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Watch out for student loan forgiveness scam attempts, President Biden warns

October 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — It could be a familiar call.

“Hey, it’s Elizabeth with Student Advisors,” a warm, professional voice began in a voicemail left on Sept. 13, weeks after the Biden administration announced it would be offering up to $20,000 in student loan forgiveness for the nation’s tens of millions of borrowers.

“I’m just giving you a call in regards to your school loan. I do have you prequalified here for the updated forgiveness program and possibly even loan discharge. It is imperative that we go over the details just as soon as possible because it does look like your status is going to expire soon. But I will go ahead and keep it in pending status for you for now,” the voice — “Elizabeth” — said in the voicemail, before leaving a callback number.

On Monday, President Joe Biden formally announced the opening of the federal student debt cancellation application, following a “beta” test of the process over the weekend which had drawn in eight million applicants.

While mostly celebrating the political implications of his policy, Biden also carved out a warning for eligible borrowers: Be wary of increased scam attempts, which prey upon people desperate to have their school loans forgiven.

“I’m also focused on going after fraudsters who call borrowers,” the president said. “If you get a call pretending they’re from the government trying to help them with your loans, let’s be clear: Hang up. You never have to pay for any federal help for the student loan program.”

“If you get any questionable calls, please tell us by going to reportfraud.ftc.gov,” he said.

On Tuesday in a consumer report, the Federal Trade Commission said scammers were already “on the move” one day after the application’s official launch — trying to get borrowers’ money and personal information.

The voicemail left on Sept. 13 is a prime example of the type of scam attempts that Biden is cautioning borrowers against. It includes a number of fraud indicators, Federal Trade Commission staff attorney Michelle Grajales told ABC News, like the fact that “Student Advisors” is not an accredited loan servicer and that “Elizabeth” claimed fast action was required from the borrower so they didn’t lose their benefits.

Contact from a servicer other than the one whom an individual is enrolled with and if a servicer charges a fee for the loan application process are other “major red flags,” Grajales said, echoing Biden’s warning.

All benefits of the forgiveness program are available for free through an application from borrowers’ own loan servicers or through the government website studentaid.gov.

“DON’T pay anyone who contacts you with promises of debt relief or loan forgiveness. YOU DO NOT NEED TO PAY ANYONE TO OBTAIN DEBT RELIEF,” the Department of Education said in a blog post this month called the “Do’s and Dont’s of Student Debt Relief.”

Biden’s warning on Monday follows a White House fact sheet released on Oct. 5, where his administration advised against student loan scam attempts that had begun even before he announced the cancellation policy.

The administration said then that it would be ramping up enforcement between the Department of Education, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General, Secretaries of State, state banking regulators and state attorneys general, among other bodies — aiming to catch more scammers and increasing shared information between entities so they might work faster in each state to stop fraud.

Student loan complaints are shared across federal and state agencies using the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network, which connects about 3,000 federal, state, local and international law enforcement users. Online advertisements are one component of the FTC’s complaint system, along with calls, texts and emails.

“At least in a general sense, student loan debt relief complaints appear to be going up this year as opposed to last year,” Grajales said, noting findings from the FTC network. She said that was “also continuing kind of an upward trend from 2019 and 2020.”

Be wary of loan scams via search engine: Watchdog

Tech Transparency Project, a nonprofit organization that monitors tech companies, released an investigation in July, before the Biden administration had even announced its forgiveness policy. The organization found that a significant number of ads running on search engines like Google were student loan scams, either posing as government agencies or trying to gather information or finances from people but never delivering them services.

According to the report, 12% of the ads that appeared in Google searches for key terms around student loan forgiveness were scams.

“Google’s response was that these things aren’t allowed,” Tech Transparency Project Director Katie Paul said in an interview.

The nonprofit followed their July report with an October check-in, which found that certain search terms used in their July report continued to return scam ads — though the number had somewhat reduced.

“This change shows that Google is clearly capable of more effective enforcement. The question is why that effective enforcement didn’t come until there was a very public warning about these types of scams from the highest level of government, and why Google’s action against companies profiting from those scams isn’t the status quo,” Paul said.

In response to questions from ABC News on why the search engine had served loan scam ads, according to the Tech Transparency Project, Google said that they were “committed to combating financial fraud in ads and protecting our users and advertisers from scammers” through a number of policies in place to enforce the fraud and an investment in verification processes.

On Tuesday, however, following the official loan application rollout, Paul said she noticed another increase in the search-engine advertisements.

“Google is still allowing advertisers to redirect borrowers searching for the administration’s debt relief application. If Google was actually focused on delivering the most authoritative information, it would not allow the highest bidders to jump ahead of the government’s relief efforts,” she said.

How to avoid student loan scammers

The Federal Trade Commission warns students and borrowers not to share personal information, especially Federal Student Aid ID, Social Security numbers or credit card information, with any website or person other than on the government’s official portal — and not to upload or attach any documents.

The agency has also stressed that there is no fee to apply for student debt forgiveness.

Since the student loan announcement in August and Biden’s October push to clamp down on fraud, the Federal Trade Commission said they have issued blog posts that have gone out to 300,000 subscribers, educating those people on how to spot scams and avoid fraud. They’ve also engaged in social media campaigns in both English and Spanish.

Grajales said the agency’s chairwoman, Lina M. Khan, has met with senior officials at other agencies to coordinate reducing scam attempts.

“My message to fraudsters looking to cheat the American people is don’t do it. We’re gonna hold you accountable,” Biden said on Monday.

The FTC is equipped to handle the fraud cases, they say

The Federal Trade Commission said it is leading the charge to enforce crackdowns on individuals or companies who are attempting to perpetuate fraud.

Grajales, the staff attorney, told ABC News that the agency collects complaints and then shares them with law enforcement agencies nationwide.

“We’re active in this space,” Grajales said, as the agency has recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars for borrowers already engaged in student loan scams over the past five years.

“We seek to get money back for consumers as well as to put these people out of business and get what we call lifetime bans for the wrongdoers. And we are successful in most of these lawsuits,” Grajales said.

Like Biden suggested, the Federal Trade Commission said the best place to record instances of fraud is reportfraud.ftc.gov. Even if an individual did not fall victim to fraud, they should report any attempts against them.

Taylor Swift reveals more of what “kept her up at night,” two new lyric snippets in Brazil and Nashville

October 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Billboards in Brazil and Nashville lit up at midnight Wednesday with the latest lyric reveals from Taylor Swift‘s Midnights.

In Sao Paolo, Brazil, the lyrics were, “Just like clockwork, the dominoes cascaded in a line.” And then in Nashville, where Taylor has spent much of her professional career, the lyrics were, “Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?”

Meanwhile, Taylor continued to reveal on the Spotify mobile app the things that she says “kept her up at night” and helped inspire Midnights. Number three was “Wondering what might have been,” while number four was “Falling in love.”

The previous two were “Self-loathing” and “Fantasizing about revenge.”

Hair-straightening chemicals may be linked to uterine cancer risk, study finds

October 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Women who use chemical hair-straightening products may be at a higher risk for uterine cancer, and Black women may be more affected due to their higher rate of use, according to a new study.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, found an association that women who self-reported frequent use of hair straightening products were more than twice as likely to later develop uterine cancer than women who did not use the products, but there was not enough evidence to prove the hair straightener caused the cancer.

Uterine cancer, a type of cancer that starts in the uterus, is a risk factor for all women with a uterus, but the risk increases with age, especially during and after menopause, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It is still a relatively rare cancer overall, representing around 3% of all cancer cases, but is the most common gynecologic cancer in the U.S., according to the CDC.

“We estimated that 1.64% of women who never used hair straighteners would go on to develop uterine cancer by the age of 70; but for frequent users, that risk goes up to 4.05%,” Dr. Alexandra White, the study’s lead author, said in a summary of the study released Monday by the National Institutes of Health.

Frequent use of the products is defined as more than four times in the previous year, according to the study, which included more than 33,000 women between the ages of 35 to 74.

Black women may be more at risk for uterine cancer due to hair-straightening products not because of their race but because of their higher rate of use of those products, according to the study.

Around 60% of women in the study who reported using chemical straightening products were self-identified Black women.

“Because Black women use hair straightening or relaxer products more frequently and tend to initiate use at earlier ages than other races and ethnicities, these findings may be even more relevant for them,” said Dr. Che-Jung Chang, an author of the study, alongside White.

Dr. Madeliene Gainers, a board-certified dermatologist, called the study’s findings a “huge concern for Black women,” who have long used hair straightening and relaxing products in part because of the hair bias they face in society, including in workplaces and schools.

Several cities and states have taken action to combat the issue through the CROWN Act (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair), legislation that bans discrimination against race-based ethnic hairstyles. There are currently no federal laws that address hair discrimination, but the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund is advocating for making the CROWN Act law in all 50 states.

Gainers said she advises patients to transition to natural hair and to avoid relaxers as well as perms.

“Hair relaxers are problematic. They’re not strictly regulated and they’re not even required to list all the ingredients,” said Gainers, who was not involved in the NIH-funded study. “With hair relaxers, it’s such a harsh chemical it can cause lesions and burns on the scalp, so it makes penetration of these chemicals that much greater and the scalp absorbs better, so it’s a huge problem.”

Gainers said chemicals from hair products can be absorbed into the body, where they may disrupt the body’s hormonal balance, resulting in cancers and other medical issues.

“It can affect your body in a similar manner as ingesting the chemicals,” she said. “Just because it’s being put on the skin, it doesn’t stop it from being harmful, unfortunately.”

More research needs to be done

The authors of the new study point out that “more research is needed” to determine exactly what type of hair-straightening chemicals could be linked to an increased risk for uterine cancer.

The study did include some significant limitations. More than 80% of the women in the study were Non-Hispanic white women and only 7% were Black, meaning the statistics may be different with an equal distribution of races.

All of the women were first-degree relatives of a woman who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, which puts them at a higher risk of getting cancers themselves.

Uterine cancer rates have also been rising in Black women in general, so there could be an association that is not directly caused by using chemical hair-straightening products.

“More research is needed to confirm these findings in different populations, to determine if hair products contribute to health disparities in uterine cancer and to identify the specific chemicals that may be increasing the risk of cancers in women,” White wrote in the study’s summary.

Researchers in this study also couldn’t identify the specific chemical that could be causing uterine cancer. They only noted that the chemicals were historically found in straighteners, where parabens, bisphenol A, metals and formaldehyde, could be contributing to the increased risk.

The study, which collected data over 11 years, did not include information on brands or ingredients in the hair products that participants used, according to the NIH.

In 2019, researchers used data from the same study to report an association between the use of hair dye and relaxers and breast cancer rates in women who were already at an increased risk level of getting breast cancer.

Other studies have also shown no increased risk of breast cancer due to the use of hair dye.

The Food and Drug Administration, the agency that regulates cosmetics, including hair smoothing products and hair dyes, says on its website it does not “have reliable evidence showing a link between cancer and coal-tar hair dyes on the market today.” Coal-tar hair dyes, according to the agency, includes permanent, semi-permanent, and temporary hair dyes.

The agency issued a warning earlier this year that hair smoothing products often contain formaldehyde, described as a “colorless, strong-smelling gas that presents a health hazard when breathed into the lungs, or when it gets into the eyes or onto the skin.” In hair smoothing products, the formaldehyde is released into the air as a gas when the products are heated.

The FDA warned that the use of hair smoothing products in an area that is not properly ventilated could lead to a risk of a person inhaling formaldehyde.

Gainers said that as research continues, she would like to see the hair products industry more closely regulated, including requiring ingredients to be clearly listed.

“I think we’re still at the beginning stage and I do think more research needs to be done,” she said. “I also think that the cosmetic industry needs to be regulated, and I do think that it should be mandatory for all chemicals that are being used in a product to be on the label.”

Sigourney Weaver says Selena Gomez’s ‘Working Girl’ reboot is a “great, fantastic idea”

October 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Amid reports of Selena Gomez working on a reboot of the 1988 hit comedy Working Girl, Sigourney Weaver — who starred alongside Melanie Griffith and Harrison Ford in the original — has weighed in with her opinion, calling it a “great, fantastic idea.”

“Go for it. I think it’s a great instinct to want to do that again,” Weaver told The Hollywood Reporter at at ELLE magazine’s Women in Hollywood event Monday, where she was an honoree. “It’s a kind of eternal story, you know. But seen in the new light, it’s especially interesting to think of Katharine double-crossing her assistant in today’s world. It would be worse, wouldn’t it? It would really suck. So I don’t know, I’m really excited to see it.”

Working Girl starred Griffith as Tess, an ambitious receptionist dreaming of corporate success whose savvy business idea is stolen by her conniving boss, Katharine, played by Weaver. When Katharine suffers a broken leg, Tess exacts revenge by masquerading as her boss and initiating a deal with Jack, an investment broker portrayed by Ford.

The movie, directed by Mike Nichols, earned six Oscar nods, including Best Actress for Griffith and Best Supporting Actress for Weaver and Joan Cusack, and Carly Simon won Best Original Song for the theme “Let the River Run.”

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Putin declares martial law in occupied Ukrainian territories

October 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — More than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces began an offensive in August, has vowed to take back all Russian-occupied territory. But Putin in September announced a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up as many as 300,000 additional troops.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Oct 19, 8:31 AM EDT
Putin announces he is imposing martial law in four occupied Ukrainian territories

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he will impose martial law in four Ukrainian territories occupied by Russian forces — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye. All four regions were illegally annexed by Putin last month.

Marital law grants Russia’s authorities huge powers over the civilian population in the regions it is imposed. Martial law is set to go into effect on Thursday.

The decree, which Putin announced during a televised meeting with his security council, will now be sent to be rubber stamped by Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, the Federation Council.

Putin has also granted new powers to governors in several regions bordering Ukraine.

Putin’s decree includes other points ordering the rest of Russia itself put into various levels of “readiness.”

The decree puts eight regions bordering Ukraine into a state of “moderate level of response,” but also imposes a “level of heightened readiness” in the southern and central regions that include Moscow. All other Russians regions are put on a “basic level of readiness.”

The decree says these statuses grant special powers to local authorities that are similar to martial law and includes points imposing increased security at key facilities, puts transport and communications into a special regime and also envisages the creation of “territorial defense headquarters” in some regions.

Oct 19, 7:35 AM EDT
Russian civilians to evacuate Kherson

Russia has announced the mass evacuation of civilians from the key city of Kherson, as well as all of its civilian occupation administration there.

Russia’s newly appointed overall commander for its war in Ukraine, Gen. Sergey Surovikin, said on Tuesday that “difficult decisions” may have to be made in the near future regarding Russia’s position in Kherson. In his first public remarks since his appointment, he said the situation around Kherson was already “extremely difficult.”

The evacuation combined with Surovikin’s comments has fueled speculation that Russia may be preparing to retreat from the city in the face of a Ukrainian offensive, in what would be a major defeat for President Vladimir Putin.

Other Russian officials though have suggested the evacuation is in preparation of Russian defense of the city. Kherson’s Russian-appointed governor on Wednesday denied Russia was planning to “give up” the city.

Another senior occupation official has said the battle for Kherson will begin in the “very near future.”

Kherson is the only regional capital Russia managed to seize in its invasion and is a capital of one of the regions Putin annexed last month.

The city is located on the western side of the Dnieper river and Russian forces’ position there has become increasingly difficult, after Ukraine succeeded in destroying the bridges needed to supply it.

With the bridges destroyed, thousands of Russian troops risk becoming surrounded in Kherson city and cut off from any supplies.

Russia has already begun evacuating civilians to the eastern side of the Dneipr river. Independent military researchers said Russia has quickly built a pontoon bridge near Kherson that could be used for evacuation or re-supplies.

The Russian-appointed governor said around 60,000 civilians will be evacuated, over the course of seven days.

Oct 18, 5:14 PM EDT
Russia trying to make Ukrainians ‘suffer,’ US officials say

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian power stations shows Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to make Ukrainians “suffer” with deliberate attacks, speaking of attacks on Ukrainian power stations.

“He is trying to make sure that the Ukrainian people suffer,” Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing on Tuesday. “He’s making it very difficult for them.”

Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder echoed those comments, saying Russia is trying to “inflict pain” on Ukrainian civilians with its strikes on population centers and infrastructure.

“We do continue to see them target, among other things, civilian infrastructure, to include energy related targets — power grids, for example,” Ryder said.

He added, “In terms of why we think they’re targeting those areas, I think obviously trying to inflict pain on the civilian society as well as try to have an impact on Ukrainian forces.”

ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Matt Seyler

Oct 18, 4:59 PM EDT
UN commission releases detailed report on war crimes in Ukraine

The United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has released its first in-depth, written report on what it calls “an array of war crimes, violations of human rights and international humanitarian law” committed in the country during the first weeks of Russia’s brutal invasion.

The report outlines what investigators say are “documented patterns of summary executions, unlawful confinement, torture, ill-treatment, rape and other sexual violence.”

The inquiry zeroed in on four regions of Ukraine– Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy–and focused on incidents that took place following Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24 through the end of March.

Investigators traveled to 27 cities and towns, conducted nearly 200 interviews and “inspected sites of destruction, graves, places of detention and torture, as well as weapon remnants, and consulted a large number of documents and reports.”

Due to the sheer number of allegations, the commission could not investigate all the claims it received. The commission said it intends to “gradually devote more of its resources” to a broader investigation within the country, according to the report.

ABC News’ Shannon Crawford

Oct 18, 2:25 PM EDT
NATO to send Ukraine anti-drone systems: NATO Secretary General

Ukraine will receive anti-drone systems from NATO in the coming days according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

“The most important thing we can do is deliver on what allies have promised, to step up and deliver even more air defense systems,” Stoltenberg said, according to Reuters.

He added, “NATO will in the coming days deliver counter-drone systems to counter the specific threat of drones, including those from Iran.”

ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Oct 18, 7:00 AM EDT
30% of Ukraine’s power stations destroyed

About a third of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed by Russian attacks in the last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.

“Since Oct. 10, 30% of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed, causing massive blackouts across the country,” he said on Twitter. “No space left for negotiations with Putin’s regime.”

ABC News’ Guy Davies

In Brief: Tony Danza headed to ‘And Just Like That…’, and more

October 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu has been tapped to star in the action-adventure series Seven Wonders, currently in development at Amazon Video, according to Deadline. The series will follow Liu as Dr. Nate Grady, “a brilliant botanist-adventurer who teams up with the slippery international fixer Sloane Seydoux on a breathless race to solve an ancient mystery tied to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World,” per the entertainment website…

Damien Chazelle’s Hollywood epic Babylon will hit theaters across the country a couple of days earlier than previously announced — on December 23, according to Variety. Paramount initially planned to release the movie in select theaters on December 25, before expanding it nationwide on January 6. Babylon, starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, “traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood,” according to the official logline. Diego Calva, Tobey Maguire, Max Minghella, Spike Jonze, Jean Smart, Flea, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde, Jovan Adepo and Li Jun Li also star…

Who’s the Boss? and Taxi alum Tony Danza has been tapped for a recurring role in season two of HBO Max’s And Just Like That…, according to Deadline. Sources tell the outlet that Danza will play the father of Che Diaz — portrayed by non-binary comedian/podcaster Sara Ramirez — in the sitcom they wrote about their family in the season one finale. Danza is set to star alongside his Who’s the Boss? Alyssa Milano and executive-produce a sequel to the 1984-1992 ABC series in development at Amazon Freevee…

Variety reports DaMya Gurley, Tamara Jade and Angel Laketa Moore have been added to the cast of Robin Thede‘s A Black Lady Sketch Show, for its upcoming fourth season showcasing “Black women living relatable and hilarious experiences in a magical reality that subverts traditional expectations,” They join current series stars Ashley Nicole Black, Gabrielle Dennis, Skye Townsend and Thede in the Emmy-winning HBO series…

Nord Stream pipeline leaks caused by ‘powerful explosions,’ Danish police say

October 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A preliminary investigation of damages to the two Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Danish part of the Baltic Sea shows that the leaks were caused by “powerful explosions,” Copenhagen police said Tuesday.

Swedish and Danish authorities are investigating four holes in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which link Russia and Germany through the Baltic Sea. The investigations confirmed there is extensive damage to the pipelines, according to police.

Copenhagen police have set up a joint investigation group handling the investigation of the incidents which includes the Norwegian Police Intelligence Service and the Norwegian Armed Forces.

Danish officials said it is not possible to determine when the investigation can be expected to be completed, declining to reveal any other information from the investigation into the gas leaks.

Last week, Germany announced it has also opened an investigation into the damage to the pipelines.

Last month, President Joe Biden called the damage to the pipelines a “deliberate act of sabotage,” vowing to work with allies to get to the bottom of what exactly happened.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of sabotaging the Russian-built pipelines, a charge vehemently denied by the United States and its allies.

The dispatchers of the Nord Stream 1 control center registered a pressure drop on both strings of the gas pipeline on Sept. 26. Pressure in both pipelines was stabilized on Oct. 3, according to the company that operates the pipelines.

Last week, Putin said Russia is ready to resume supplying gas to Germany through Nord Stream 2, but Berlin rejected the offer. Berlin claimed Russia halted supplies through Nord Stream 1 as a political gambit and questioned why supplies through Nord Stream 2 would be any more reliable, according to Reuters.

According to Swedish newspaper Expressen, at least 50 meters, or 160 feet, of the pipeline appears to be missing after the explosion.

NATO has doubled its presence in the Baltic and North Seas to over 30 ships supported by aircraft and undersea activities, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last week.

“We will further increase protection of critical infrastructure in light of the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines,” he said.

Soaring inflation may mean lower tax bills for some as IRS raises brackets

October 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Some Americans may have lower tax bills when they file for 2023 after the IRS adjusted tax brackets and increased deductions to counter the soaring price tags on groceries and other daily staples.

Tax brackets will increase by about 7% in an attempt to counter rapid inflation, the IRS said in a statement on Tuesday.

Those updated brackets could mean that Americans whose wages haven’t kept pace with inflation will land in lower brackets and owe relatively less when they file.

Consumer prices rose by about 8.2% in September from the year-earlier period, with grocery prices spiking 13%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Increases in pay haven’t kept pace for many workers, with average hourly wages decreasing 3% year over year in September, when seasonally adjusted, according to the bureau’s statistics.

About 60 tax provisions will be updated to counter those rising costs, including standard deductions for single and married filers, the IRS said.

The standard deduction for married couples will increase to $27,700, up $1,800 from the previous year. For single filers, it will be $13,850, up $900, the IRS said. Those increases mark an acceleration from the previous year’s standard deduction hikes, which were $800 for married filers and $400 for single ones.

Heads of household will see an increase of $1,400 to $20,800 for their standard deduction, the IRS said.

Marginal tax rates are being adjusted for inflation, with the lowest tax rate of 10% now applying to single filers making $11,000 or less per year, up from $10,275. Couples would need to make less than $22,000, up from $20,550.

The top tax rate will remain unchanged at 37%, but will now be applied to single filers earning more than $578,125 and couples making over $693,750. That highest rate had been applied to filers making $539,900 or couples making $647,850 in the previous tax year, the IRS said.

The monthly limit for qualified transportation and parking benefits will climb to $300, up $20. Gift exclusions will jump $1,000 to $17,000.

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russian civilians to evacuate from key city