With the tax deadline of April 15 just hours away, you can still file your paperwork while avoiding some costly penalties. According to the IRS, the penalty for filing federal taxes late — if you owe money — is usually 5% of the unpaid taxes for each month, or part of a month, a return is late, capped at 25% of the total unpaid tax.
The state of Wisconsin adds a $50 late-filing fee and charges interest of 1.5% per month (18% per year) if you are tardy with your paperwork. If you still need to file, you do have some options.
If you are filing online, you can go right up until the last possible moment if you are confident there are no errors. If your return is rejected, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue gives you five days to correct errors and resubmit it.
It is trickier if you planned on mailing your return. A change in U.S. Postal Service policy means mail is postmarked only after delivery to a processing facility, which means it may not be stamped until days after you dropped it in a mailbox. For some USPS customers, that means the deadline to file was nearly a week ago.
According to the Taxpayer Advocate Service, you can still meet the deadline if you use certified mail or take your return to the county and request a free postage validation imprint. April 15 is also the deadline to request an automatic extension, which would give you until October to complete your filing.
According to financial company IPX1031, approximately 22% of Americans wait until the last minute to file their taxes, citing the process’s complexity, lack of awareness and the expectation of no refund as reasons for delaying.
You can find more resources for your tax filing below:
