Quick Guide to Late Filing, Amended Returns, and Late Payment Penalties

In most years, April 15 is the deadline for the majority of Americans to both file their tax return and pay any taxes that are due on that return. If you don’t file on time, you potentially face one set of penalties. If you don’t pay by this date, there’s another set of penalties that applies.

Here’s the good news for individuals that are unable to pay by the normal due date: The late payment penalty isn’t nearly as stiff as the late filing penalty.

The reason for this is because the IRS is far more interested in knowing how much you owe rather than having you pay it on time. They rely heavily on people filing their tax returns in order to make the proper tax assessment (never let the IRS do your tax return for you). Knowing how much you owe them starts a well defined process, but when the IRS doesn’t know how much you owe, they can get pretty grumpy about it.

Of course, the more you pay with your tax return or extension, the lower your penalty and interest charges are going to be in the long run. This is because all of your penalties and interest are a percentage of the unpaid balance due after April 15th.

The penalty for not filing a tax return is typically 5% per month or part of a month. One day is considered “part of a month”. This penalty caps out at 25% of the unpaid balance. Do note that if you properly file an extension, and pay the balance with the extension, then there is no penalty. The extension form essentially gives the IRS the same bottom line “amount due” number that they are looking for, just without the math showing how you came up with it. With your extension, you must pay at least 90% of the balance due on the final return in order to avoid penalties.

As already mentioned, the penalty for not paying is far less than the penalty for not filing. This amount is one half of one percent per month (or part of a month).

If you are subject to both the non-filing and non-payment penalty in the same month, the combination of the two penalties together is capped at 5%. If you file your return more than 60 days after the April 15th deadline (or after the extension deadline), then the minimum … Continue reading

Webinar Schedule for week of April 13-17, 2020

The past three weeks feels like a blur, it just vaporized. Do you feel the same way?

After the flurry of legislation, procedures, memos, bulletins, and more, this coming week should be a little quieter on the regulatory front. But we all still have a lot of work to do in order to ensure our clients are obtaining the loan funds, stimulus checks, and protection from future IRS enforcement that they need. In that vein, we have a series of support webinars for you this week to help your clients.

PPP & EIDL FAQs. April 13, 10am PDT (1pm EDT). Last week, we presented three webinars on the PPP program, and the week prior three on the EIDL program. This week, Dan and I delve into the most Frequently Asked Questions about these programs. Join us for this 2-hour CPE webinar on Monday. 50% of your registration fee will be donated to the Central Brevard Sharing Center, the food bank near Dan’s office. Click here to register.

Pre-Resolution Case Action You Should Take During IRS Collection Suspension Period. April 14, 10am PDT (1pm EDT). Long name, amazingly awesome CPE! Seriously, this is going to be the most amazing CPE class of the year. We’re going to discuss the current suspension of IRS Collection activity, what that means for your existing clients, and how to take advantage of this gift of time. Time to get your client “fixed”. Time to get them current and compliant. Time to do all the things necessary to get them on the path for success. What are those things? Register here to find out. 1 CE/CPE hour for both EAs and CPAs.

The Top 3 Tax Resolution Marketing Strategies. April 15, 10am PDT / 1pm EDT. Another magical benefit of the Collection suspension period…another gift from the government due to the extension of filing season…one positive aspect of being forced to work from the seclusion of your basement at 2am… The opportunity to finally focus in on your lead generation marketing. Revised and updated with important details for marketing in the current economic crisis, this complimentary webinar (no CPE) will show you how to utilize the “time bonus” you’ve been given to most effectively generate new tax resolution clients. This class, much like a good cheese and wine combination, pairs well with the the Tuesday pre-resolution actions class. Click here to get yo’ marketing … Continue reading

5 Reasons to Hire a Professional Tax Firm to Represent You In Front of the IRS Collection Division

Over the years, there have occasionally been bursts of media attention placed on the “tax debt relief”. In past years, the FTC has taken down companies such as American Tax Relief, the California Attorney General came down hard on Roni Deutch, and the Texas Attorney General won a massive civil judgment against Tax Masters. In the wake of such regulatory actions, the American consumer is likely left with the impression that all tax attorneys and tax resolution firms are just as bad as used car salesman.

While it’s true that these companies, and numerous others, have created a bad name for the tax resolution industry as a whole, the fact of the matter is that these companies are the exception, not the rule. There are dozens of companies with horrible BBB records and numerous reports on Ripoff Report and other web sites. However, for every one of those bad apples, there are dozens of reputable, hard working firms that are just as big as the con artists, and for every one of those firms there are literally hundreds of independent practitioners out there, including tax attorneys, IRS licensed Enrolled Agents, and state licensed Certified Public Accountants. Any of these licensed professionals are allowed to represent  taxpayers in front of the IRS.

The FTC recently posted a consumer alert telling people to handle their IRS disputes themselves. As an Enrolled Agent myself, I’m obviously biased in opposition to the FTC’s statement, but there is also a logical side to it. Look at it this way: You have one Federal agency telling you NOT to exercise your right to representation in front of another Federal agency.

Here are five reasons you should use professional representation to resolve your IRS tax debt:

  1. First and foremost, you should hire professional representation when dealing with the IRS for the exact same reason that you would hire an attorney if you got a DUI: The professional knows the laws, knows how the system works, and deals with it every single day, you don’t. It’s the same reason you call a plumber when the pipes burst, or the fire department when the house catches fire. These professionals are experts at what they do, in the same way that you are an expert at what you do.
  2. In the same way that attorneys talk to attorneys on a slightly different level than the rest of us do, IRS collections agents, auditors, and other
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