SALT LAKE CITY — The tax deadline is coming up on Wednesday. What if you run out of time to file your taxes by then? What are your options?
This tax season is one that has new complexities and new features that were passed last year as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill — including things like no taxes on tips and overtime.
But more complexity means a slowdown in the filing process for some.
“A more complicated tax system means people are spending more of their time filing their taxes,” said Adam Michel, the director of tax policy studies for the Cato Institute. “It’s less clear how the government is taking your money. It’s also treating similarly situated people differently.”
Michel says if you’ve waited this long to file, let’s hope this year’s changes don’t throw a wrench in your plan to file by this week’s deadline.
But if you do find yourself behind the 8-ball:
“The IRS does allow you to file an extension until Oct. 15. This allows you extra time to get paperwork in the door, but it doesn’t actually allow you to delay paying your taxes, so if you don’t estimate your taxes and get them in by this April deadline, then you could face additional penalties for underpayment,” said Michel. “You can still estimate and get close enough to your end tax liability and there is the IRS leeway if you don’t get it exactly right. The penalty only kicks in if you only significantly underreport your taxes due.”
Extensions are typically designed for businesses and people with more complicated tax situations, but they are available to anyone.
WATCH: Free and paid tax help sites are busy as deadline approaches
Vanessa Williamson, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, advises people to use the official IRS website for information on extensions, not a third-party.
“If you use another search engine, who knows what that first result is going to be? You don’t want to rely on it. Make sure you’re getting good information,” she said.
Williamson also reminds consumers that there are free filing options on the IRS website as well. She says while those filing options are not as robust as they once were due to cuts to the agency’s workforce, they are still available.
“It’s important to remind folks that this is the government returning your own money,” said Michel. “The government took too much of your money throughout the year and they’re returning it without interest, so this actual return should be thought of less as a gift and more as a penalty the government assessed on you because they collected too much.”
