Don’t worry! The IRS won’t be knocking at your door. Hopefully you filed an extension (federal form 4868) but, if you didn’t, don’t fret! Here are the steps to take if you didn’t file your extension by 4/15/14 @12 midnight:
1) prepare a draft of your tax return using the big #’s (your w-2, home mortgage information, etc.) right away and IF you owe any money, get that sent into the government along with form 4868 right away.
2) starting collecting the details and get those into the return to try and get your payment down. This would include medical receipts, donation receipts, sales tax you paid on BIG items (tv’s, cars, boats, etc.), business expenses for your job or small business that were not reimbursed / paid for by your company).
3) GET YOUR TAX RETURN COMPLETE! Many people have turned to box software (turbotax for example) to get your tax return done. As a CPA I completely understand that this may be an option for many. A word of warning, in my opinion if you have anything more than a W-2 and a home mortgage the box software is not going to ask you all the questions to get your bill down as low as it can be. Other things I have seen with box software is that it asks you a question that it means in one way and you interpret in another! This can be dangerous! I would highly recommend that you have a professional review what you have done before you submit it to the government – you certainly don’t want any issues or audit flags!
OK, now, stop reading this blog and get to work!! 😛
