April 15 has come and gone. But if you have not sent in your taxes, do not fret; there is still time to file.
There is a cost, however, for procrastinating.
If taxpayers did not file their taxes by midnight on April 15 or had not applied for an extension, they must pay a penalty cost as well as interest on the money they owe Uncle Sam.
“Even if you file for an extension you still must pay by April 15,” said Craig Langstraat, tax professor at The U of M. “Anyone who doesn’t file an extension should file as soon as possible, but they will still incur a penalty payment plus interest.”
Late filers have several options for their method of payment. They can pay through an electronic fund withdrawal from their checking or savings account, charge the cost to a credit card or simply write a check and mail it in with the late forms.
“There really is no excuse for filing late now. With the number of workshops and professional tax return places, it is much easier to file correctly and on time,” said U of M business professor, Ken Lambert.
The penalty fee for late payments is 5 percent monthly of the balance of the amount the taxpayer owes the federal government.
On top of the penalty cost, procrastinating filers will be required to pay a 6 percent interest fee on the amount of money they still owe.
This year, the IRS has sent out 79,735,000 tax receipts . As of April 5, 2002, only 10 days before the payment deadline, the IRS had received 72,304,000 of those— which means that over 7 million people filed just one week before deadline or have yet to file their taxes at all, according to IRS.gov.
Fewer and fewer people are filing their returns over the phone each year. About 3,616,000 filed by phone this year, which is down 6 percent from last year.
On the rise, however, is e-filing, which accounts for 39,158,000 of the total receipts so far this year. The nearly 40 million receipts are up 14.4 percent from last year.
Mailing in tax returns is becoming less and less popular each year as technology advances, and this year the “snail mail” method has accounted for only 33,146,000 of the tax returns received as of April 5.
“The main thing for students who failed to file for taxes on time is to get in touch with one of th IRS help centers if they are unsure of how to file and then file as soon as possible,” Lambert said.
