OK.  The pandemic has changed our lives.  Especially when it comes to the IRS.

First of all,  the pandemic put a hold on IRS’ imposing penalties, fines, liens, and the collection of payments. But, on the 16th of July, all those restrictions disappear.

If the pandemic has caused you to lose your job or take a cut in pay- and you had a payment plan with the IRS that was suspended until the 15th of July,  you should notify the IRS right away and adjust your payment schedule. IMMEDIATELY, log onto the IRS site and adjust your plan.  You may have to call the IRS if your desired change is outside their guidelines, but do it ASAP.

And, by this coming Wednesday- the ides of July- and not the ides of April as is the normal deadline- all our tax filings come due.

(Just so you know.  We are STILL available to get your taxes filed by the deadline.  Get on the phone to us and upload your documents to our secure site. We’ll make sure you will be paying the lowest amount of taxes required by law, as well.)

Of course, this deadline will still be a little different.  When I started computing taxes (believe it or not, that was  more than 4 dozen years ago!), the US Post Office (the predecessor of the US Postal Service) stayed open until midnight on Tax Day.  With postmen (they were almost all male) standing in the middle of the street by the post office, with their big bags collecting stamped envelopes from the drivers (taxpayers) desperate to obtain that coveted deadline postmark, thereby avoiding any penalties or interest.  Now, most post offices are closed by 5, and mail pickup is no later than 5:30. But, you can still electronically file until 12 AM on 16 July (local time).  (Hmm. Now you know why we have an office on the West Coast...)

Thankfully, that picture above is not the way our taxes are handled. Even if you think they are.

Along that note, what happens if you don’t have enough money to pay the taxman?  There are some easy (but costly) ways to deal with this. In increasing cost to you:

• You can pay your taxes by credit card.  That adds about 2% to the amount you owe.
• If you owe the IRS $ 50K or less, you can automatically (this is statutory- as long as you owe less than 50K in taxes, fines, and interest, approval is automatic!) invoke a payment plan.  Your debt must be paid in full within 6 years- and if you allow the IRS to automatically debit your checking account, your fees will be lower than if you don’t.
• If you owe the IRS $ 100K or less (including penalties and interest)- and can pay them in 120 days- you can set up a program at www.irs.gov. 
• If you owe more than $ 50K- and can’t pay the IRS within 120 days, the process is far more involved.  You definitely want a professional to be in your corner when this is the case.

Remember- if you don’t file because you don’t have enough money to pay, you are creating a bigger debt!   The IRS has fees (fines) for failure to file- and for the failure to pay.   If you file and don’t pay, it’s still much cheaper for you than NOT filing.  (There also is interest charged on the outstanding balance.)

But, no matter what you do-  don’t think you are done with your taxes until next year.  That is NOT the way to ensure that you can pay the lowest amount of taxes required by law.

It’s time now (albeit later than normal) to determine how to ensure you will pay the lowest amount of taxes required by law next April.

That’s among our specialties- you should speak to us right now!

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