Taxes, filing and deadlines
What the return asks of you, which deadlines are real, and the accounts that only pay off if you file the paperwork.
Taxes
6 guides filed under this heading
- Capital gains: what sets your rate, and what cancels your loss
How long you held it decides which rates apply; how much other income you have decides which one. And one rule voids the loss on an obvious trade.
13 min read updated October 11, 2026 - Year-End Money Moves: Which Deadlines Are Real, and Which Can Wait
Most tax moves die on December 31 — but retirement and health account contributions get until the filing deadline. Sorting the two lists is the whole exercise.
6 min read - The HSA as a retirement account: three tax breaks, one deadline, and the trap at 65
The 2026 and 2027 limits, who still qualifies after this year's expansion, the receipt-keeping that makes the three tax breaks real, and what ends at 65.
15 min read updated October 11, 2026 - Red-Dyed Diesel on the Highway: What the Order Defers, and What It Doesn't
The order defers the 24.4-cent federal tax on diesel through December 31, 2026. Deferred is not forgiven, and state rules vary by state.
15 min read updated October 11, 2026 - Adoption credit refunds arriving with no application: what Treasury's 2025-only fix does
The IRS is paying adoption-credit carryforwards out automatically to more than 50,000 taxpayers. The interpretation is narrow, one year long, and running.
7 min read updated October 17, 2026 - Paying taxes by card: what Treasury's new fee rule changes, and what it does not
A final rule lets the IRS pay card processors and recoup the cost from card payers. What it changes, what it leaves alone, and what a card payment costs today.
7 min read updated October 17, 2026
Family Finance
1 guide filed under this heading
- Trump Accounts: the account now exists by default — claiming it is the step that matters
The Treasury now creates the account without anyone applying. Claiming it is what unlocks family and employer money — and the $1,000 needs a person's election.
11 min read updated October 13, 2026
Reference pages
Tables and lookups on the same filing, answered without reading around it
- Long-term capital gains: what a gain costs at your income
Enter ordinary taxable income and a long-term gain to see how much lands in the 0%, 15% and 20% bands, and what the 3.8% surcharge adds.
- HSA contribution limit: 2026, 2027, and a part-year
What you may put into a health savings account in 2026 and 2027, by coverage and age, and how the limit is prorated when you are eligible for part of a year.
Other topics on Ledger
Every guide on this site is filed under one of these
Investing, retirement and crypto
Rates, fees and the arithmetic behind them — index funds, savings bonds, IRA corrections, COLA, and where a stablecoin sits.
Household money and consumer rights
The bills that arrive every month: credit reports, student loans, a mortgage decision, fuel costs, and what to do when a charge is wrong.