Tax day is just over two weeks away. If you haven’t filed your return for 2024, it’s time to get started.
While it has been a fraught time at the Internal Revenue Service, with the Trump administration weighing huge staff cuts and the agency’s head resigning on the eve of tax season, tax returns are still due.
Tax professionals report that so far, the agency appears to be functioning fairly well, with returns being processed and refunds being sent. “I’m not hearing anything about delays,” said Susie DiMaggio, board secretary of the National Association of Enrolled Agents, a group for federally licensed tax professionals.
The number of returns filed, however, is down about 1.2 million, or 1.7 percent, from the same period last year, according to agency statistics as of March 14.
Ms. DiMaggio said some clients had asked if they should wait to file, citing President Trump’s musings about doing away with income taxes. Such a plan is improbable, she said. “People should file, no matter what President Trump is saying.”
So for those who have yet to file, here are some last-minute tips to consider.
When is the tax deadline this year?
The federal filing deadline is April 15, but there are some exceptions. For example, if you were a victim of a recent natural disaster, such as wildfires in parts of California or severe storms in Kentucky and West Virginia, you have an automatic extension until later this year. Check the Internal Revenue Service website for details.
Most states follow the federal filing schedule, but a few have later deadlines.
What if I didn’t receive a W-2 form?
If you’re missing a W-2 form — a wage statement that your employer sends to both you and the I.R.S. showing what you earned and what was withheld in taxes — you should contact the employer right away to ask about it, Ms. DiMaggio said.
Many employers make W-2 forms available online, instead of mailing them, so you might simply need to log on to a special portal to retrieve it, noted Tom O’Saben, director of tax content and government relations at the National Association of Tax Professionals.
The I.R.S. says that if you haven’t received a W-2 by now, you should call the agency (have your dates of employment handy), which will contact the employer and request that it send you one. If you don’t receive it in time to file your taxes, you can use your final 2024 pay stubs to complete Form 4852 as a substitute and submit it with your return.
Are there still options to lower my 2024 taxable income?
If you qualify, you can make tax-deductible contributions to an individual retirement account or a health savings account by the April 15 tax deadline and have them apply to tax year 2024, said Eva Simpson, vice president of member value, tax and advisory services with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
You can contribute up to $7,000 to a traditional I.R.A. for 2024 and an extra $1,000 if you’re 50 or older, the I.R.S. says. The size of your deduction depends on several factors, such as your filing status and whether you or your spouse, if you are married, is covered by a retirement plan at work.
Contributions to H.S.A.s are also tax-deductible, if you have a specific type of health insurance plan with a high deductible. If you’re eligible, you can contribute up to $4,150 (including any employer contributions) for 2024 if you have individual coverage, plus an extra $1,000 if you’re 55 or older, by the filing deadline.
Is there a tax break for college savings accounts?
There’s no federal tax deduction for contributing to 529 college savings plans, but some states offer deductions or credits on your state taxes. Most of them require the contributions to be made by the end of the calendar year to qualify, but eight (Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin) let you make contributions up until the tax deadline and get a tax break for the prior year, according to the website Saving for College.
What if I’m not ready to file my tax return?
You can get an extension until Oct. 15 by filing Form 4868 by the April deadline.
But note: An extension gives you more time to file, but it doesn’t give you extra time to pay if you owe tax, Ms. DiMaggio said. You should estimate what you owe and send a payment with your extension form. Otherwise, you may face penalties on the balance due for paying late — 0.5 percent of the tax owed for each month the bill remains unpaid, up to a total of 25 percent. That can add up. If you owed $10,000, your penalty would be $50 a month, until the total reached $2,500.
If you make a payment toward your tax bill via the I.R.S. website, you can click a box that marks it as a payment for an extension, and a form will automatically be filed for you, she said.
Even if you can’t pay all that you owe, you should file and pay what you can because the I.R.S. needs to receive your return before helping you with a possible payment plan, Mr. O’Saben said. “You need to file the return so they have something to react to,” he said. You can even include Form 9465 with your return, requesting an installment plan and suggesting a monthly payment amount. If your suggested amount will pay off the debt within five to seven years, he said, there’s a good chance the agency will approve it.
If you’re expecting money back but are pressed for time because of personal circumstances — say, an unexpected health issue — there’s no need to panic and rush to file a return by the deadline, Mr. O’Saben said. That’s because in general, if you don’t owe tax, no penalties apply, he said. But file when you can to claim your refund.
What if I was owed a refund for 2021 but still haven’t filed a tax return for that year?
If you were owed a refund on your 2021 return, which was supposed to be filed in April 2022, time is running out for you to file and claim the money. The I.R.S. generally gives filers three years from the original filing date to submit their returns and receive refunds. So you have until April 15 of this year to file. If you miss the deadline, the Treasury Department keeps the money.
More than a million people have unclaimed refunds for 2021, the I.R.S. says. (That year and the next one fell during the Covid pandemic, when people may have been focused on things other than their taxes.) The typical amount is estimated at $781, but it is more than $900 in some states (Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island).
In addition, some people may be due even larger refunds because several tax benefits, like the child tax credit and the earned-income tax credit, were increased that year because of the pandemic. So 2021 may be a particularly costly year to leave money on the table.
Are there free options for filing my tax return?
The I.R.S. offers several options. If you live in one of 25 participating states and meet certain criteria, you can use the Direct File program to file your taxes online directly with the I.R.S.
Taxpayers in any state who had income of $84,000 or less are eligible to file free electronic returns through the separate Free File program, a partnership between the I.R.S. and several do-it-yourself tax software companies. The I.R.S. also offers free online forms that filers can use, regardless of income, to file federal returns.
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