Tax Time

Im not a tax expert, but I believe if you OWE, then you still need to pay on time or you will get penatly fees.  But sure, you can file late, just pay on time. 

Correct.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this seems to say that payments are also due on October 16.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-announces-tax-relief-for-victims-of-severe-winter-storms-flooding-and-mudslides-in-california

Correct me if I'm wrong but this seems to say that payments are also due on October 16.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-announces-tax-relief-for-victims-of-severe-winter-storms-flooding-and-mudslides-in-california

Yep.  In the usual case of filing an extension, you still need to estimate and pay by tax day.  In this specific disaster relief case, we can wait to pay until October.  Even if you receive a late payment penalty notice, they instruct you to call and have it waived.

If an affected taxpayer receives a late filing or late payment penalty notice from the IRS that has an original or extended filing, payment or deposit due date that falls within the postponement period, the taxpayer should call the telephone number on the notice to have the IRS abate the penalty.

I'm taking advantage of this and holding off on paying until October.

Oh nice!  Well, I may just procrastinate a few more months 

One school of thought (that I happen to subscribe to) is to file earlier than later.  There's a less-common, but pain in the ass, situation that can arise when delaying filing.  If someone were to file a false return on your behalf (usually fudging the numbers to force a return), then your e-file is rejected.  It's a simple process to fix -- you paper file and prove you are who you say you are and the fraudulent filing is discarded.  However, at present, the IRS is about 18 months behind on paper filings.  So, it usually results in you being unable to e-file the following year, too!

That said, I e-file as soon as I can practically do so and just sit on my 1040-V until the day before payment due.  Just a thought...

One school of thought (that I happen to subscribe to) is to file earlier than later.  There's a less-common, but pain in the ass, situation that can arise when delaying filing.  If someone were to file a false return on your behalf (usually fudging the numbers to force a return), then your e-file is rejected.  It's a simple process to fix -- you paper file and prove you are who you say you are and the fraudulent filing is discarded.  However, at present, the IRS is about 18 months behind on paper filings.  So, it usually results in you being unable to e-file the following year, too!

That said, I e-file as soon as I can practically do so and just sit on my 1040-V until the day before payment due.  Just a thought...

A few years ago, someone filed a fake return in my name, claiming a big refund. The IRS caught it, and I even got to talk to some people from the FBI who were trying to track down the crook. Among other things, they had video of him trying to withdraw cash from our bank account, but as far as I know, they never caught him. As I recall, we didn't have any trouble with e-filing, so I assume that situation would only arise if the IRS accepted a fake return and thereby assumed that the real return that showed up later was a fake. It seems to me that the fake would have to be a good one for that to happen. We still receive super-secret taxpayer identification numbers that we have to use every year.

Being an information-security-type-of-person, I found the whole process kind of interesting, and surprisingly painless, especially given that at least 2 government agencies were involved...