Photograph by Dayna Bateman
Does this sound like you? You’re pretty sure that you owe taxes this year so you’ve had no motivation to get them done. You know you have until April 15th so all through February and March you’re not even thinking about it. April 1st rolls around and now it’s like, “Oh yeah, I’ve got to get that done.” But life gets in the way and the next thing you know, it’s April 14th and you’re starting to panic. You go online to do your return and realize that you’ve got some funky tax issue that you can’t handle by yourself so you need professional help. You head down to the big box tax store and wait in line with 20 other folks who are in the same boat as you.
Don’t do that!
Don’t do your taxes on April 14th. (Okay, for 2011 the tax deadline is April 18th, but everybody knows the 15th is tax day even if the IRS likes to mess with us about that.) But that’s just another good reason not to file your taxes on the 14th because you have until the 18th this year.
But it’s more than that. More mistakes get made on tax returns on April 14th than any other day of the year. This isn’t a statistical fact, it’s just my observation. I do audit work helping people who have tax trouble. I notice that tax returns done on April 14th have more mistakes. Not necessarily big mistakes, but missed deductions and credits.
If you’re going into the big box tax store on April 14, those preparers are busting their behinds trying to make sure that everybody gets taken care of. They’re probably exhausted from the long hours already. If you go in at night, most of those folks have already put in eight hours at their day job already. If there’s a line of people in the chairs, the office manager is probably cracking the whip, “Let’s keep it moving people!” This is not the day that they’re going to ask you all of the questions they need to ask to give you the best service possible. They have the built in questions in their software that they’re required to ask you, but don’t expect anything above and beyond the minimum if you go in during rush time.
If you go into a big box store on April 14th (or 15th or one of those late days) and there’s a big line and it looks crazy, the best thing for you to do is just file an extension. If you think you owe, make a best guess as to how much you owe and pay it (keeps you from paying late payment penalties.) An extension is an extension of time to file, it does not give you an extension of time to pay. The penalty for filing late is much higher than the penalty for paying late though so even if you don’t pay, you’re still better off filing the extension than filing your return late.
If you’re at the big box store, they’re going to pressure you to file your return now instead of doing the extension. Here’s why: they get paid a commission for the tax returns they prepare during the tax season. Most of them get laid off after the last filing date. The few preparers who work during the summer get paid an hourly wage for the off season work and it’s not anywhere near the rate they get for their seasonal work. Filing your extension doesn’t pay them much if anything so that’s why they don’t want to do it.
Now if you go someplace and it’s not a mad house and you find someone there that makes you feel confident, by all means go ahead and file. Do it and be done with it. Sometimes, while the 14th may be a madhouse, the 15th will be quite calm and a good time to file. Use your good judgment. Don’t file a tax return while feeling panic. Fixing a bad return costs more than doing it right the first time.