I know we will be getting an extension, but we still need to make our payment today. Our CPA still hasn't gotten me the vouchers I need to enclose with our payments, and time is ticking away! What happens if we don't get our payment postmarked today? I'm sitting here waiting to write the checks, but haven't even got a dollar amount from her yet.
@ Cheryl - yes, please just assume we procrastinated.... Gimme a break, we have been waiting for 1099s to come in and couldn't file until we had all our paperwork. She has had our paperwork for weeks and assured me she wouldn't need an extension.
Whew, thank God she finally sent it. My printer broke this morning too, so I had the lovely experience of hauling the kids to the FedEx Office store, printing them off, and then going to the packed post office to mail them. My harried brain totally missed the notion that I could have had FedEx send them right there. Duh! Phew! Thank God!! Back to our old CPA next year!
ETA2: I wish our 1099s were sent to us in Feb. We were still getting some in late March. I used to do our taxes on Turbo Tax, but the past few years have gotten much more complicated with various activities and I am afraid to mess them up and get audited. My ADD brain is not the best at doing anything other than a simple return. We will definitely be going back to the CPA we used last year, although this one came very highly recommended. Just wish she could have told me she was too backed up to do them.
Seeing as how the 1099s should have been mailed by 1/31 and thus to you by early Feb, I'd be very irritated that a CPA sat on them for over two months...
You will be assessed a penalty that you will be successful in getting your accountant to pay.
You can write the check for more than you will owe and the rest will be refunded back once you file.
Still as long as it was your CPA who actually dropped the ball they will have to eat the penalties.
If you file your extension online, I think you can make the payment online as well. You'll still need to number from your CPA, but you won't be in such a rush to beet the postman!
I'd also give my CPA a call, reiterate to her that she's had the documents needed for weeks and that you have no intention of paying the late penalties out of your own pocket. I'd let her know that I expect her to either get me what I need to file the extension today, or absorb any late fees herself (or prepare for you to report her to her professional organization/ better business bureau/ whatever)!
Anyway, what happens is you pay a fine.
T.
If you don't get is postmarked, you'll pay late penalties.
Remember - Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on someone else's part!
Per the IRS
Topic 306 - Penalty for Underpayment of Estimated Tax
The United States income tax is a pay-as-you-go tax, which means that tax must be paid as you earn or receive your income during the year. You can either do this through withholding or by making estimated tax payments. If you do not pay your tax through withholding, or do not pay enough tax that way, you might also have to pay estimated taxes. If you did not pay enough tax throughout the year, either through withholding or by making estimated tax payments, you may have to pay a penalty for underpayment of estimated tax. Generally, most taxpayers will avoid this penalty if they owe less than $1,000 in tax after subtracting their withholdings and credits, or if they paid at least 90% of the tax for the current year, or 100% of the tax shown on the return for the prior year, whichever is smaller. There are special rules for farmers and fishermen. Please refer to Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax, for additional information.
Generally, estimated tax payments should be made in four equal amounts to avoid a penalty. However, if your income is received unevenly during the year, you may be able to avoid or lower the penalty by annualizing your income and making unequal payments. Use Form 2210 (PDF), Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals, Estates, and Trusts, to see if you owe a penalty for underpaying your estimated tax.
The penalty may be waived if:
The failure to make estimated payments was caused by a casualty, disaster, or other unusual circumstance and it would be inequitable to impose the penalty, or
You retired (after reaching age 62) or became disabled during the tax year for which estimated payments were required to be made or in the preceding tax year, and the underpayment was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect.
Please refer to the Form 1040 Instructions or the Form 1040A Instructions for where to report the estimated tax penalty on your return.
***You need to file an extension to avoid the failure to file penalty***
have you checked irs.gov?
I just looked and they have several forms available on their front page that seem to offer solutions to this.
This was on the Today Show this morning.
http://www.today.com/id/3041440/vp/51543370#51543370
If the clip won't link, go to the Today Show web site and it's the video titled "It's tax day! Last minute tips"
So sorry you had to deal with all that stress!!! But great news that you got the payment and extension paperwork in on time. Sounds to me, though, like you need a new CPA for next year. There's no excuse for making a client stress over whether the vouchers will arrive on time... and certainly no reason why you should have to file an extension if the CPA said you wouldn't need one.
Find a better professional for next year! (or do your taxes yourself - with TurboTax it's a million times easier than you expect)
Go online and check the post offices in your area. Every area has at least one that will be open until midnight tonight, and as long as you get it into their hands by then, it will be postmarked today. I dropped off our state payment in our neighborhood post office this morning, and they had signs everywhere stating the address and directions to the central post office that will stay open late tonight. :)
Pressure cooker!
Hopefully you can get it postmarked by midnight and find another accountant before next year?
Good luck!
You likely can pay online up until midnight tonight... I know for the IRS you can. States might differ.
