14 Financial Dates and Deadlines in January 2024

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Life moves quickly. It’s easy to get distracted. But that can be costly.

Miss an important financial date or deadline, and you could be on the hook for a penalty or lose out on a limited-time opportunity to save money.

Enter our “Money Calendar” series.

In this edition, we’ve rounded up the noteworthy money dates in January 2024. Take a look and mark your calendar with any dates that apply to you. And if you enjoy this series, sign up for the Money Talks Newsletter so you don’t miss the next edition. Look for it on the last weekday of every month.

IRS standard mileage rates change — Jan. 1

The IRS has increased the standard mileage rate deduction for miles driven for qualifying business purposes in 2024. The new rate is 67 cents per mile.

The federal agency also lowered the rate for miles driven for qualifying medical- or moving-related reasons in 2024. The new rate is 22 cents per mile.

To learn more, check out “IRS Raises Business Mileage Rate — but Cuts 2 Other Rates.”

Many health insurance plans take effect — Jan. 1

If you recently enrolled in a new 2024 health insurance plan, or re-enrolled in the plan you had for 2023, your 2024 health insurance coverage likely starts Jan. 1.

For example, this is the case for Medicare plans that seniors purchased anew or re-enrolled in during the latest fall open enrollment period.

It’s also the case for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance plans purchased from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. (ACA plans purchased from Dec. 16 to Jan. 15 will take effect Feb. 1.)

If your health insurance plan takes effect on Jan. 1, make sure you put your new insurance card in your wallet.

Medicare changes take effect — Jan. 1

Jan. 1 doesn’t just mark the start of Medicare plans purchased during the fall open enrollment period. It’s also when a host of Medicare changes — including increased costs — take effect.

If you’re on Medicare, be sure to check out “12 Ways Medicare Coverage Has Changed in 2024.”

Medicare Advantage open enrollment period begins — Jan. 1

As if Medicare isn’t complicated enough, this federal health insurance program for folks age 65 and older and folks with certain disabilities or conditions has multiple annual enrollment periods.

The main open enrollment period runs from Oct. 1 through Dec. 7, while the Medicare Advantage open enrollment period runs from Jan. 1 through March 31.

Medicare Advantage plans, one of the two main types of Medicare, are offered by private insurance companies that are approved by the federal Medicare program. (The other type of Medicare, Original Medicare, is the traditional government-managed health care coverage.)

During the Medicare Advantage open enrollment period, folks with Medicare Advantage plans (with or without prescription drug coverage) have the option to:

  • Switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan (with or without drug coverage).
  • Switch from Medicare Advantage back to Original Medicare (with or without also enrolling in a drug plan).

If you make a change during Medicare Advantage open enrollment, it will take effect on the first day of the month after the plan receives your request.

More retirement law changes take effect — Jan. 1

The federal law known as the Secure 2.0 Act of 2022 changed retirement laws in a host of ways. Perhaps the best known of these changes is the increase in the age at which folks must begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from most retirement accounts. For people who have yet to reach their RMD age, it is now 73 or 75, depending on when they were born, rather than 72.

The change to the RMD age took effect in 2023, but several other provisions of the Secure 2.0 Act don’t take effect until 2024. They include new inflation adjustments and new exceptions to the IRS penalty for early retirement account withdrawals, among others. We have a rundown in “7 Ways U.S. Retirement Laws Just Changed.”

Social Security payments increase — starting Jan. 3

The federal government announced a 3.2% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in October. Social Security recipients will start seeing this increase reflected in their monthly payments in January.

The earliest date on which someone would receive their January 2024 payment is likely Jan. 3, but many folks won’t receive theirs until later in the month, as we detail in “Your Social Security Payment Gets Bigger on This Date.”

Other Social Security changes take effect — Jan. 1

The COLA isn’t the only aspect of Social Security that changes in the new year. Others include the earnings limit for working retirees as well as the cap on the Social Security payroll tax for all workers, as we detail in “7 Ways the Social Security System Will Change in 2024.”

Florida’s Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday — Jan. 1-14

The state of Florida has introduced a new back-to-school sales tax holiday. In addition to the one that coincides with the start of each new school year, there’s now one that coincides with when students return to school after their winter break.

To learn about the types of products that are exempt from state sales taxes during this period, visit the Florida Department of Revenue’s webpage about it.

Deadline for estimated tax payments — Jan. 17

This is the deadline for the fourth quarterly installment of estimated taxes for the 2023 tax year — the one for which your tax return is due by April 2024. This deadline applies to the self-employed and other workers who earn income that isn’t subject to withholding, who use IRS Form 1040-ES to pay this tax.

There is one exception, though: Self-employed people who file their 2023 federal tax return by Jan. 31 and pay their entire balance due with their return do not have to pay their fourth installment by Jan. 17.

Postal rate increases take effect — Jan. 21

If you use stamps, consider stocking up soon. Come Jan. 21, the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp will increase by 2 cents, from 66 cents to 68 cents — one of several postal price hikes that take effect that day.

To learn more, read the U.S. Postal Service’s announcement about the price increases.

Deadline for 2023 income forms to workers — Jan. 31

Generally, Jan. 31 is the deadline for employers and other types of payers to give workers several types of income forms for the recently concluded tax year. These forms can include:

If you expect to receive any of these forms for 2023, but none have yet arrived, keep an eye out for the forms in February. You don’t want to file your federal income tax return until you have such forms in hand.

Employers must send copies of these income forms to the IRS, which cross-checks the income numbers that you report on your return against the numbers on your income forms. If those numbers don’t match, the IRS could delay processing your return, and thus delay any tax refund you might be owed.

IRS Free File becomes available — mid-January (presumably)

Typically, IRS Free File becomes available for the upcoming tax season in mid-January. This program lets taxpayers who earn less than a specified amount prepare and file their tax returns for free using commercial tax software.

To learn more about IRS Free File or keep an eye on when it becomes available, visit the IRS’ Free File webpage.

Tax season starts — last week of January (presumably)

The IRS has yet to announce the official start date for the next federal income tax filing season, the one for 2023 returns, but it’s a safe bet that it will be in the last week of January.

Once the start date arrives, you and your tax professional or tax software will be able to submit your 2023 tax return to the IRS.

Social Security statements mailed — sometime in January

If you receive Social Security benefits, keep an eye out for your annual benefit statement, also known as an SSA-1099 (or an SSA-1042S, in the case of noncitizens who live abroad). The Social Security Administration mails these documents each January, as Social Security recipients need them to file their taxes. (Your benefit statement tells you how much Social Security income you received in the previous year, which you must report on your tax return.)

If you don’t receive your SSA-1099 in January, or if you want a digital version for your records, you typically can get a replacement copy via your online Social Security account starting in February.

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