What to know if you’re filing taxes last minute

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Nearly a quarter of Americans wait until the last minute to file their taxes.

Tuesday, April 18 is the deadline to file federal taxes or file for an extension. There are many ways to file, but if you’re a taxpayer who makes an adjusted gross income of $73,000 a year or less, you will qualify to use the governments latest system, IRS Free File.

Go to irs.gov, search for “Free File” to get free recommendations for 11 tax preparation partners to use.

If you file past the deadline, you could face penalties and lose money when you do finally file taxes. Technically, you have three years to file for a tax return.

“The IRS is sitting on $1.5 billion on people’s tax refunds from 2019; you have until July 17th to file,” said Vicky Nguyen, the NBC senior consumer investigative correspondent.

Filing for an extension follows the same deadline - April 18. Once filed, the extension gives the taxpayer six months to get those documents in to the IRS before penalties occur. Although, filing for an extension doesn’t extend the due date of any payments.

“You get this extension to fill out the paperwork, not to pay what is due, so make sure you know,” said Nguyen.

Don’t forget to add important changes when filing your tax returns, like getting married, having a child or taking care of a loved one.

“If there are life changes, you want to make sure that’s reflected in your tax statements,” said Nguyen.

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