I Missed the Tax Deadline. Now What?

Maybe that lost weekend in Cabo extended well beyond tax day. Maybe the dread of actually finding your W-2 and entering it into some tax software left you mentally paralyzed. Or maybe you just blew the whole thing off and got high.

We're not here to judge. Whatever the reason you missed the tax deadline this year, don’t panic. IRS agents won’t show up to take you away—at least not just yet. You still have options.

If the IRS owes you money, you won’t be penalized, but should claim your cash soon. Why? Because while people who filed on time get their refund in three weeks on average, late filers have to wait a full six weeks before they can kiss that refund check hello. Wait too long and you'll never get the money Uncle Sam owes you: You forfeit your refund if you file more than three years late.

And chances are you're owed a refund. In 2017, the average refund was $2895, and a whopping 111,000 people got one. Don't think you made enough dough last year to bother filing? “It is still in your best interest to file,” Lisa Greene-Lewis, a certified public accountant and tax expert at TurboTax advised. “The IRS reports they had about $1 billion in unclaimed refunds last year.”

If you owe the IRS money, however, you’ll be in an entirely different situation. First there's a fee of 5% of the tax owed for each month that you put off doing the paperwork. It's called the "failure to file" penalty, and the only upside is that it's capped at 25%.

The second fine is for late payment. That's right. There are separate penalties for not doing the paperwork and for not paying. Sneaky. The late payment penalty is one-half of 1% of unpaid taxes.

It gets worse. In addition to the late filing and late payment fines, you’ll also have to pay 3% interest on any unpaid taxes from the due date of the return until the amount is paid in full. Kill me now.

So how do you file a late tax return? The same way you file a regular return. Just log onto your favorite free or paid tax program and get started. It really is that simple. Some options include IRS Free File if you made less than $66,000, Tax Act with a 1040EZ or Credit Karma Tax.

One silver lining to filing late is that you can still submit your return electronically until November, according to the IRS. Otherwise, you’ll have to mail paper returns.

Finally, if you receive a call or email from someone claiming to be from the IRS demanding money (or threatening to arrest you), don’t respond. “The IRS will never call or send email,” Greene-Lewis advised. “They will send a letter so don’t answer to anything by phone.”

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