How to Avoid April 15 Mistakes / Problems
From Andrew Stadler, EA
Don’t Procrastinate any longer!! Resist the temptation to put off your taxes until literally the very last minute. Your haste to meet the filing deadline generally causes you to overlook tax credit and deductions.
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If you Owe don’t Panic! If you can’t immediately pay the taxes you owe, consider some stress-reducing alternatives.
> Loan from a local lender
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> Pay with credit or debit card.
> Short term (less than 120 days) payment arrangement with IRS
> Long term Installment agreement with IRS.
Request an Extension of Time to File – But Pay on Time If the clock runs out, you can get an automatic six month extension of time to file to October 15. However, this extension of time to file does not give you more time to pay any taxes due. You will owe interest on any amount not paid by the April 15 deadline, plus a late payment penalty. You must file Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income.
Possible Tax Penalties that you will have to pay if you don’t file extension and/or pay by 15 April
1. If you do not file by the deadline, you will have a failure-to-file penalty.
2. If you do not pay by the due date, you will have a failure-to-pay penalty.
3. Penalty for filing late can be as high as 25 percent.
Frustrated because you Owe? Want to reduce the Stress of “Tax Time” Get your situation corrected by hiring a licensed tax advisor, a trusted tax advisor, an American Tax Expert an Enrolled Agent to review your tax documents and to advise you on tax strategies.
Receive a Letter from IRS? Per our own internal IRS letter reviews over 60% of IRS letter stating you owe are not accurate. If you would happen to owe it could be considerably less or nothing at all. Always have America Tax Experts / Enrolled Agent review those letters.
Turbo Tax allowed me to take that deduction or that tax credit: Turbo tax is computer software so unless you spend many hours reading tax law you should not trust a tax software program. The software is not responsible for mistakes/errors in allowing deductions or tax credits on your tax return; You are Responsible, you will pay the Penalty, Interest and Tax. The IRS will come after you.
Be sure to hire a licensed tax professional, an Enrolled Agent, America’s Tax Expert who specializes in Individual and small business taxes.
Check the preparer’s qualifications -- Make sure your preparer is qualified. The states of IN and IL do not required Tax Preparers to be Licensed, and per IRS, over
60% of tax preparers do not have any license credentials. There are two types of licensing – CPA, licensed by the state board of accountancy, and Enrolled Agents, licensed by US Dept. of Treasury.
Check the preparer’s history -- Check your preparer’s history by conducting your own research through various sources: Enrolled Agentwww.inea.biz or CPA society www.incpas.org.
