IRS Penalty for Late Filing 2011, 2012

If you have ever filed a tax return before, you're probably fairly familiar with the deadline by which you are required to file, lest you incur the IRS penalty for late filing. The federal income tax return deadline for 2011 will be April 17, 2012.

Penalties

The IRS penalty for filing late on your federal income tax return is up to 5% of each month that you’re late. If you’re smart, you will file for an extension which will give you more time to complete your income tax return and prevent late filing penalties.

Extra Time

If you know you will not have your federal income tax return prepared by April 18 and you know you need more time, file for an extension, and you will have an extra six months to complete your tax return. Your new filing deadline will be October 15, 2012. Now here’s the bad news.

If you know you owe the government money, you are still going to have to pay your taxes and include your payment with Form 4868 for the extension. If you do everything stated above then, you will be allowed the extension.

What if I Forgot to File an Extension?

Well, that all depends on if you owe money or if you’re getting money back. If you happen to be expecting a refund, you will not be hit with a penalty for filing your income tax return late. It doesn’t matter if you filed for an extension or not. Remember, the penalty for filing a late tax return is a percentage of what is owed to the IRS. If you don’t owe anything then, even 100% of nothing is nothing. Of course it’s always better to file on time for a lot of reasons.

Late Filing, Late Payment Penalty

Even if you don’t have the money you owe the IRS, you should still file by April 17. In this case, you will be made to pay a late payment fee and not a late filing fee. This will save you some money. The two fees are different. The late filing penalty is a percent of what is owed.

Questions, Questions

You may still have a lot of questions, for example, “What if I don’t have the money to pay?” Can I pay with my credit card? If so, then visit the following
link, late tax filing to learn more about your options in regards to filing your taxes late.