Income Tax Filing Penalties You Need to Know
Ready or not Tax Day is tomorrow! If you have not filed your income tax return yet, you might be staring down the barrel of hefty IRS penalties. To encourage you to file an IRS extension here are the income tax filing penalties you need to know before its too late.
Income Tax Filing Penalties You Need to Know
If you owe money to the IRS, you might believe not filing a tax return is the best option. Unfortunately, this is the worst thing you could do. The IRS penalty for failing to file your income tax form is significantly higher than the penalty for not paying your taxes owed.
When Do Tax Return Penalties Apply?
If you owe taxes to the IRS and do not file your tax return or file an extension by tomorrow’s Tax Day deadline you will incur penalties and interest. This amount will be based on the total tax amount you owe to the IRS.
However, penalties and interest typically do not apply when you are expecting a tax refund and fail to file a tax return.
Income Tax Filing Penalties
- Late Tax Payment:
- 0.5% per month of the total tax unpaid tax. (Penalty maximum 25%)
- Late Tax Filing:
- 5% of the taxes owed each month your return is late (Penalty maximum 25%)
- Minimum penalty amount after 90 days is the smaller of $100 or 100 percent of your owed tax amount.
- Combination Penalties:
- The failure-to-file penalty minus the failure-to-pay penalty.
- Minimum penalty amount after 90 days is the smaller of $130 or 100% of the unpaid tax.
Need More Time to File Your Income Tax Return?
If you need more time to file your tax return, you can receive a six-month extension of time to file with IRS Form 4868. The 1040 extension form officially titled the Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. If you need to file IRS extension Form 4868, you will need to e-file by midnight tomorrow. If you submit before midnight on the Tax Day deadline (tomorrow), you will automatically be approved for an additional six months to file your tax return without incurring IRS penalties.
How Can I File My 1040 Extension Online?
You can file tax extension Form 4868 quickly and easily here at ExpressExtension. Our step-by-step interview-style process is equipped with built-in audits to ensure error-free filing. When you file your tax extension online. You will receive a confirmation email notifying you that your IRS extension was accepted.
