reserve implemented a policy of interest rate hikes in a bid to discourage borrowing and cool the overheating economy, and it seems like that effort has worked.
Bob Diamond, Atlas Merchant Capital CEO, tells CNBC that he believes inflation is now on the way down...
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For the past three tax seasons the tax agency has been beset by pandemic-related disruption and underfunding, but the IRS is once again aiming to get refunds out within 21 days of a return being filed.
Tax refunds are a handy annual cash payment for recipients but for married couples expecting a refund, there may be an extra complication. If one member of the couple has outstanding debts that may offset their shared refund, meaning that the other will lose out financially.
Here's what you can do about it...
Where can I find my W-2 tax form?
There's now little over a month to go until the end of tax season 2023 but some prospective filers are still waiting for their W-2 form to help them submit their tax return. The W-2 form should be provided by your employer with a detailed break-down of your earnings for the previous tax year, but sometimes there can be delays.
If that is the case for you, check with your employer to see if it should be arriving imminently. Failing that, the IRS advises that you can file using the IRS Form 4852 to avoid a late penalty.
The United States housing market slumped in the second half of 2022 with the value of homes falling by 4.9%, the fastest rate seen since the 2008 housing crisis. The market will hope to recover in 2023 but some buyers may be looking to take advantage of low prices to snap up a bargain now.
Property tax is a real estate ad-valorem tax, meaning that it is based on the value of the item in question. Property tax is calculated by the local authority and can vary greatly depending on where you buy.
Here’s the highest and lowest rates of property tax, along with the median house price, in the United States...
SNAP benefits, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, are a form of government assistance provided to eligible individuals and families to help them afford nutritious food. SNAP benefits are administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
These are the maximum amounts awarded in the 48 contiguous United States, including the District of Columbia, depending on the number of family members.
American drivers spending less at the pump than in 2022
The price of gasoline spiked last summer as uncertainty over crude oil supplies brought turmoil to world markets. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions on the major oil producer helped push prices above $5 per gallon on average in June 2022.
A year after the start of the conflict though, crude oil prices have stabilized and the cost of gasoline is 6% lower than a year ago, albeit 2% higher than in January. While good news for commuters, over 75% of whom drive a car to and from work, it could present a hurdle for the Biden administration’s push to get Americans to make the switch to electric vehicles.
How to track my tax refund from the IRS
This year the tax agency is working around the clock to speed up the porcessing of tax returns. In recent tax seasons a combination of pandemic-related complications and underfunding meant that there were lengthly delays for filers awaiting their tax refund.
That shouldn't be a problem this year and the IRS is aiming to get refunds sent out within 21 days of the return being received. Here's how you can track the status of yours...
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Last year, inflation in the United States reached historic levels. Given the high prices, several entities approved the sending of stimulus checks or tax refunds as relief. Although inflation has fallen in recent months, the support continues. We share with you which states will send payments in March and what the amounts are.
Initial unemployment insurance benefit claims drop
Defying forecasts, first time claims of jobless benefits dropped by 2,000 last week to 190,000. It had been predicted to increase to 195,000. On the other hand, the 4-week moving average increased slightly to 193,000.
February's job report is due out Friday at 8:30 and economists are forecasting strong growth once again, but not as high as January's surprise 517,000 jobs added.
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Mortgage rates rise for fourth week in a row, median payment hits record high
Freddie Mac reported that the weekly average for a 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.65% for the week ending 2 March. That is the fourth week straight of increases. Thursday also saw the daily average hit 7.1%.
The higher rates, coupled with the elevated median-asking-price, meant that the monthly mortgage payment was $2,520 at the current weekly average, an all-time high. Monthly mortgage payments are up 28% ($556) from a year ago according to Redfin.
Mortgage-purchase applications during the previous week ending 24 February dropped by 6% from the week before. When seasonally adjusted, purchase applications hit their lowest level since the early 1990s, down 44% from a year earlier.
North Carolina Legislature reaches agreement to expand Medicaid
North Carolina is one of 11 states that still hasn’t expanded Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act. However, that could soon change after legislative leaders announced an agreement to expand access to hundreds of thousands of additional low-income adults on Thursday.
The deal is a milestone for Republican lawmakers, many of whom have opposed the expansion for over a decade. A vote on the adoption of added healthcare coverage most likely won’t happen until the end of the month at the earliest. If passed, the state would start providing expansion coverage to those eligible starting January 2024.
Americans have until 18 April 2023 to file their 2022 income declarations and pay any taxes they may owe to Uncle Sam. Filers can submit a request for an extension until 16 October to turn in their paperwork, but they aren’t off the hook for any money they may owe. You need to pay any balance due, to the best of your knowledge, that you owe by Tax Day.
Filing your tax return late if you owe money to the IRS can be an expensive proposition. Not only could you face penalties for filing late but you will also face late payment penalties and interest to boot.
Good morning and welcome to AS USA!
Another week draws to a close in US politics. While there has been few notable changes to the economic outlook, one area of relative positivity is the slashing of insulin prices that companies are undertaking, after a certain amount of threats from progressive democrats.
We will keep you across that news as well as other developments.