Wynne Law, PC

What To Do If You Forget to File Your Taxes

Regardless of your reasonings for not filing there is still time to set things right, file your tax return as soon as possible. There might be some problems with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), depending on your filing and how long you wait to take corrective action.

As an adult living in the United States, the “dreaded” Tax Day is something that gets ingrained into your brain pretty soon. Each year, you know you have to file your taxes by April 15th, or else there will be big consequences and complications. At least, that is the expectation. The reality is that if your day-to-day schedule is busy, then forgetting to file your taxes is really not that farfetched.

Here’s what can happen if you forget to file your taxes:

  • If you are owed tax money back: The IRS only tracks and holds onto your owed tax refund for three years. For example, if you didn’t file your taxes this year (2019 at the time of this writing), then you need to use a late tax filing before April 14th, 2022. Otherwise, the money you are owed goes back to the government and you can’t get it.
  • If you owe more tax money: What happens if you didn’t file your taxes on time and you owe money? There are two types of penalties a failure-to-file penalty and a failure-to-pay penalty.
    • Failure to File: The IRS will apply a penalty to your filing, increasing the unpaid money you owe by 5%. This increment is applied once a month for the next five months, where it caps out at a 25% increase.
    • Failure to Pay: The IRS will apply a penalty for not paying if you have not paid your taxes. This penalty is normally between ½ of 1 percent of your unpaid taxes.

Furthermore, the IRS can either try to remind you to file your taxes, or they may file them for you. But this is not a cause for celebration since the IRS is going to opt you out of deductions wherever it can, raising the taxes you owe significantly.

Get Your Taxes Under Control with My Help

Imagine owing $1,000 in taxes but then owing $1,250 because you forgot to file for a while. Or, imagine being owed $1,000 but losing it after a couple of years, all because you simply forgot to file one year’s taxes. Avoid such an unfortunate result by letting Wynne Law, P.C. of Long Island step in and lend a hand.

My name is Jennifer Ann Wynne, and I am a professional tax attorney. I have devoted my career to helping my clients get their difficult tax situations under control, and with as little stress on them as possible. From filing IRS appeals to entering tax litigation on your behalf, I am fully prepared to represent and protect your best interests through thick and thin.

Call my firm at (516) 217-6164 to get a complimentary telephone consultation to begin.