WASHINGTON — While the federal income tax-filing deadline has passed for most people, there are some taxpayers still facing tax-related issues. This includes people who still haven’t filed, people who haven’t paid their taxes or those who are waiting for their tax refund.
The
IRS offers these tips for handling some typical after-tax-day issues:
Didn’t
file by April 18?
There
is no penalty for filing a late return after the tax deadline if a
refund is due. Penalties and interest only accrue on unfiled returns
if taxes are not paid by April 18. The IRS
provided taxpayers an additional day to file and pay their taxes
following
system issues that surfaced early on the April 17 tax deadline.
Anyone who did not file and owes tax should file a return as soon as
they can and pay as much as possible to reduce penalties and
interest. For those who qualify, IRS Free
File is
still available on IRS.gov through Oct.
15 to
prepare and file returns electronically.
Filing
soon is especially important because the late-filing penalty on
unpaid taxes adds up quickly. Ordinarily, this penalty, also known as
the failure-to-file penalty, is usually 5 percent for each month or
part of a month that a return is late.
But
if a return is filed more than 60 days after the April due date, the
minimum penalty is either $210 or 100 percent of the unpaid tax,
whichever is less. This means that if the tax due is $210 or less,
the penalty is equal to the tax amount due. If the tax due is more
than $210, the penalty is at least $210.
In
some instances, a taxpayer filing after the deadline may qualify for
penalty relief. If there is a good reason for filing late, be sure to
attach an explanation to the return.
Alternatively,
taxpayers who have a history of filing and paying on time often
qualify for penalty relief. A taxpayer will usually qualify for this
relief if they haven’t been assessed penalties for the past three
years and meet other requirements. For more information, see
the first-time
penalty abatement page
on IRS.gov.
