This week the IRS announced that the federal income tax filing deadline for individuals for the 2020 tax year will be extended from 15 April to 17 May this year. This is particularly welcome news for accountants, who were seeing a usually busy period become particularly stressful due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a rush of people submitting returns so that they can qualify for the latest batch of stimulus checks. The later deadline also gives the IRS time to put the tax codes changes created by the American Rescue Plan into place.

Click or scroll on for good news on stimulus checks too...

On Wednesday the first wave of the third round of stimulus checks hit people's bank accounts, with 90 million payments made totaling more than $242 billion. The first payments were made to people who gave their direct deposit account details on their 2019 or 2020 tax returns, while checks and prepaid debit cards to other people who are eligible will be issued in the mail over the coming weeks. It's also emerged that homeless people can claim a check by going to their local tax return office where they will file an Economic Impact Payment (EIP) return. You can check the status of your payment via the new Get My Payment tool on IRS.gov. President Biden's $1.9 trillion package provides a third stimulus check of $1,400 for eligible adults and also for their dependents, as well as $300 weekly federal unemployment benefit that will run until 6 September. This time, the earnings threshold for the checks is lower than for the previous two checks at $80,000 or less gross income for individual tax filers, and $160,000 or less for joint filers. 

Click or scroll on to find out why Donald Trump's fortune has been in the headlines this week...

Donald Trump failed in his second bid for the US presidency and, as America’s economy was a big part of the former president’s speech, many have wondered how Trump’s own personal finances are shaping up now that he has left the country’s highest office. In fact, it looks like the presidency might have been one of Trump's worst business decisions yet, as his fortune has dropped from $3 billion when he started the job to $2.3 billion today according to Bloomberg. The COVID-19 pandemic and the riot at the Capitol have greatly impacted the former world leader's brand and businesses, and crucially could impact his relationship with lenders just as $590 million in loans become due in the next four years, with half of those guaranteed by Trump himself.

Click or scroll through to see which legendary basketball player has made some big financial decisions this week

Since 2011 LeBron James has owned a 2% stake in England's Liverpool Football Club, which he bought for £4.7 million ($7.6m). But this week it was revealed that James has increased his links to the English Premier League club by becoming a minority partner in Fenway Sports Group (FSG), which owns the rest of Liverpool FC as well as the Boston Red Sox. The move means that James and his business partner Maverick Carter are the first Black partners at FSG. 

James has long been scoring in the world of business as well as on the basketball court. Listed fifth on Forbes' highest-paid athletes list of 2020 with earnings of $88 million and an estimated net worth of $450 million, the Lakers star has bolstered his sports salary and endorsement deals with savvy investments. For example, James founded sports nutrition company Ladder alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2018, selling on a majority stake to fitness app Openfit just two years later.

Click or scroll through to see which 2009 film gave Disney a welcome financial boost this week...

Avatar has reclaimed the title of highest-grossing film of all time after being re-released in China. After it first premiered in 2009, director James Cameron's (pictured) Oscar-winning science fiction epic held the top spot for a decade until Marvel's Avengers: Endgame was released. Avatar has now taken more than $2.8 billion at the box office. This is good news for Cameron, who is currently working on four sequels to the Avatar film, the first of which is set to be released in December 2022. But it's also welcome news for Disney, which bought the rights to the film from Fox in 2019. In fact, it's a win all-round for Disney as it also owns the rights to the Marvel universe, and to the third highest-grossing film of all time, Titanic. 

Click or scroll on to see why Facebook has had a less successful week in Australia...

Last month the battle between the Australian government and Facebook came to a head when the tech giant blocked all news content on Facebook Australia after the government put pressure on the social media platform to pay news outlets for sharing content on its platform. The country’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison described Facebook’s decision to “unfriend Australia” as “arrogant”, and five days later Facebook returned the news content to the platform. Now, in an unprecendented move for the social media platform, Facebook has agreed to pay media giant News Corp for use of its Australian content as part of a three-year deal. This means Facebook is following Google's decision on 18 February to pay Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in order to remain available in Australia. News Corp controls around 70% of Australia's news circulation, and owns papers including The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The Herald Sun. The financial details of the deals between News Corp and Google and Facebook have not been revealed.

Click or scroll on to read about another major US company that agreed to pay out this week...

There have been nearly 135,000 personal injury claims against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP over opioid addiction or overdose deaths, and this week it was revealed that Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing has a $10 billion plan that will see it put its profits into trying to help solve America's opioid crisis. This includes $4 billion given by the Sackler family, which owns the pharmaceutical giant. As part of this, Purdue Pharma will pay personal injury claimants as much as $48,000 each out of a dedicated $700-$750 million fund. That said, payouts will depend on the level of an individual’s injury or addiction, with the least severe cases receiving an estimated $3,500. 

Click or scroll on for news of the largest-ever FCC fine...

In a win against scam callers, this week the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined two telemarketers from Texas a whopping $225 million after they made a billion robocalls using spoofed numbers. This is the largest ever fine issued by the FCC. John Spiller and Jakob Mears, who set up the automated calls from their two companies Rising Eagle and JSquared Telecom, were claiming to sell health insurance for companies such as Aetna and UnitedHealth. Spiller also admitted to the FCC that he had called people on the Do Not Call list. The huge fine was proposed in June 2020, and was finalized this week. At the same time the FCC has served several cease-and-desist orders against other robocallers and also created a dedicated robocall response team.

Click or scroll through to see the yard sale purchase that led to a $700,000 windfall...

On Wednesday a rare bowl that a man bought at a yard sale in New Haven, Connecticut for just $35 last year sold for $722,000 at auction, surpassing its top estimate of $500,000. That's more than 20,500 times the amount it was bought for. When he first spotted the bowl at the yard sale the man didn't haggle over the price, thinking that this 6.25-inch bowl could be something rather special. The unnamed buyer then sent photos of the bowl to auction specialists, who immediately told him it was definitely of historical significance. After closer inspection the bowl, which is now called the lotus bowl as it resembles a lotus flower bud, was revealed to be from the court of China's Yongle Emperor, who ruled from 1403 to 1424, a period known for its porcelain techniques. Only six other bowls are known to have survived.

Click or scroll through to discover how gorillas benefited from the GameStop saga this week...

Some GameStop investors are putting their stock windfalls to good use, namely in the fight to conserve endangered species. Users of the WallStreetBets subreddit, who earlier this year bought stock in GameStop in order to undo the work of hedge funds who had been looking to short it and benefit from its declining value, have put their profits into conservation charities and helped animals such as gorillas, sea turtles, and elephants. Gorillas have been boosted the most, for example this week Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund saw gorilla adoptions increase from the 20 it would usually get in a weekend to more than 350,000 since Saturday. That's worth $350,000. Many of the adoptions were under fake names that mocked hedge funders. 

Finally, click or scroll on to read about the opening of a long-awaited theme park...

On Thursday, the much-anticipated Super Nintendo World opened for the first time in Japan. The grand opening had been delayed by COVID-19, but gamers are not likely to be disappointed as the interactive theme park is set to offer a one-of-a-kind experience. The park brings its games to life and visitors can purchase a Power-Up Band, which syncs with their smartphone and gives them scores as they jump and hit blocks to collect virtual coins. Nintendo has seen its profits leap during the coronavirus pandemic, as stay-at-home orders led to increased demand for home entertainment. Between April-December 2020, Nintendo's net profits reached $3.6 billion, an increase of 91.8% compared to the same period in 2019.

Now read about how Donald Trump makes and spends his money