With this year’s Tax Day coming up fast, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is urging American taxpayers to “act now” to file their individual tax returns, pay what they owe on their tax returns, or request an extension—before it is too late.
Newsweek contacted the IRS for comment by email on Wednesday morning.
Why It Matters
At the beginning of this year’s tax season, the IRS said it expected more than 140 million individual tax returns for tax year 2024 to be filed ahead of the federal deadline of April 15.
As of last week, according to IRS numbers obtained by CNN, the agency had received nearly 1 million fewer tax returns than during that same period last year. While this decline is not unusual, it comes amid concerns over drops in revenue collection as a result of Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) staffing and funding cuts to the IRS.
What To Know
While Tax Day is only a few days away, the IRS said there is still time for taxpayers to file their tax returns electronically and request direct deposit of any refund.
Filing electronically is usually the fastest way for taxpayers to receive their refunds, as the system flags common errors that taxpayers may otherwise not notice.
Eligible taxpayers in 25 states can file their 2024 federal tax returns online for free through the IRS Direct File. Those with an adjusted gross income of $84,000 or less in 2024 can use the IRS Free File guided tax software from now to October 15, while the IRS Free File Fillable forms are available at no cost to all taxpayers no matter their income.
Taxpayers who file their tax returns electronically and choose to receive their returns via direct deposit usually receive their refund within 21 days.
What If You Can’t Make The Deadline?
Taxpayers who for whatever reason are unable to file their tax returns for fiscal year 2024 by April 15 can apply for a tax-filing extension in the following ways:
- through IRS Free File by filing a Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return;
- making an electronic payment using Direct Pay, debit card, credit card or digital wallet and indicate the payment is for an extension.
- mailing a Form 4868 by Tax Day.
Requests have to be sent by the tax deadline date. While they provide an extension for tax-filing, they do not give an extension of time to pay the taxes due.
What If You Can’t Pay Any Balance Due?
Taxpayers who have a balance due should pay what they owe by April 15. If they cannot, they should pay what they can now and apply for an online payment plan, the IRS suggests.
It is better to apply online, as taxpayers would then know immediately if their payment plan is approved or not, without needing to call or write to the IRS, which is likely to suffer from recent staffing cuts.
Payment plans can be short-term, if the amount owed is less than $100,000 in combined tax, penalties and interest, or long-term, if it is less than $50,000. In the first case, taxpayers can be given up to 180 extra days to pay the balance in full; in the second case, taxpayers may be able to pay in monthly payments for up to the collection statute, usually ten years.
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