If You Didn’t File Your Taxes or Request an Extension by the Deadline, Here’s What You Can Do

If you owe taxes and was not able to file your tax return on time or request an extension by the April 18 deadline, you may face interest on any unpaid federal taxes you owe and a failure-to-file penalty, according to the IRS.

The IRS will deny a request for an extension that is filed after midnight on April 18. However, you should still file your tax return, even if it’s late.

The failure-to-file penalty is five percent per month, or part of a month, of the balance due, up to a maximum of 25 percent. If the tax return is more than 60 days late, the minimum penalty is $135 or the balance due, whichever is less.

Interest and penalties add to the total amount you owe. The sooner you file, even if you can’t pay all or some of the taxes due, the less you will owe.

However, taxpayers can still file electronically until October 17, 2011 and most can file for free through the IRS Free File program available on www.irs.gov.

And according to IRS Spokesperson Dianne Besunder, as long as you file sooner rather than later, there’s a chance you may not be penalized at all:

"Taxpayers who file late and are due a refund will generally not be charged a penalty, as the penalties are based on the amount owed,” said Besunder. “However, they should still file as soon as possible, in case they they’ve made a mistake in their calculations or due to an audit or an item of forgotten income which later causes a balance due."