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| Cheris Carpenter pores over tax forms at the Columbia County Public Library Main Branch in Lake City on Monday afternoon. The income tax filing deadline for all Americans is midnight tonight. JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter |
Procrastinators have until midnight to file
By MICHAEL MITSEFF
mmitseff@lakecityreporter.com
Today is the day that tax preparers’ offices throughout the country are filled with anxious last-minute tax filers as they race to beat the midnight tax filing deadline.
Whether filing electronically or mailing your return, midnight April 15 is still the cut-off time to avoid paying a fine for late filing of your tax return.
“We’ll be closing at 5 p.m.,” said Postmaster Steve Lee, Lake City branch of the United States Postal Service.
Lee said that all mail dropped in the outside mailbox before 5:15 p.m. today will go out today but if you are trying to make the midnight tax deadline postmark, mail it as soon as possible.
“As long as they drop it in the box before midnight, it will be postmarked April 15,” Lee said.
But what if you still aren’t ready to file?
“If you can’t make the April 15 deadline, file an extension,” Barry Fitterman of Accredited Accounting and Tax Services said.
“An extension extends the due date of your tax return to Oct. 15, but it does not extend payment of owed taxes,” Fitterman said.
“You must mail your tax payment along with your filed extension, which must be filed no later than midnight tonight to avoid penalties.
“The benefit to an extension is that it allows the taxpayer more time to find more deductions to get more money back or to pay less tax,” Fitterman said.
The Internal Revenue Services reminds taxpayers that if your return is completed, but you are unable to pay the tax due, do not request an extension.
File your return on time and pay as much as you can. The IRS will send you a bill or notice for the balance due and will charge interest and penalties only on the unpaid balance.
If a taxpayer has most, but not all of the taxes owed, it’s always better to send what you have.
The IRS will collect interest on any amounts not paid by the April deadline, and a penalty will be charged for late payment unless at least 90 percent of the tax liability is paid by the tax returns due date.
“Between people coming in and calling on the phone with last minute returns that need to be filed, we are swamped,” Ada Orme, assistant manager of H & R Block said.
Her advice for those who have yet to file?
“Don’t wait until the last minute,” she laughed.
“We close at 8 p.m.. Anyone still in the lobby when the doors are locked will be served.”
Whether filing electronically or mailing your return, midnight April 15 is still the cut-off time to avoid paying a fine for late filing of your tax return.
“We’ll be closing at 5 p.m.,” said Postmaster Steve Lee, Lake City branch of the United States Postal Service.
Lee said that all mail dropped in the outside mailbox before 5:15 p.m. today will go out today but if you are trying to make the midnight tax deadline postmark, mail it as soon as possible.
“As long as they drop it in the box before midnight, it will be postmarked April 15,” Lee said.
But what if you still aren’t ready to file?
“If you can’t make the April 15 deadline, file an extension,” Barry Fitterman of Accredited Accounting and Tax Services said.
“An extension extends the due date of your tax return to Oct. 15, but it does not extend payment of owed taxes,” Fitterman said.
“You must mail your tax payment along with your filed extension, which must be filed no later than midnight tonight to avoid penalties.
“The benefit to an extension is that it allows the taxpayer more time to find more deductions to get more money back or to pay less tax,” Fitterman said.
The Internal Revenue Services reminds taxpayers that if your return is completed, but you are unable to pay the tax due, do not request an extension.
File your return on time and pay as much as you can. The IRS will send you a bill or notice for the balance due and will charge interest and penalties only on the unpaid balance.
If a taxpayer has most, but not all of the taxes owed, it’s always better to send what you have.
The IRS will collect interest on any amounts not paid by the April deadline, and a penalty will be charged for late payment unless at least 90 percent of the tax liability is paid by the tax returns due date.
“Between people coming in and calling on the phone with last minute returns that need to be filed, we are swamped,” Ada Orme, assistant manager of H & R Block said.
Her advice for those who have yet to file?
“Don’t wait until the last minute,” she laughed.
“We close at 8 p.m.. Anyone still in the lobby when the doors are locked will be served.”
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