Yesterday was Tax Day, and for most of us, that means we can take a few days off and relax – tax season is over until next year! But if you didn’t file your taxes or didn’t file a tax extension, then this article is for you!
What happens if you missed the tax deadline?
If you missed the tax filing deadline, your first action should be to file as quickly as possible. If you can’t file right away because you don’t not have everything you need or for other reasons, then you should file for an extension.
How to file for a tax deadline extension. Everyone is eligible for an automatic tax deadline extension and the first thing you should do if you missed the tax filing deadline is file for an extension with the IRS. This gives you until October 15th to file your tax paperwork. However, you should also know that if you owe the IRS money, it is due on April 15th. So even if you file for a tax deadline extension, you need to send in an estimate of the taxes you owe. Failure to do so can result in fines or penalties.
You can file for a free tax deadline extension through these means:
- TaxAct.
- TurboTax Online.
- IRS Free File Fillable Forms.
- Download Tax Form 4868 from the IRS website and mail it in.
Since the tax filing deadline has already passed, time is of the essence here, and I would recommend filing electronically if possible.
What Happens If You Don’t File Your Tax Return?
OK, so you missed the deadline and you haven’t filed for an extension. What happens if you let it slide? Penalties and interest, my friend. And they aren’t pretty!
Failure to pay and failure to file penalties. These two types of penalties are automatically assessed by the IRS. Here is a rough outline of the penalties you may owe for failure to file or pay your federal taxes.
- Failure to file or (FTF) penalty assessed at 5% per month or partial month up to a 25% maximum.
- Failure to pay (FTP) penalty assessed at 0.5% per month or partial month up to a 25% maximum.
- If both the FTF and FTP penalties are assessed, the FTF penalty is reduced by the FTP penalty.
Underpayment penalties. You can also owe penalties for underpaying your taxes. These can be assessed at different levels, from a small fine to criminal charges, depending on whether or not the IRS determines there was criminal intent involved. Some of the possible charges include criminal or civil fraud, negligence, or frivolous return. Penalties for these can range from stiff fines to jail time.
More information: Here is more about what happens if you don’t file your federal tax return, and more info on penalties for filing your taxes late.
What if you can’t pay your taxes?
Even if you can’t pay your taxes, you still need to file your taxes or at least file for an extension. This lets the IRS know that you are aware of the situation and you are trying to resolve it. After you file your taxes or file for an extension, you need to communicate with the IRS and try to negotiate a payment plan so you can pay the IRS your taxes. You can ask for an extension (a set time frame to pay your tax bill), or enter into a payment plan.
Penalties and fees will continue to be assessed, so you will need to pay your taxes as soon as possible – even if that means taking out a loan to do so. You should avoid payday loans, but you might consider a loan from a peer to peer lending company such as Lending Club or Pertuity Direct. They can have the money to you in a matter of days if you qualify for a loan.
If you don’t pay your tax bill, the IRS can file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien, which can damage your credit score.
More information: Here is more about your options if you can’t pay your taxes.
Failure to file or pay taxes can result in fines, ruined credit, or even jail time
There are stiff penalties for those who fail to pay their taxes, up to an including jail time for the worst offenders. All it takes to avoid these problems is a little bit of time to complete your taxes and file them, or at least file for an extension. So get to it!
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the link! You gotta be careful not to miss those tax deadlines!
Q. What happens if you missed the tax deadline?
A. You get appointed to a political office.
I got mine in on time (last minute) but know someone who didn’t. Hopefully it will be OK for them. Mr M filed an extension this year, he is due a refund and simply didn’t get his return started on time. I’ll have to push him to get them done or he’s likely to procrastinate until Oct.
I e-filed through Turbo Tax (or at least I thought I did). I’ve been using it for 5 years and usually within 24 hours you get emails saying that the Federal/State return was accepted. I didn’t get one. I logged back into Turbo Tax and it says that I didn’t e-file yet. I went through all the steps again. I remember doing them so I completed the process so I don’t know what happened. We are getting a refund but how will this late filing effect the amount we get back. I assume there is some kind of penalty for not filing on time.
Didi: I can’t say exactly how it will affect your return. Since you are receiving a refund, it probably won’t affect it much. For more information, I would contact the IRS or TurboTax. Best of luck.
File for a tax extension ASAP. Make the tax payment as soon as possible, though, since the federal government charges interest on unpaid tax amounts.
Scary post! As I am not a US resident I am curious of something, do all US residents have to physically file your taxes? (physically meaning paper, online and so on..). Just wondering since we, in Denmark, doesn’t have to anything. You recieve your “tax-report” for the year and that’s it, unless you need to change some of the information. So can anyone tell me if it is so or not in the US?
Casper: The majority of people in the US have to file taxes every year. It is based on how much money they earned (those who earned under a certain amount aren’t required to file taxes).
Wow Denmark seems to have a very good way to track how much people are making in a year. I should read more about this
Income is supposed to be reported as it is earned in the US, but it isn’t always done well, especially when people are paid in cash. The US also has a lot of special rules and deductions people can qualify for, which can lower their tax bill. Unfortunately, the system is much too complicated.
A highly motivating post!
What happens if you dont have any income and even if you do its under the tax free threshold, do we still need to file a tax return?
Alcino: Here is some good information regarding filing taxes based on how much you earn: How Much Money Do You Have to Make to File Taxes?.
So I was actually going to file, had it all ready to hit the submit. I was going to receive over 1k in federal and state. But then I put it off, and when I went to file again, I couldn’t find the paperwork. I didn’t file for an extension either.
If I do this years tax work next year, then I will be okay or what? Will I lose all of it? I have never had a year where I had to pay, this is 15 years that I have been always overpaying.
thanks
What happens if you havent paid taxes in a few years and you filed for the October 15 extension and you missed it and havent done anything since.
The first thing you do is contact the IRS ASAP. If you go to them, they will work with you, if they have to come after you, you will see a much less friendly side.
If it makes you feel better, you can go to your local taxpayer advocate:
http://www.irs.gov/advocate/article/0,,id=97402,00.html
Pat’s response is right (because he copied it from me
).
I’ll add one more piece of advice on your case… if the reason you haven’t done taxes in a few years is simply lack-of-interest or procrastination or confusion, you’d probably do yourself a huge favor to find a local professional to do them for you. It’s much much better to pay someone a little rather than to get into deep trouble.
If its a bigger issue about hiding something, then you need to just step up and face the music before it gets worse.