How much would it cost for the 12 days of Christmas?

PNC Bank does an annual study on how much it would cost to buy everything from the song. The answer this year is $45,523, up 10.5%. Or if you bought the items over and over each day like the song suggests, thats 364 total gifts, and over $197,000.

What is the true cost of Christmas?

What is the True Cost of Christmas? The True Cost of Christmas is the cumulative cost of all the gifts when you count each repetition in the song, reflecting the cost of 364 gifts. This cost has measured even wider fluctuations over the years. Why did PNC start tabulating the Christmas Price Index®?

How much are French hens?

Even The 12 Days of Christmas is being slammed by inflation.

How much does the 12 days of christmas cost 2010

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12 Tax Tips for Christmas 2010

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The price of the 12 Days of Christmas

Thursday, December 23, 2010

For the last 27 years, folks at PNC Financial Services have crunched numbers to find out how much it would cost to buy each of the gifts mentioned in the traditional holiday song The 12 Days of Christmas.

The annual accounting has become known as the Christmas Price Index.

In much the same way that the Consumer Price Index measures changes in prices of goods and services, the Christmas Price Index tracks what it cost seasonal song's true love.

You can see an animated version of the Christmas Price Index
pop-up book pictured above by clicking on the photo (or here).

When all the verses are completed, they add the prices of the 78 gifts to arrive at the total cost of Christmas.

So what' the 2010 damage? $23,439.38.

Although economists keep telling us that inflation is low, that total is up 9.2 percent, or $1,974, from last year.

In fact, the 2010 figure represents the second highest increase ever and largest percentage hike since 2003 when the Christmas Price Index rose 16 percent.

What cost more: "This year's jump in the PNC Christmas Price Index can be attributed to rising gold commodity prices, represented by the five gold rings, which went up by 30 percent, in addition to higher costs for wages and benefits impacting some entertainers," said James Dunigan, managing executive of investments for PNC Wealth Management, in releasing this year's figures.

Yep, those nine ladies dancing, 10 lords a-leaping, 11 pipers piping and 12 drummers drumming can drive up a party's cost. None of these performers, notes PNC, received a wage increase last year so they were playing catch up in 2010.

There were, however, a few bargains this year, according to the Christmas Price Index.

The single partridge in a pear tree, four calling birds, six geese a–laying and the eight milk maids came in at the same price as in 2009. It's good to know that the milk accompanying Santa's cookies won't break the bank.

The cost of cyber convenience: The $23,439 and some odd cents amount is what you'd pay if you bought regular retail.

But if you prefer shopping online, be prepared to pay more, say PNC Christmas price indexers.

That online purchase total also was up 9.2 percent, but the actual dollars are substantially more. True loves who shop electronically will pay a grand total of $34,336.

"In general, Internet prices are higher than their non-Internet counterparts because of shipping costs for birds and the convenience factor of shopping online," Dunigan said.

Well, I know the hubby did some shopping online this year, but I haven't heard bird calls from any boxes under our tree so I think we're OK this year as far as the Christmas Price Index goes.

I wouldn't complain too much, though, if just one gold ring happened to be inside one of those packages!

12 Tax Tips for Christmas 2010
The 12 Tax Tips of Christmas 2009
Year-end money moves

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Posted on Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 02:50 PM in Finances, Humor, U.S. Holiday | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: 12 days of Christmas, Christmas Price Index, PNC Financial Services, PNC Wealth Management

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Today's Tax Tip

Don't miss contractor vs. employee rule change comment deadline — Classifying a worker as an employee or contractors has tax (and more) implications for the individual and company. The Biden Administration wants to tweak current employee-contractor rules, and is accepting public comment on the proposed changes through Dec. 13. If you have any thoughts on this, let Uncle Sam know now! This post has details. (Dec. 9, 2022)
The 2022 Tax Tips offer ways to file your annual return, along with post-filing advice, important tax news and, of course, ways to cut your current tax year bill. You'll find the monthly assemblages on their own respective pages: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December. Remember, tax tasks and tips don't stop after you file your annual return!

COVID-19 & Taxes

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January-… 2022
You can find medical coronavirus resource links further down this column.

All About Kay

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Tick ... Tick ... Tick

It's the final
2022 tax countdown!

It's over! We cleared 2022's extended filing deadline, unless you get more time because your filing was affected by a major natural disaster, military service, or some other Internal Revenue Service recognized special situation. If that's you, be sure to check out all the ol' blog's earlier Tax Tips, listed by month just under the old-school No. 2 yellow pencil tip atop this column.

For most of us, though, the passage of Oct. 17 means it's time to focus on the Form 1040 that we'll file next year. In most cases, we have until Dec. 31 to make moves that will reduce our still accruing 2022 tax bill.

The countdown clock below should help us from missing out on making important tax-saving moves the rest of this year. Plus, the Tax Moves below the counter will list some timely tasks to take care of in each of these final 2½ months of 2022.
Note: I'm in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.

Time for Tax Tasks

Ho 🎅 Ho 🎅 Ho!
You better watch out.
You better not cry. But you better make some year-end tax moves this December or next April 18 (yes, Tax Day is later next year) could turn out to be the tax equivalent of Santa Claus putting coal in your stocking!

Click image to hear a musical Santa message from Bruce Springsteen.
OK, St. Nick can't deliver a festively wrapped, already prepared tax return for you (unless he's even more magical than I think!) to file next year, but he does have a tax connection.
Santa's tracking of naughty and nice boys and girls basically is the same method that the Internal Revenue Service uses. That's why we all need to be nice, especially to ourselves, in this final month of the year by making some important tax-saving moves.

Dec. 1: Did you struggle through 2022's tax season? Even though the IRS tried to get things back to more normal after two prior years of COVID-19 delayed and complicated return filing things were still a mess for many. If that experience made you realize you need professional tax, pandemic or no pandemic, now is the time to find a tax preparer who can help ensure your return filing next year goes more smoothly. There's also a December bonus. If you a tax pro this month, you might get some year-end tax tips!

Dec. 5: Did you get a part-time seasonal job this year to earn extra cash for the holidays? Or maybe took on a variety of gig work to help make up for income lost due to pandemic precaution? Any or all of that extra employment as acontractor instead of as an employee means you're responsible for paying income taxes due on the money, as well as any self-employment tax. Now is the time to start gathering those records and tallying this taxable income so you're not surprised at filing time.

Dec. 12: Do you work as a server at a restaurant or at any other establishment where gratuities from customers are part of your compensation? I hope you got lots of financial thanks for doing your job well, but remember that those tips are taxable income.

Whether you're dining in or getting food delivered to your home, if a tip isn't included on your restaurant or delivery bill, click the image above to calculate how much to tip the person who brought it to you.

If you got at least $20 in gratuities in November, you must account for the tips today by using Form 4070 to report last month's tips total to your employer. Today.

Dec. 15: Christmas is just 10 days away! Are you still shopping for gifts? This year, you're probably doing more search for the perfect present online. But beware and wary. Crooks are looking to steal your money and identity, using many of the techniques they employ in tax scams. By stealing your personal information now, the ID thieves also can use it at tax time to file a fake return in your name and claim a fraudulent refund. So be careful out there, now and next filing season, and, well, unfortunately all the time.

Dec. 20: It's Christmas Week! That means holiday treats, final decorations — or first, if you wait until the very end to get a tree — and frantic last-minute shopping! Although more are heading to shopping centers, continuing COVID concerns (thanks, no thanks, yet more Omicron variants) mean a lot of us are still shopping online, even with the cyber crime concerns. Rather than worry about how you'll get the perfect gift, instead consider some easy tax-favored gifts. Open a Roth IRA for your child or grandchild who earned some money this year. Or pay tuition for classes that will start in the first quarter of 2023 by Dec. 31, then use those costs to claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit.

Dec. 24: Christmas Eve!
No taxes tonight. It's early to bed for kiddies of all ages. Santa's on his way!

Click image to watch
Santa's delivery route as tracked by NORAD.

Dec. 25: Merry Christmas! My gift to you is another day without tax thoughts.
Just enjoy the holiday and your family and friends.

Dec. 26: Happy Boxing Day. This unofficial holiday on St. Stephen's Day is celebrated by additional giving. If you donate to your favorite charity on this Boxing Day or any other day by Dec. 31, on your 2022 taxes you'll have to itemize your gifts on Schedule A to claim them. The option to claim a limited amount directly on your Form 1040 expired at the end of 2021. What didn't expire is the IRS' donation tax rules.

Dec. 31: This is it. The drop-dead deadline to make most 2022 tax moves. A quick and easy action today is to zero out your medical flexible spending account (FSA). This is especially important if your employer doesn't offer a grace period to use the money or let you roll it over into 2023. Without those alternatives, you'll lose any FSA funds you don't use

Done? Great! Make sure the champagne is chilling and settle in for your New Year's Eve party, either as a vaccinated reveler or, if you're still a bit leery because of yet more COVID variants, via remote celebrations. Either way, cheers and Auld Lang Syne as the ball drops at midnight.

Small Business Tax Calendar: Important filing, deposit and record keeping dates throughout the year that your company needs to know. You can get more tax calendar information at the IRS' online calendar page and view the full year's important business and individual tax dates in IRS Pub. 509.

State Tax Help

Don't forget your state taxes!
Forty-three states and D.C. collect personal income taxes. But even if you live in of the seven states without an income levy, you still face other state (and local) taxes.

State Tax Departments provides links to your state's Web page. The companion page, Tax Tidbits, is the compilation of blurbs about each state's tax laws. And for more state tax news, check out all our state tax bloggings.

Tax Forms

Thanks to our increased use of tax preparers and computer software, many of us don't see our tax forms until we sign and file them. But knowing what's on these documents, either in paper or digital form, and why the IRS wants it is key to understanding our tax system. And knowledge definitely is power, especially when it comes to tax savings. Find this valuable information in the ol' blog's special Talking Tax Forms page.

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Tell it to the Hill

While it's easy to rail at the IRS, for the most part we can thank — or blame — our tax laws on Congress and the White House. So if you have an issue with tax legislation or want a tax bill passed, you need to let your federal legislators and the White House occupant know of your concerns. You can find out who in Washington, D.C., to contact (and how), as well as get information on your local lawmakers for matters, tax or otherwise, closer to home, at USA Gov.

How much would it cost for the 12 days of Christmas?

PNC Bank does an annual study on how much it would cost to buy everything from the song. The answer this year is $45,523, up 10.5%. Or if you bought the items over and over each day like the song suggests, that's 364 total gifts, and over $197,000.

What is the true cost of Christmas?

What is the "True Cost of Christmas?" The True Cost of Christmas is the cumulative cost of all the gifts when you count each repetition in the song, reflecting the cost of 364 gifts. This cost has measured even wider fluctuations over the years. Why did PNC start tabulating the Christmas Price Index^®?

How much are French hens?

Even 'The 12 Days of Christmas' is being slammed by inflation.