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The price of eggs has surged in the past year. Only margarine prices have risen more, according to the consumer price index, a key barometer of inflation.
Egg prices rose 10% just in the month of October. Meanwhile, chicken prices fell 1.3%.
That opposite movement may seem counterintuitive. It’s largely attributable to one of the worst-ever outbreaks of bird flu in the U.S., which has killed a large share of egg-laying birds but not those raised for meat consumption.

A shopper checks a carton of eggs at a San Francisco grocery store on May 2, 2022.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Which (price change) came first, the chicken or the egg?
Grocery prices are increasing at their fastest pace in decades — none more so than eggs. Yet chicken prices fell in October.

It may seem counterintuitive that egg and chicken prices moved in opposite directions.
The dynamic is primarily due to a severe outbreak of bird flu in the U.S. — which has killed many egg-laying hens but has largely left chickens raised for meat production unscathed, according to economists.
“A lot of things are up since 2020,” said Bill Lapp, president of Advanced Economic Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in food economics. “But the recent spike is extraordinary in the shell-egg as well as egg-product markets.”

An ‘unprecedented’ egg supply disruption

Surging egg prices are primarily the result of one of the worst-ever outbreaks of avian flu in the U.S.
About 50.3 million birds have been impacted by the virus since early February, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These figures include birds such as turkeys and ducks, too.
Bird flu is relatively rare in the U.S. The last bout was in 2015, when a record 50.5 million birds were impacted, the CDC said. The flu hadn’t emerged in at least a decade or two prior to that, Lapp said.
Here’s why this matters: Avian flu, which is generally carried by wild birds such as ducks and geese, is “highly contagious,” the New Jersey Department of Agriculture warned last month. It’s also extremely lethal; it kills 90% to 100% of chickens, often within 48 hours, according to the CDC.

Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Farmers generally must kill their remaining birds — not by choice but due to federal rules meant to prevent spread, said Brian Moscogiuri, a global trade strategist at Eggs Unlimited, an egg supplier based in Irvine, California.
As a result, about 37 million egg-laying hens — “layers,” in industry shorthand — have died since the beginning of 2022, Moscogiuri said. They account for about 10% of U.S. production, he said.
Egg quantity has cratered in lockstep. About 8.8 million eggs were produced in September, down from about 9.7 million in December 2021, according to most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“It’s a supply disruption, ‘act of God’ type stuff,” said Moscogiuri, who called the situation “unprecedented.”
“It’s kind of happenstance that inflation is going on [more broadly] during the same period,” he added.

Inflation, holiday recipes are boosting egg demand

Bird flu typically arrives during the spring migration and disappears by the summer, experts said. But this year was different; the virus reemerged in September.
In October, the Agriculture Department revised its production forecast for table eggs downward for 2023 and the remainder of 2022 following “September detections” of bird flu.

That avian flu flare-up — and its associated death toll for egg-laying hens — is running headlong into peak demand season, when consumers use more eggs for holiday baking, experts said.
Consumer demand for eggs has also been buoyed by a pivot away from some higher-cost proteins amid broader food inflation, the Agriculture Department suggested in an October outlook report.
Elevated egg prices “could last into the first quarter of 2023,” Lapp said.

‘Broilers’ are less affected by flu than ‘layers’

Meanwhile, chicken prices retreated in October, falling by 1.3% during the month.
The wholesale price of chicken breast has fallen below $1.20 a pound, a third of its peak around $3.60 over the summer, for example, Lapp said.
Chickens raised for meat consumption — known as “broilers” — aren’t affected by avian flu to the same extent as the “layers.”
“It’s two totally different styles of production, two totally different breeds of bird,” Moscogiuri said.
The life cycle of a broiler is much shorter — anywhere from 5.5 to 9 weeks, from hatch to slaughter, according to Vencomatic Group, a poultry consulting firm.

Flock of broiler chickens inside a poultry house.
Edwin Remsberg | The Image Bank | Getty Images

However, the life cycle for an egg-laying hen can be upwards of 100 weeks, Moscogiuri said. It can take about five to six months for layers just to reach full productivity, according to the Agriculture Department.
The latter are therefore more susceptible to bird flu since farmers must keep them alive for a longer time, experts said.
Broiler quantity is also up, contributing to lower chicken prices at the grocery store.
For example, about 865 million broiler chicks hatched in August — 2.9% higher than August 2021 and a monthly record, which had previously been set in March 2020, the Agriculture Department said.
Broiler “placements” have also climbed in recent weeks, hitting a record 194.2 million chicks in the week ended Sept. 17, according to the department. The agency raised 2023 production forecasts on that “optimistic” hatch and placement data.
Despite the recent retreat, chicken prices are still up 14.5% compared with October 2021, according to the CPI. Higher prices for commodities such as corn and soybeans — the primary ingredients in chicken feed — have likely contributed to inflation for chicken, as well as eggs. Higher energy prices also factor into elevated costs for food distribution, for example.

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The Biden administration remains unable to start processing the tens of millions of student loan forgiveness applications it’s received.
Here’s where the relief stands, and what might happen next.

Jbyard | Istock | Getty Images

When President Joe Biden announced over the summer a sweeping plan to forgive student debt, millions of Americans celebrated the fact their financial situation looked like it would soon improve.
But now the Biden administration finds itself unable to start delivering its relief because of a court-ordered stay of its policy.

Here’s where forgiveness stands, and what might happen next.

How we got here

On Aug. 24, Biden announced that tens of millions of Americans would be eligible for student loan forgiveness: up to $20,000 if they received a Pell Grant, which is a type of aid available to low-income families, and as much as $10,000 if they didn’t.
Long before Biden — acting on pressure from consumer advocates and other Democrats — made his move, Republicans had criticized student loan forgiveness as a handout to well-off college graduates. They also argued the president didn’t have the power to forgive consumer debt on his own without Congress.

Unsurprisingly, the legal challenges poured in.
So far, at least six lawsuits have been brought against the president’s plan. A few of these suits have already been rejected for lack of so-called legal standing, a wonky term that means a plaintiff must prove student loan forgiveness would harm them to successfully bring a challenge.

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That’s what initially happened to the legal challenge brought by six Republican-led states — Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina, which accused the president of overstepping his authority. U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey in St. Louis ruled that while the states had raised “important and significant challenges to the debt relief plan,” they ultimately lacked legal standing to pursue the case.
The GOP-led states didn’t give up after their lawsuit was thrown out, however. They filed an appeal, and asked the court to stay the president’s plan, which was supposed to start unfolding in October, while their request is considered.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the states’ emergency petition, leaving the Biden administration unable to start forgiving any student debt for now.

What could come next?

If the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismisses the six GOP-led states’ request to halt forgiveness, they’ll likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz said. The highest federal court is likely to refuse to take the case, however, Kantrowitz added. (It has already rejected two other requests to stay the president’s plan.)
If the appeals court finds that the states do have legal standing, the case could drag on for months, experts say. If the U.S. Department of Education loses, it will likely to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Originally, the Education Department had said that borrowers would receive forgiveness within six weeks after they applied. The full application launched Oct. 17, and within three weeks, some 26 million people had requested the relief. Loan servicers were given 15 days to apply the forgiveness to a borrowers’ account after they were notified, Kantrowitz said.
Of course, that timeline is now disrupted by the legal stay.
If the temporary pause is lifted within the next few days, borrowers who’ve already applied for forgiveness or those who do so by Nov. 15 could still receive the relief before federal student loan payments resume in January. The payments have been paused by a Covid pandemic-era relief policy since March 2020.
“If the forgiveness is still paused by the end of the year, the Biden administration is likely to further extend the payment pause,” Kantrowitz said.

The outcome of the midterm election may also impact what happens next.
If Democrats retain control of the House and pick up seats in the Senate, they could pass legislation forgiving student debt. However, it’s looking more likely that Republicans will control the House and Democrats take majority in the Senate, Kantrowitz said.
“This will prevent Democrats from passing legislation to implement loan forgiveness if the courts permanently block the president’s plan,” he said.
For now, the Education Department is encouraging borrowers to continue to apply for forgiveness, although it notes that, “we are temporarily blocked from processing debt discharges.”

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With grocery prices over 12% higher than a year ago, Thanksgiving is hitting households a lot harder in 2022.  
Prices for staples such as turkey, eggs, bread and butter are up even more.
For the first time ever, it may be cheaper to dine out than buy groceries and prepare a meal for family and friends at home, says Brad Rubin, Wells Fargo’s food and agribusiness analyst.

With grocery prices up sharply from a year ago, Thanksgiving is hitting households a lot harder this year.  
Per-pound prices for turkey, the holiday’s biggest staple, are up 17% year over year, according to the latest inflation data. Turkey is forecast to be 23% pricier in the fourth quarter due to both inflation and avian flu, which has reduced supply, according to a separate report by Wells Fargo.

Other key ingredients rose even more: Eggs are up 43%, butter is nearly 34% higher and flour is up about 25%. Fruits and vegetables notched more moderate increases but still cost almost 10% more than a year ago.

For the first time, “Americans may actually find value in eating out” for the holiday, said Brad Rubin, sector analyst in Wells Fargo’s food and agribusiness industry advisory group and co-author of the Thanksgiving report.
In fact, the cost of dining out rose just 8.6% over the last year, while the cost of eating at home jumped 12.4% over the same period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
“What is considered a luxury experience is more of a value experience this year,” Rubin said.

Serving turkey on Thanksgiving is ‘nonnegotiable’

And yet, despite the sky-high costs, serving turkey on Thanksgiving is “nonnegotiable” for most households, a recent report by Morning Consult found.

Nearly nine in 10 hosts, or 87%, said the menu will remain the same, according to Morning Consult. “Thanksgiving’s main dish is not the place for compromise,” the report said.
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Instead, consumers will find ways to save by buying a frozen turkey earlier in the season, looking for discounts and serving smaller quantities or fewer side dishes, the report found. 
Some even said they’ll cut costs on food throughout the month to afford the key Thanksgiving ingredients.
A separate survey by wealth management company Personal Capital found that 42% of hosts plan to ask guests to contribute cash to help cover costs.

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The consumer price index, a key inflation barometer, jumped 7.7% in October versus a year ago. It rose 0.4% during the month.
Both were cooler than expected, a sign inflation may be moderating.
However, consumer prices are still rising quickly by historical standards. Household staples such as shelter, food and energy were the biggest inflation contributors in October.

People shop for bread at a supermarket in Monterey Park, California on Oct. 19, 2022.
Frederic J. Brown | Afp | Getty Images

Inflation was cooler than expected in October, although household staples such as shelter, food and energy remained among the largest contributors to consumer prices still rising at a historically fast pace, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday.
Inflation is a measure of how quickly the prices consumers pay for a broad range of goods and services are rising.

The consumer price index, a key inflation barometer, jumped by 7.7% in October relative to a year earlier — the smallest 12-month increase since January. Economists expected a 7.9% annual increase, according to Dow Jones. Basically, a basket of goods and services that cost $100 a year ago costs $107.70 today.

The annual rate is down from June’s 9.1% pandemic-era peak and September’s 8.2% reading, but is hovering near the highest levels since the early 1980s.
“That’s obviously still very high,” said Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, of October’s reading. “But at least it’s a move in the right direction.”
A decline in the annual inflation rate doesn’t mean prices fell for goods and services; it just means prices aren’t rising as quickly.
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While the headline annual reading is generally easier for consumers to understand, the monthly change is a more accurate gauge of near-term trends, i.e., if inflation is speeding up or slowing down, economists said.
The CPI rose 0.4% from September, according to the BLS. Economists expected a 0.6% monthly increase.
“For the past year to 18 months, we’ve seen a lot of 0.4%, 0.5%, 0.6%,” Hunter said. “It’s the reason annual inflation has been so high.”
Consistent monthly readings in the 0.2% range would suggest inflation was under control, he said.

The ‘pervasiveness’ of price increases

A healthy economy experiences a small degree of inflation each year. U.S. Federal Reserve officials aim to keep inflation around 2% annually.
But prices started rising at an unusually fast pace starting in early 2021, following years of low inflation.
As the U.S. economy reopened, a supply-demand imbalance fueled inflation that was initially limited to items such as used cars, but which has since spread and lingered longer than many officials and economists had expected.
“That’s the crux of the problem: the pervasiveness of inflation,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.

Inflation was a top concern for voters heading into Tuesday’s midterm elections. An NBC News poll issued last weekend found 81% of respondents were either somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the state of the economy — a level unseen since the 2010 midterms.
The typical U.S. household spends $445 more a month to buy the same items it did a year ago, according to an estimate from Moody’s Analytics based on September’s CPI report.
Meanwhile, pay for many workers hasn’t kept pace with inflation, translating to a loss of purchasing power. Hourly earnings have fallen 2.8% in the last year after accounting for inflation, according to the BLS.

Food, energy and housing are top contributors

Large and consistent price increases in food, energy and housing have been troubling, despite some recent improvement, McBride said.
They’re necessities that constitute a large share of household spending, making inflation “so problematic” for households, he said.
“You can’t go without eating, you can’t go without cooking or heating the house and you need a roof over your head,” McBride said. “Those are three categories that continue to drive these high levels of inflation.”
Housing represents the biggest share of average consumer budgets, accounting for 34% of household spending in 2021, according to the most recent U.S. Department of Labor data. Transportation, which includes gasoline, and food are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, at 16% and 12%.

Any meaningful relief for household budgets is something that is still well over the horizon.

Greg McBride
chief financial analyst at Bankrate

Shelter prices increased in October, jumping 0.8% from September — the largest monthly increase in that category since August 1990, according to the BLS. The category is up 6.9% in the last year.
The “food at home” index — or grocery prices — jumped 12.4% in October versus the same time a year ago. That’s an improvement from 13.5% in August, which was the largest 12-month increase in more than 40 years, since 1979.
The energy category — which includes gasoline, fuel oil, natural gas and electricity — was up 17.6% last month relative to October 2021. That’s a decline from September’s 19.8%.
“Any meaningful relief for household budgets is something that is still well over the horizon,” McBride said.
Gasoline prices had been a primary irritant for many Americans earlier in the year. Prices at the pump have retreated from summer highs of more than $5 a gallon nationwide, but edged up slightly in the past week; they currently sit at an average $3.80 per gallon, per AAA.

‘We have a ways to go’

“Core” inflation — a measure that strips out food and energy costs, which can be volatile — is important in terms of predicting future inflation trends, economists said.
The measure gives a sense of how broad-based inflation has gotten. Core inflation was 6.6% in September, the largest 12-month increase since August 1982. Core inflation was up 6.3% in October over a year ago; the index rose 0.3% during the month versus 0.6% in September.
Shelter, which includes rent, was the “dominant factor” in monthly increase in “core” CPI, according to the BLS. It accounted for 40% of annual core inflation.
The CPI generally lags price dynamics in the broad housing market and likely isn’t an accurate present-day snapshot of shelter prices, economists said. Home sales and mortgage volumes have slowed significantly, leading some to declare the U.S. is in a housing recession.
Other “notable” increases in the past year include medical care (up 5%), household furnishings and operations (8.4%), new vehicles (8.4%), and personal care (6.4%), the BLS said.

Monthly increases came from shelter, motor vehicle insurance, recreation, new vehicles and personal care, according to the BLS. There were also some monthly declines: used cars and trucks, medical care, apparel and airfares, it added.
“Price pressures remain evident across a broad range of goods and services,” Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, said during a press conference Nov. 2.
The central bank has been raising borrowing costs aggressively to cool the economy and reduce inflation. Powell signaled that policy would likely continue for the foreseeable future.
“I would also say it’s premature to discuss pausing [interest-rate increases],” Powell said. “And it’s not something that we’re thinking about; that’s really not a conversation to be had now.”
“We have a ways to go.”

Inflation isn’t just a U.S. phenomenon

Inflation isn’t a problem in just the U.S. Indeed, it’s been worse elsewhere.
For example, consumers in the United Kingdom saw prices increase 10.1% annually in September, tying a 40-year high hit in July.
But on the global stage, inflation first showed up in the U.S., Hunter said. That’s partly due to Covid-related restrictions unwinding sooner in many states relative to the rest of the world and federal support for households kickstarting the economic recovery.
“The U.S. has been a leading indicator for what’s happened to inflation in other countries,” Hunter said.

Inflation is a global problem worsened by geopolitical factors such as the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Pictured: damage in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Nov. 5, 2022, after shelling.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Americans had more disposable income as the economy reopened, the result of federal funds such as stimulus checks and pent-up demand from staying at home. Meanwhile, Covid-19 lockdowns roiled global supply chains — meaning ample cash ran headlong into fewer goods to buy, driving up prices.
Those supply-chain issues are “only now beginning to unwind,” Hunter said. But higher labor costs — the result of ongoing worker shortages and wages that have risen near their fastest pace in decades — have led to upward pressure on the cost of services, too, he said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also fueled a surge in commodity prices — for crude oil and grain, for example — which has fed into higher costs for gasoline and food, Hunter added.
High energy costs have broad ripple effects on other goods, which become more costly to produce and transport.
“I think this is something that will likely take much of 2023 to unfold, if we’re lucky,” McBride said.

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Cryptocurrencies extended their slide for a second day Wednesday as the market absorbed the potential collapse of popular crypto exchange FTX.
Prices were pressured to start the day and plunged by late afternoon as Binance, the largest global exchange by volume, abandoned plans to acquire Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX after a due diligence exam and recent reports of mishandled customer funds and alleged U.S. agency investigations of FTX.

Bitcoin fell 12% before 4:30 p.m. ET to just under $16,000, hitting a low not seen since November 2020, according to Coin Metrics. It reached its all-time high of $68,982.20 one year ago Thursday. Meanwhile, ether tumbled 14%, to $1,128.87.

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The Bankman-Fried empire quickly unraveled after a report last week showed a large part of the balance sheet at Alameda Research, the trading company where Bankman-Fried was also CEO, had been concentrated in FTX Token (FTT), the native token of the FTX trading platform.
After some light sparring on Twitter with Bankman-Fried, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced his company was offloading the FTT on its books, leading to a run on the popular FTX exchange and a liquidity crisis.
FTX counts some of the biggest names in finance — including SoftBank, BlackRock, Tiger Global, Thoma Bravo, Sequoia and Paradigm — among its investors.
FTT slumped another 63% Wednesday, after plunging more than 75% the day before.

The Solana token also continued to fall. It was last down 45%, after dropping more than 26% Tuesday. Alameda Research, the trading firm owned by Sam Bankman-Fried, who also runs FTX, was an early backer of the Solana project.
“Market factors such as providing SOL token liquidity as well as support for Solana ecosystem projects on FTX exchange has been an important driver for Solana’s success,” Bernstein’s Gautam Chhugani said in a note Wednesday. “This is an adverse event for the Solana ecosystem in the short run. Further, given FTX/Alameda’s balance sheet situation, there may be near term pressure on its Solana holdings, as the situation resolves.”
The bombshell will set the crypto industry back. Analysts foresee further regulatory scrutiny of offshore exchanges, where the majority of crypto derivatives trading takes place. It’s also unclear how much financial contagion will spill into the rest of the market.
Additionally, Bankman-Fried, known as SBF, had recently been praised as a “white knight” in the industry, coming to the rescue of crypto service firms such as BlockFi and Voyager that succumbed to the crypto contagion last spring.
For newcomers to the crypto market, SBF and FTX became the faces of the industry, securing the naming rights to the Miami Heat basketball team’s stadium last year, bringing on Tom Brady and Giselle Bündchen as company ambassadors, and becoming a megadonor to Democratic politics.
“Given the public-facing nature of FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and the size of FTX, we believe that the week’s events could cause some loss of consumer confidence in the crypto industry, beyond that seen in the aftermath of the 3AC, Celsius, and Voyager events that took place earlier this year,” especially if panic spreads and crypto prices keep dropping, KBW analysts said in a note Tuesday. “It may take time for customers to regain trust in the industry, broadly speaking (and we think regulation could help this).”

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Voters in Nebraska and the District of Columbia approved higher minimum wages, while the results of a similar ballot measure in Nevada are still pending.
Currently, 30 states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages above the $7.25 federal hourly rate, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Activists demonstrate in support of a $15-per-hour minimum wage and tips for restaurant workers in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 8, 2022.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

Voters in Nebraska and in the District of Columbia on Tuesday approved higher minimum wages, while the results in a similar Nevada ballot measure are still pending.
In D.C., voters approved Initiative 82, a ballot measure to increase the minimum wage for tipped workers to $16.10 per hour from the current $5.35 per hour by 2027, matching the floor for non-tipped employees.

Nebraska voters supported Initiative 433, which increases the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour, up from $9 per hour, by 2026. The minimum wage will adjust annually based on inflation after 2026. 
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Votes for the Minimum Wage Amendment in Nevada are still being tallied. But if it is approved, the minimum wage would rise to $12 per hour by 2024, up from $9.50 or $10.50 per hour, depending on health insurance benefits.
Ben Zipperer, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said these results align with past state and local efforts, noting that raising the minimum wage is “an extremely popular policy initiative.”
He said it shows there’s demand for increases, even in “very red states or red areas,” pointing to Florida voters approving a minimum wage hike to $15 per hour during the 2020 presidential election. 

40% of workers covered by $15 minimum hourly pay

While President Joe Biden has supported a $15 minimum wage for all workers and signed an executive order for federal employees, the $7.25 federal minimum wage hasn’t changed since July 2009.
It’s been the longest period without a federal minimum wage increase since the law was enacted in 1938, according to a recent analysis from the Economic Policy Institute. 
The value of the federal minimum hourly rate has reached its lowest point in 66 years amid soaring prices, based on June inflation data, the analysis found.

But over the past 20 years, many state and local efforts to boost minimum wages have been successful, Zipperer said. Currently, 30 states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages above the $7.25 federal hourly rate, according to the institute.
The organization estimates that roughly 40% of U.S. workers are living in states that already have a $15 minimum wage or will increase to $15 in the near future.  
“That’s a remarkable victory for advocates of low-wage workers, the ‘Fight for 15’ movements and those pursuing improved working conditions for the most vulnerable workers,” he said.

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Individuals and families who missed out on the $1,400 stimulus checks, as well as the child tax and earned income tax credits that were more generous in 2021, still have time to claim.
The IRS recently sent letters to about 9 million people alerting them to an upcoming November deadline for a simplified filing process in order to claim any money for which they are eligible.
But the effort is not without controversy, as congressional Republican leadership questions the necessity and timing of the outreach.

Charnsitr | Istock | Getty Images

Certain tax credits were made temporarily more generous in 2021. For certain people, there still may be time to claim the money, which may add up to thousands of dollars — but some politicians aren’t happy the IRS just reminded Americans about the cash.
The federal agency recently sent letters to more than 9 million individuals and families who may qualify for the tax benefits but who have not yet filed a 2021 federal income tax return.

The more generous credits were authorized through the American Rescue Plan Act, which was enacted in March 2021. That includes stimulus checks of $1,400 per person, child tax credits totaling up to $3,600 per child, and an earned income tax credit of up to $1,502 for eligible workers with no children.
“The IRS wants to remind potentially eligible people, especially families, that they may qualify for these valuable tax credits,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in an October statement when the agency first started sending the letters.
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However, Republican leadership of the House Ways and Means Committee recently signaled they disapprove of the IRS’ efforts to raise awareness.
“The suspicious timing of these letters right before an election appears political,” Rep. Kevin Brady, of Texas, who is the Republican leader of the committee, wrote in a Nov. 1 letter to Rettig.

“The extension of time to file seems to contradict typical IRS procedures and is likely to have serious consequences for million of Americans still waiting for tax refunds,” Brady wrote.

November deadlines loom to claim credits

The IRS Free File tool is scheduled to stay open until Nov. 17 for people who still need to file 2021 tax returns. That tool allows people with incomes of $73,000 or less to file their returns for free.
Alternatively, ChildTaxCredit.gov also lets people file their 2021 federal income tax returns. Individuals with incomes less than $12,500, or married couples filing jointly with incomes under $25,000, may be able to file a simple tax return in order to claim the credits.

That includes a tool provided by Code for America, GetCTC.org, that will allow people to claim their 2021 child tax credits, earned income tax credits and third stimulus checks. Notably, that tool has a Nov. 15 deadline.
Tax filers typically have up to three years to file their returns and claim tax credits for which they are eligible. The November deadlines are just for these simplified filing tools.

Who may have missed out on the money

Most individuals and families have received the money for which they were eligible through the enhanced 2021 tax credits.
But those who typically do not file federal tax returns, usually because they have low incomes, may still need to submit their information in order to get the money.
That includes one-time stimulus checks of $1,400 per person.
It also includes an enhanced child tax credit of up to $3,600 for children ages five and under, as well as up to $3,000 for those ages 6 through 17. Up to half of those sums may have been sent to families through monthly payments in 2021. However, parents would still need to file federal tax returns to claim the remaining sums, or the full sums if they did not receive the advance monthly checks.

The Good Brigade | DigitalVision | Getty Images

More families may be eligible for the 2021 child tax credit, since it was temporarily made fully refundable. Those who don’t owe taxes can still claim it. Moreover, parents with little to no incomes are also eligible.
The earned income tax credit, which is aimed at low- to moderate-income workers, was also temporarily more generous in 2021. For that year, workers with no children may be eligible for a credit of up to $1,502. That goes up to $3,618 for workers with one child, $5,980 for those with two children and $6,728 for three or more children.
In addition to higher sums, the 2021 earned income tax credit was also made available to workers ages 19 and up, rather than the 25-to-64 thresholds in place for previous years.

Why the controversy

In the letter to the IRS, Brady questioned whether the IRS’ 9 million letters were necessary and whether they may contribute to fraudulent claims.
While the IRS also sent out 9 million letters in September 2020 to people who may have missed out on the first stimulus checks, there were some notable differences this time around, according to the Texas Republican.
This time, the November deadline gives filers one additional month to submit their paperwork, Brady wrote. Moreover, the notices reference two additional tax credits, the EITC and CTC, in addition to stimulus checks.
Brady also takes issue with the IRS for waiting four months to ramp up its outreach after the Government Accountability Office made recommendations for how it could improve its communications.
Neither the IRS nor the Treasury Department responded to requests for official comment.
Joe Hughes, federal policy analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think tank, said he does not see “anything suspicious” in the IRS’ letter.

“The letter is just informing people that there were some temporary rule changes in 2021 and they have a few more days to apply,” Hughes said.
Moreover, while it is clear the credits were authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act, the communication stops short of emphasizing party affiliation.
“The stimulus checks that Trump sent out literally had his name written on the memo line,” Hughes said. “When the Democrats took control and sent out another round of stimulus checks, they notably did not have President Biden’s name on the memo line.”

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The Federal Trade Commission is warning that the open enrollment period for Medicare is a time when scammers tend to increase their efforts to find victims to defraud.
Older adults lost $121 million last year to imposters posing as government employees.
The FTC has shared some tips to help Medicare recipients avoid falling victim to scammers.

Feverpitched | Istock | Getty Images

You may know that it’s open enrollment time for Medicare.
So do scammers.

The Federal Trade Commission is warning that fraudsters could take advantage of this annual period to impersonate Medicare agents. The program’s open enrollment, which started Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 7, is when Medicare beneficiaries can make changes to their coverage — and criminals often try to capitalize on that with unsolicited calls.
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“If someone asks for your Medicare identification number, sirens should go off,” said Ari Parker, a senior advisor at Chapter, a Medicare advisory firm. “Same with your Social Security number and checking account information.”
Generally speaking, no one is allowed to reach out to you — unsolicited — about your coverage, whether via phone or email. Of course, this excludes agents you are already working with or who signed you up for your current plan.
During open enrollment, beneficiaries are encouraged by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to review their current coverage and make sure it will still be the best fit for them in the next year. In general, this time period is for making changes related to Part D (prescription drug coverage) and Advantage Plans — which deliver Part A (hospital coverage) and Part B (outpatient care) and usually include Part D.

Scams cost older adults $121 million last year

Elder fraud persists as an issue, with a recent FTC report showing that in 2021, older adults lost $121 million to scammers posing as government officials and another $151 million to scammers impersonating private business employees. Of Medicare’s roughly 64.5 million beneficiaries, 56.6 million are age 65 or older.
Criminals can cast a broad net in their efforts to land victims. Sometimes, emails or calls can even look like they’re coming from a legitimate source.

Spoof websites can lure you in

For instance, you could get an email urging you to click on a link that appears to be related to your Medicare plan.
“Some scammers set up spoof websites,” Parker said. “You provide your information and it goes to the scammer, who might be anywhere in the world.”
The goal for the scammers is to get hold of enough identifying information — they may already have pieces of it — to commit fraud with your Medicare ID, steal your money or even steal your identity, according to the FTC.

Here are some tips from the FTC to avoid falling for a scam:

Be aware that scammers can fake a caller ID.
Hang up if anyone calls and asks for your Medicare, Social Security or bank or credit card information. Legitimate Medicare employees have your Medicare number on file.
Don’t be rushed into making a decision. You have until Dec. 7 to enroll, and Medicare doesn’t offer extra benefits for signing up early.
Ignore threats to take away your benefits. If you qualify, your benefits can’t be taken away for not signing up for a plan.
Don’t talk to anyone who suggests their plan is preferred by Medicare. The program does not endorse a specific plan.

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