Understanding Income: What Needs to Be Reported?

In this episode, Dr. Friday breaks down what counts as taxable income and clears up common misconceptions. She emphasizes the importance of reporting all income sources, including business earnings, rental income, interest, royalties, dividends, and alimony (if applicable under pre-2019 rules). Dr. Friday also warns against misinterpreting new tax laws regarding alimony. Transcript: G’day, I’m Dr. Friday, president of Dr. Friday’s Tax and Financial Firm. To get more info, go to www.drfriday.com. This is a one-minute moment. What is income? I mean, what do we really have to report? What can we just say, “Ah, that’s not really income, so Uncle Sam does not need to know about it?” One would be, of course, the simple things—gross income from your business or W-2s. How about rental income, interest, royalties, dividends, and alimony if it happened before 2019? I’ve had a number of people come in after hearing that alimony is no longer taxable, so they stopped reporting it—even though they’ve been divorced for 20 years. This is a new law that only affects recent cases, so make sure you’re reporting all your income. If you need help, go to drfriday.com. You can catch the Dr. Friday Call-In Show live every Saturday afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m. right here on 99.7 WTN.