What To Do if You Missed the Tax Deadline
The April 18 tax deadline has come and gone. If you missed the tax deadline, don’t worry, you can still file. Here are 3 steps to get your taxes done today and get your refund.
File Now – Don’t wait any longer!
If you haven’t filed your taxes yet, don’t panic. You can still file today. If you are expecting a tax refund, which close to 80% of people do, you will not receive a penalty for filing late. Simply go online and use e-file with direct deposit to get your refund fast.
Don’t think you need to file? You may still want to.
Every year the IRS reports over $1 billion dollars in unclaimed tax refunds. Even if you made under the IRS income threshold for filing ($12,550 single, $25,100 married filing jointly), you should still file a tax return if you had federal taxes withheld from your paychecks or you are eligible for tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit.
You also need to file if you received an advanced premium tax credit to help you pay for health insurance in the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Use E-file with Direct Deposit
Even though you missed the deadline, you can still go online and e-file your taxes conveniently with TurboTax. E-file allows your tax return to be received and processed by the IRS quickly and easily. Plus you will also receive acknowledgement of receipt of your return.
If you mail in your tax return, it will take the IRS longer to receive and process your return. E-file with direct deposit is the fastest way to get your tax refund. The IRS states they will issue nine out of 10 tax refunds within 21 days or less from acceptance.
TurboTax is available for e-file until October 17 when the IRS closes e-file for the 2021 tax year.
Pay Any Taxes Owed
If you owe money, you’ll want to file as soon as you can to avoid the failure-to-file penalty if you didn’t file an extension in April and the failure-to-pay penalty . Although you may have a penalty for filing late, your penalty will be smaller than if you don’t file at all. Filing as soon as possible will reduce what you owe in interest. The longer you wait to file, the bigger the interest penalty.
Some taxpayers put off filing because they owe money and they don’t know how they’re going to pay. If you put off filing for this reason, there are steps you can take that will be better and less costly for you.
You should file as soon as possible, pay what you can, and then request a payment plan from the IRS. The IRS has several options to help you. You can request a short term payment plan, long term installment agreement, offer in compromise, or temporarily delay collections in some situations. You can set up a
- Short term payment plan: You should select this plan, if you can pay what you owe within 180 days (up from 120 days under the Taxpayer Relief Initiative).
- Long term installment agreements: This plan allows you to pay what you owe over six years.
- Installment agreement: If your total taxes, penalties, and interest is up to $50,000, you can request an installment agreement online.
*Note the IRS recently announced COVID penalty relief for certain 2019 and 2020 individual and business tax returns filed late. The relief applies to failure-to-file penalties, which are typically 5% per month up to 25% of any unpaid tax at the time tax returns are due. To qualify, any eligible 2019 or 2020 individual tax returns have to be filed by September 30, 2022. If penalties were already paid for those tax years the IRS will be issuing refunds or credits by the end of September.
TurboTax Has You Covered
Don’t worry if you missed the deadline, you can still file with TurboTax. TurboTax has you covered and will ask you simple questions about you and give you the deductions and credits you’re eligible for based on your answers. You can also fully hand your taxes over to a TurboTax Live tax expert, available year round, in English and Spanish who can prepare your taxes from start to finish.
