Here at Proctor & Assocs., we provide a range of expert tax services, and we can help you deal with a variety of tax problems. For instance, if you are faced with late tax filing, our team can help guide you through this process and make sure it’s successful. In this article, we will go over a few key things you should know about the late tax filing process.
If You Know You Can’t File On Time, Apply for an Extension
The first thing you should do in cases of late tax filing is apply for a tax extension. If approved, you will get extra time to file your tax return for that year (although you won’t get extra time to pay any taxes you owe). The specific timeline of tax extensions varies from year to year, but is usually about 6 months.
What to Expect if You Don’t File for an Extension
The other main thing you need to know about late tax filing is what will happen if you don’t file for an extension. The specifics vary depending on whether you owe taxes or are due a refund. If you are getting a refund, then there is actually no penalty for not filing your federal taxes on time (but this may not be true for your state taxes, so don’t relax just yet). On the other hand, if you owe money to the IRS, you’ll face additional fines for filing late, on top of the taxes that you already owe.
