July 15th is the new April 15th and there won't be wiggle room to file taxes this time around. The date change provided some economic and logistical relief for taxpayers, but now that new deadline is essentially here - if you haven't done it yet you must file, or request an extension.
"An extension gives you until October 15th to file your tax return. It's the same deadline that we previously had. I don't see the IRS extending that extension yet," says Ben Baudoin, a CPA and Tax Manager at Darnall, Sikes & Frederick CPAs in Lafayette.
If you don't request that extension or file your taxes by the 15th, there will be a price to pay.
"You're charged a 5% penalty for late filing on your tax return per month. So if you're late two months it's a 5% then another 5% on your outstanding tax liability. On top of that if you didn't pay in enough you have .5% penalty per month for not paying the not proper tax by July 15th. There is also interest that is charged to these penalties each month," says Baudoin.
Even if you can't afford to pay everything you owe, the IRS is willing to set up payment plans or make other arrangements so pay what you can and the penalty for not paying enough will be less than failure to file.
"Once you go down the rabbit hole with the IRS it's very hard to get out of penalties and interest. It can be timely, stressful. There are enough stresses in this world. You do not want stress with the IRS," says Baudoin.
He also added whether you already filed your return, or if you've yet to do it, don't hold your breath on that refund.
"The IRS is way behind because they were closed for an extended period of time. That money will come to you. I would give it a 60 to 90 day period to see where your refund is. You can always go to the IRS website, hit where's my refund, and they can give you that information on the status of your refund."
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