Source: CVDaily Feed
$inline_image}
SALT LAKE CITY – It’s just days now until the income tax filing deadline on April 15.
For those who haven’t yet filed returns in Utah, IRS spokesman Luis Garcia says for most people, it’s a simple process and forms can be e-filed online.
For those who owe money, but don’t have it, Garcia says the IRS offers payment options to help them meet their federal tax obligations.
“We can adjust for what you can pay and what is, for the foreseeable future, assumed to be your income,” he explains. “A lot of people think it’s the end of the world, or all sorts of bad things are going to happen, and that’s not the case at all.”
Taxpayers will avoid penalties by either filing by April 15 or requesting a tax-filing extension and paying an estimate of what is owed, if any.
Garcia points out that an extension means an extension to file, not an extension to pay.
He adds that those who are unable to file and think they will owe should go ahead and make an estimated tax payment by April 15.
“If you were self-employed, or a person whose taxes are a little bit different than the standard W-2 and your income, your deductions, and everything have pretty much been the same since last year, you would want to pay that same amount as last year – maybe pad it a little bit,” he advises.
This time of year also brings out the mail and phone scams aimed at taxpayers.
Garcia says the scammers claim they are from the IRS, telling people they are behind on their taxes and demanding payment.
And while the caller ID may even say IRS, that isn’t the case.
“In most cases, you are going to have several letters from the IRS before you receive a phone call,” he relates. “It’s very rare that you will get a call out of the blue from the IRS and we will certainly not use threatening language, and we will not ask for immediate payment on a credit card or wire transfer.”
More tax-filing information is online at irs.gov.