Tax day is approaching. That means millions of Americans are rushing to file or extend their tax returns before midnight.
The Internal Revenue Service received more than 101 million returns as of April 5 and expects more than 128.7 million individual tax returns to be filed by the deadline.
So a lot of things matter.
“Paying your taxes late is a way to get back at the government,” X user @LaVendrickS posted on Monday. “At least that's what I tell myself to justify my natural tendency to procrastinate and be late.”
“I procrastinate about everything. Why exclude taxes?” X user @mglev_eth wrote.
Tax professionals across the country reported that this year's tax season was far less problematic than previous years. One notable improvement is actually being able to connect with her IRS representative by phone.
The U.S. Treasury has attributed much of that recovery to an $80 billion increase in funding for the Internal Revenue Service from President Biden's Inflation Control Act. The cash was primarily used to target the agency's problem areas, including boosting hiring, revamping phone services, and providing a smooth in-person application experience.
Still, Monday was an all-out effort.
“On a day like today, April 15th, we might have a million returns coming in every hour,” IRS Commissioner Danny Wuerffel said on CNBC on Monday.
read more: Tax day has arrived. What you need to know to submit by the deadline.
St. Louis, Missouri: “This year was different.”
Last year, taxpayers and taxpayers had to wait hours on the phone to get through to the IRS. This year was different.
Callbacks to the federal agency's main taxpayer helpline reached 88% this tax season, exceeding the target of 85%. Before receiving the additional funding, the IRS said he only achieved a score of 15%.
Phone wait times have gone from almost 30 minutes to just 3 minutes. This year, the IRS expanded customer callback options to make them available to 97% of eligible taxpayers immediately at the start of a call if the wait time exceeds their 15 minutes.
The U.S. Treasury report said the initiative saved taxpayers a total of 1.4 million hours of hold time.
Last year, I spent hours and hours on it, sometimes to no avail.
“Last year was frustrating. You sit on the phone and the call goes off or something happens. You just get mad and mad at everyone,” said Brass Tax, president of St. Louis, Missouri. , Russ Garofalo told Yahoo Finance. “This year it felt different and smoother.”
Just last week, Garofalo had to call the IRS through the taxpayer hotline, but the experience overall wasn't too stressful.
“I just got on the callback list, which makes a huge difference,” he said. “I thought, 'Cool, now I can do my job.' They said they'd call me back within 62 minutes, so I didn't have to be on the phone for hours, and I was able to go about my day as normal.” Ta.”
Overall, the IRS responded to more than 1 million more calls in the week ending April 6 compared to the 2023 filing season and nearly 3 million more calls compared to the 2022 filing season.
New York, New York: “Don't be afraid to say no” to last-minute applicants
If you can't make it in time for tax day, the deadline to request an extension is today.
The IRS estimates that 19 million taxpayers will file for an automatic extension to the tax deadline. Tax officials across the country were expecting a new wave of extensions to be filed today.
Last year, Garofalo filed for 732 tax deferrals over the course of the season. This year, even more people are racing to submit their forms in a bid to save time.
“I think we'll probably get a few hundred more just today,” he told Yahoo Finance on Monday morning. “As of now, we have up to 882 people.”
Ramona Cedeño of Manhattan said 40% of her clients have applied for automatic extensions, many of them weeks in advance because they knew they wouldn't meet the deadline.
FiBrick's founder and CEO said her team has been applying for an extension for the past two weeks.
“Any new customers that came to us within the past two weeks will receive an extension,” she said. “We're not going to start your return in April. We want what's best for our clients, and we're giving ourselves plenty of time to get the job done.”
The extension buys you time to file your return until October 15th, but it does not extend your tax payment.
The IRS said those who do not file on time will be subject to a failure-to-file penalty, which is calculated based on the late filing and the amount of tax owed as of the original filing deadline.
If you are obligated to pay taxes and do not pay them by the deadline, you will also be subject to a delinquency penalty. To avoid penalties and late fees, taxpayers in debt must pay in full (or as much as they can afford) by midnight.
There are tools that can help you calculate the amount of tax you owe.
For Garofalo's team, they had to limit the number of last-minute extension requests they could file.
“We have boundaries and we've been working on them for the last few years,” he said. “While we have built a robust process for obtaining extensions, this has been a major challenge for us because most of our clients have fairly complex taxes. ”
Cedeño's team, which primarily works with business owners, was not accepting last-minute automatic extensions from new customers today.
“We're not afraid to say no as long as we're trying to do what's best for them,” she said.
New York, NY: “IRA contribution deadline is today”
Eric Bronnekant, a certified public accountant and tax director at financial services firm Betterment, was fielding customer questions about IRA contributions and securities statements.
Taxpayers have until midnight (April 15) to receive a tax deduction by putting money into an IRA for 2023. The total amount eligible for deduction depends on income, and contributions are limited to $6,500 for him (or $7,500 if over 50). .
Funding your retirement account is available through cash, check, or direct bank transfer. Of the three methods, wire transfer is the fastest and safest payment method. Both bank wires and automated clearinghouses (ACH) are useful for electronic fund transfers, but while transfers occur instantly, ACH can take several days to clear.
Regardless of which method is chosen, as long as the taxpayer initiates the donation process by the end of the day, Betterment will accept it as a timely donation, Bronnekant said.
Houston, Texas: “Your procrastination does not add any urgency to my situation.”
Grant Dougherty, registered agent and founder of Dougherty Tax Solution, was filing an extension today for a new client who hired him. Dougherty typically doesn't accept new customers on tax deadline day, but in this case it worked.
“That's a guy I've been talking about for a while,” Dougherty said. “I expected him to register.”
However, Doherty said taxpayers should avoid filing or paying taxes on the day of the deadline or even in the days leading up to the deadline, unless they have been in contact with their accountant and are planning to pay their taxes.
Rushing your tax return can lead to unnecessary mistakes and reduce your refund or deductions.
“When you're under time pressure, it's not a good idea to rush something like a tax return,” Doherty says.
When clients procrastinate, it also becomes a burden for tax professionals. Given how busy tax season can be, Dougherty often has no choice but to waitlist clients who are slow to provide information or answer questions.
“In my situation, your procrastination does not constitute an emergency,” Doherty says. “Unreasonable expectations can be high at this time of year.”
Still, procrastination is not uncommon. Nearly one-third of 2022 tax returns were filed two weeks before the deadline, according to IRS tax return data.
Gabriela Cruz Martinez I'm a personal finance and housing reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @__Gabriela Cruz. Rebecca Chen is a reporter for Yahoo Finance, and she previously worked as an investment tax certified public accountant (CPA).
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