Today Is the Last Day to File Your Taxes. Here Is What You Need to Know

When it comes to people who don’t file taxes by the annual deadline, there’s a lot of them.

“It happens more often than you would think,” said Marcus de Vito, a partner and wealth manager at Wooster Square Advisors.

He says skipping taxes could lead to more financial stress. The penalties start off 0.5% of what you owe and it compounds each month from there.

Plus, he says, there are more penalties down the road including liens and even passport restrictions.

“Well, if you try to leave the country and you have a balance due they can put liens against your passport," de Vito said.

But he says the government wants to work with people, so if you miss the deadline you should find a tax professional as soon as possible, and review the four repayment plans available with the IRS.

“Better for them to collect something rather than nothing,” de Vito said.

The deadline is midnight to file taxes or send in an extension request. And if you want help in person, there are a few IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance clinics open. The program helps middle and low-income earners around the country file taxes for free.

“It’s a really satisfying experience because in one hour you can do someone’s taxes, help them complete a life task, and get them money back into their pockets that they need,” Caroline Beit, co-president of the VITA clinic at the New Haven Free Public Library, said.

She says there’s usually a rush at the beginning of the tax season then a slow period in the middle, and a rush again at the end.

Most days she says they do about 30 returns in four hours. The number nearly doubles on the last few days before the deadline.

“Last year they had about 100 people come in eight hours and yesterday, in four and a half to five hours, we had 82 people,” she said.

She’s volunteered with VITA for seven years, helping people like Bill Daigle who said he needed help after returning to work from an injury last year.

“The tax code has gotten so complicated that it’s almost impossible for the average person to figure out what you owe and what you’re due,” Daigle said, who was happy he got it all done in about an hour.

“Everything went much quicker than I expected, given the number of people that were here. There were 30 people in line by 12 o’clock when they opened.”

Quinnipiac University Law Professor Sara Spodick says people who file close to the deadline tend to be intimidated by the process. Her best suggestion is to file electronically with online programs that have guides to help you file your returns.

“You can still file a paper return, you can still go to the post office and have it postmarked and get proof of that postage,” Spodick said. “But the problem is that currently, the Internal Revenue Service is expecting very long delays on paper returns. At best, if you were to file a paper return, you should expect four weeks or up to six months for your refund.”

And if you file an extension, you still will have to pay what you think you may owe.

“Even if you know that you're going to owe, we still recommend that taxpayers get in these returns because the IRS has a hefty failure to file penalty on it.”