Texans like to think of their state as the energy capital of the world. But in mid-February 2021, the energy state ran short of energy.
An intense winter weather outbreak, informally dubbed Winter Storm Uri by the Weather Channel, swept across the U.S., bringing snow, sleet, freezing rain, and frigid temperatures. Texas was hit especially hard, with all 254 counties under a winter storm warning at the same time.
With so many companies selling their products online, the task of standing out to your audience gets harder every day. And with new companies entering the online marketplace, you have to be constantly looking for ways to capture those eyeballs searching for the products you carry. Some shoppers are only looking for rock-bottom bargain prices, regardless of whom is selling. But for others there is a simple option that can make your products stand out: Google Product Ratings or product reviews.
Earlier this month, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) abruptly advised millions of taxpayers to hold off on filing their 2022 tax return. The reason? A number of states had issued one-time tax rebates, refunds, and other special payments last year, but the IRS was not sure if some or any of these payments were taxable at the federal level.
Now the agency has clarified the situation by issuing updated guidance on the matter, stating that “taxpayers in many states will not need to report these payments on their 2022 tax returns.”
This will no doubt come as a relief to millions of taxpayers, especially those who had filed their returns before the IRS said to hold off. At the same time, the IRS guidance contains some caveats. If you received one of these state-level payments in 2022, here’s what to know:
Estimated tax payments can be confusing, but they don’t have to be. Understanding the basics of estimated taxes and what you need to pay is key to making sure you stay in compliance with the IRS. Keeping up with estimated taxes throughout the year will help you avoid paying too much (or too little) come tax day. In this article, we’ll discuss when estimated taxes are due as well as how much you’re required to pay.
What are estimated tax payments?
Estimated tax payments are periodic payments made to the government by individuals or businesses during the year, in order to pay their expected tax liability. These payments are typically made quarterly in four equal installments and are estimated based on an individual’s or business’s expected income not subject to federal tax withholding minus deductions for the current year. The purpose of estimated tax payments is to ensure that the tax owed is paid in a timely manner, rather than as a lump sum at the end of the year, avoiding underpayment penalties.
Conducting a straw poll prior to a group decision can be a useful way of seeing where attendees stand. Data from the poll focuses conversations around solutions with the most support.
The most common poll is something called plurality voting: each attendee has one vote, and they assign it to one potential solution they find most compelling. However, another option called multivoting is showing better results, according to new research published in the Academy of Management Discoveries.
Multivoting Allows for Greater Nuance
In such a poll, each attendee gets, say, 10 votes — depending on the number of options being evaluated — that they can allocate across potential solutions. They can assign their votes any way they like. For example, they can allocate all 10 votes to one solution or perhaps five votes to a couple solutions they see as viable.
As noted, groups using multivoting outperformed groups using other approaches. This could be the case for several reasons:
Now the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus has officially launched, fans of Samsung’s flagship smartphones are looking to get their hands on it. While it’s all well and good to buy the phone itself, plenty of accessories are needed to go with it — such as screen protectors.
No one likes having to make additional purchases, especially after spending over $1,000 on a phone, but investing in a good screen protector will keep your screen safe from chips, smashes, and any other possible danger that can otherwise make for a pricey repair. Here are the best screen protectors for the Galaxy S23 Plus you can buy right now.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT and similar AI tools may not replace jobs anytime soon. But they can help workers across many industries – from tech to media – do their jobs better and more quickly.
“It’s almost like a bit of a productivity boost that some of these occupations might get,” Anu Madgavkar, a partner at economic research firm McKinsey Global Institute, told Insider.
The buzzy conversational chatbot – which attracted one million users soon after its launch last November – has been used to generate real estate advice, provide tips on how to start a business, and even write music in the style of individual artists, all with varying levels of success.
Solar panels can’t operate efficiently if they’re caked in dirt, but cleaning them regularly can become a time-consuming process. Engineers in Germany have now developed an ultra-thin coating that can make solar panels and other surfaces self-cleaning.
Solar is the biggest source of renewable energy, and it’s growing quickly. But as you could imagine, it’s not feasible to send someone out with a squeegee to clean millions of solar panels in each park. Having them clean themselves would be ideal – and now researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have made strides towards that concept.
The team created a coating that changes its response to water based on the time of day, allowing it to shed any buildup of dust and dirt fairly quickly. The key ingredient is titanium oxide, which in its normal state repels water, forming drops that easily roll off. When the titanium oxide is exposed to UV light, however, it changes state to become highly water-attracting, which keeps the surface wet with a thin layer of water.
Jupiter was already the king of the solar system, and new discoveries give the massive planet another way to reign supreme: It now has the most moons.
Twelve new moons discovered orbiting Jupiter have been confirmed, bumping the count from 80 to 92, and knocking Saturn — which has 83 moons — down a peg.
If you’re ready to rent a commercial space, here are tips for getting started with the leasing process.
Dispatches From The Front 