Home | Taxes
As we move into April, tax deadlines are on the horizon. Since getting taxes prepared is pretty low on most people’s list of things to do, you might need some last minute tips. First and foremost, you have a couple extra days to file this year. The usual April 15th deadline falls on a Saturday this year. As a result, the tax filing deadline is now the following Monday, April 17th. Last minute filers tend to fall into two categories. They either knuckle down and get it over with or throw up their hands and file an extension for more time. Form 4868 is the filing you need to make if you want to extend. To the surprise of many, the IRS has a pretty lax attitude towards April 15th. It gives extensions without a problem. In fact, just filing form 4868 will get you an automatic extension until October to get your return in. There is something important to understand about your automatic extension. It is only an extension to file. You still are required to pay all the money you owe. Failure to do so will lead to the assessment of penalties and interest when you finally do file. The tax filing deadline can come at a bad time for many people. You might be ready to file, but do not have the money to pay the amount due. What should you do? If this occurs, your first option is the Ostrich strategy. You can just stick your head in the sand and not file until you have enough money to pay the bill. The problem, of course, is the IRS is going to notice. You will also pay more in penalties and interest. Not filing a tax return sends up red flags at the IRS. To avoid this, you should file regardless of whether you can cover the amount due. Send in your return as well as the amount you can pay. The IRS will then set you up on a payment plan. The advantage of this second approach is you save money. Since you have sent in at least some money, the amount you will receive penalties and interest on is less. This, of course, means you pay less ultimately. If you are ready to pay your tax liability, there are a couple of ways. You can pay by check as has always been the case. You can also pay by credit card by going to officialpayment[dot]com. You will pay a service fee for using the online system. Finding out you are due a refund is a blissful moment. Then greed sets in. When will you get it? You can go to the IRS site and find out. Just click the “where is my refund” link and follow the directions. I proudly admit to being a procrastinator. If you are like me, D-Day is here. Perhaps we should call it T-Day.
Article Source: http://www.financemanual.com
Get help with back taxes at BusinessTaxRecovery.com. Get your own completely unique content version of this article.
Please Rate this Article
5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
