Top #5 things to do if you have missed the tax deadline

by Mounica Kota | Aug 20, 2020 | e-filing, IRS, tax deadline, US Treasury Department

Top #5 things to do if you have missed the tax deadline

With response to the outbreak of the pandemic COVID-19, the US Treasury Department and the IRS had provided special tax filing and payment relief to the Americans. The deadline for tax returns had been extended by the IRS from 15^th April 2020 to 15^thJuly 2020. The IRS had continuously urged the Americans to file their tax returns before the completion of the tax deadline or request for an extension in case of ineligibility to file or pay by the declared deadline.

However, the federal tax deadline has come and gone now. If you have missed your federal tax deadline and have not also filed for an extension then, you should have an idea about the course of action you can follow now.

Go ahead and file as soon as you can

If you owe money to be paid to the IRS, then you must file your tax returns soon to avoid paying any penalties to the IRS.
Even though the IRS would charge penalties on you for the late filing of your returns but that would be somewhat less than the penalties charged for not filing the tax returns at all.
The IRS would have received Form 1099-Misc and Form W-2 which would reflect your income earned for the year. You must file your returns immediately so that the IRS does not show that you need to pay more taxes.
Moreover, you might be having a tax refund and it may not come if you have a tax penalty to pay. In case you have a tax refund and do not file your taxes then you would have to wait for three years of the tax return due date.

Make arrangements for the payment

If you are not filing your tax returns on time because you are not sure about how you will arrange for your payment amount then, you can follow the below-mentioned steps.

You must file your tax returns soon, pay whatever amount you can arrange, and then request a payment plan from the IRS.
There are several options available with the IRS such as a request for a short term payment plan, offer in compromise, long term installment plan, or temporarily delay collections in some cases.
By the short term payment plan, you can pay the amount you owe to the IRS within 120 days. Similarly, by long term installment agreements, you can pay your amount over 6 years.
In case your total taxes, penalties, and interest are up to $50,000, you can request for an installment agreement online.

Information about the penalties

If you have not filed your tax returns or not paid your taxes on time, you should be aware of the penalties which you would have to pay.

Failure-to-file penalty – This penalty would be 5% of the unpaid taxes for each month your tax return filing is late until 5 months. However, if you are filing your tax returns late by more than 60 days you; you would have to pay whichever is less i.e. 100% of the federal taxes you owe or a specific dollar amount which can be adjusted annually for inflation. This “specific dollar amount “is $435 for those returns which are due after 1^st January 2020.
Failure-to-pay penalty – The IRS would charge you 0.5% of your unpaid taxes for each month of unpaid due up to 25%. Interest would be accrued on the unpaid taxes and would be equal to the Federal Short term rate plus 3%.

In most cases, the failure-to-file penalty is much more than the failure-to-pay penalty. So, it is advisable that if you are not able to pay the taxes on time you should at least file your tax returns on time.

Use e-filing

If you have not filed your tax returns yet, you can still do it online by using the e-filing method. If you are using the conventional methods of tax filing, it will take a longer time to be received by the IRS and to be processed by the IRS. If the filing has been done by electronic means, the IRS would process the return requests within 21 days from the date of receipt of the return.

Do not ignore

You should be completely aware of your specific tax situation. The sooner your tax issues are addressed the better. If you continually keep on ignoring your taxes, you would have to face some serious penalties like

IRS can file a notice of a federal tax lien.
Your property might be seized.
IRS could forfeit your refund.
In serious cases, your passport might be revoked or charges could be filed against you for tax evasion.

Conclusion

It is advisable not to avoid your tax-related problem, do good research, seek help from professionals, and work toward finding a solution to your problem.

References

Top #5 things to note about the extended Tax deadline July 15-2020 from April 15-2020 which is just round the corner

by Mounica Kota | Jun 20, 2020 | Federal Tax Payment, tax deadline, Tax Extension

Top #5 things to note about the extended Tax deadline July 15-2020 from April 15-2020 which is just round the corner

Millions and millions of Americans have been affected by the deadly coronavirus whose impact is worsening further day-by-day. Americans are facing health problems, losing their sources of income and are facing a very difficult time. In such bad times, the Federal Government has been quite supportive and has taken up various initiatives by which the economic stress of the Americans would be reduced.

One of the major initiatives taken by the Federal Government to reduce the economic burden on the Americans affected by the pandemic COVID-19 is the extension of the tax return filing and the tax payment deadline to 15th July 2020 by the IRS. This extension in tax filing deadline is applicable for all taxpayers i.e. both residents and non-residents and including individuals, corporations, estates, trusts, and other non-corporate tax filers as well.

Let us know about the major five things about this tax deadline extension provided by the Federal Government.

a.Extension for filing tax return and tax payment

This extension offered by the IRS is applicable both for filing Federal tax return and Federal tax payment. Originally, the Federal Government was about to give the deadline until 15th July 2020 to pay the taxes along with penalties and interest. However, the rules have been modified due to the economic stress caused due to the pandemic COVID-19. But, those taxpayers who are expecting their tax returns must file them soon to obtain the refunds faster.

b.Eligibility for availing the extended deadline

According to the IRS, there are is no such eligibility criteria for a taxpayer to avail the extended deadline. Any person who has a pending Federal Income Tax payment or returns due for 15th April 2020 can avail of the relief of deadline extension. This extended timeline is also applicable for the estimated Federal Tax Income payment 2020. This timeline extension is only applicable for those payments or return filing due on 15th April 2020 and not due on any other date.

c.State tax laws

There are a large number of states who have also extended their timeline for Federal income tax return filing and payment dates to 15th July 2020 as that of the Federal Government. States such as Alabama, Arizona, Kansas, Ohio, South Carolina, District of Columbia, West Virginia, Michigan, New Jersey, Montana, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Maine, Georgia, Illinois, California, Colorado, and many more have their tax return filing and payment extended up to 15th July 2020.

However, there are some states like Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, and Virginia which have extended their timelines differently than that of the Federal Government. The timeline in Hawaii has been extended to 20th July, in Idaho has been extended up to 15th June 2020, in Virginia had been extended up to 1st June 2020 and up to 31st July 2020 in Iowa.

d.Inability to pay by 15th July 2020

In case a taxpayer feels that he would not be able to pay his Federal Income tax even by the extended timeline i.e. 15th July 2020, then he would have to file for an automatic extension. The taxpayer must request for the automatic extension of the timeline by 15th July 2020. He can be able to request for the extension automatically by e-filing using Form-4868. Moreover, if business entities or trusts would be interested in filing for an extension, then it can be done electronically through the Form-7004.

e.IRA and HSA

Since the deadline for filing tax returns and tax payment has been extended till 15th July 2020; the taxpayers can make contributions to their IRA and HSA up to 15th July 2020.

Additional Information

However, there are some other items whose deadlines have been extended until 15th July 2020.

The Estimated Federal Tax payment for the second quarter has also been extended till 15th July 2020 which was 15th June 2020 earlier. So, by this, the taxpayers would have to now submit both the Estimated Federal Tax payments for both the 1st quarter and the 2nd quarter by 15th July 2020.
The partnership return filings and the corporate return filings have been extended till 15th July 2020.

Hence, the extended timeline for making the Federal tax payment, filing the Federal tax returns, and even payment of State Tax is almost round the corner and taxpayers should be prepared for it from now.