Georgia Follows Feds In Tax Day Extension

GEORGIA — Many taxpayers who tried to submit their returns online Tuesday encountered problems due to an outage that struck the website of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). As a result, people have an extra day to file their taxes.

The new tax deadline for 2018 is midnight at the end of Wednesday, April 18. People do not have to do anything to qualify for the April 18 deadline.

Georgia's revenue department said that it was following suit and extending the deadline for state taxes.

“We understand that this issue has affected many taxpayers,” Georgia Department of Revenue Commissioner Lynne Riley said in a statement. “The Department of Revenue seeks to ensure every taxpayer has the opportunity to file timely, so the department has decided to follow the IRS and extend the state tax filing deadline.”

Taxpayers who need more time beyond April 18 can file for an extension until Oct. 15; taxes owed are still due in April.

Authorities around the state and across the nation have encouraged taxpayers to be vigilant about their personal information online and over the phone.

The threat of tax fraud, specifically an ongoing email phishing scam, has prompted the Georgia Department of Revenue to upgrade its fraud management system, which blocked over $212 million in fraudulently filed refund requests from being released in 2017, according to a news release.

Here are some tips from Georgia's Attorney General to keep your data protected:

• Do not communicate electronically with the IRS. The IRS does not send emails stating you are being electronically audited or that you are getting a refund. If you receive a scam email claiming to be from the IRS, forward it to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.
• Use passwords that are not easy to guess. While preparing your tax return for electronic filing, use a strong password to protect your data. Once you filed the return, save the info to a CD or flash drive and then delete the personal return information from your hard drive; put the external drive with your data on it in a secure place, like a safe. If working with an accountant, ask what measures they take to protect your information.
• Call the IRS if you think you may have been a victim of identity theft. People concerned they may have been victims of tax fraud or identity theft may contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 800-908-4490 from Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can also report it to the Federal Trade Commission online.

Image via Shutterstock.

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