{"id":3903,"date":"2021-11-23T18:51:50","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T18:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/?p=3903"},"modified":"2021-11-23T18:51:50","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T18:51:50","slug":"unfiled-tax-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/2021\/11\/23\/unfiled-tax-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"Unfiled tax returns?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>&#8220;Better late than never\u201d applies when it comes to filing income tax returns. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>Here\u2019s what you should know.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-3904\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/late-filing-8-300x273.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"268\" height=\"244\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/late-filing-8-300x273.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/late-filing-8.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 268px) 100vw, 268px\" \/><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Maybe you didn\u2018t get your 1040 done in time in a previous year and figured you couldn\u2019t still file your income taxes. Or you thought you owed money that you didn\u2019t have. The IRS knows that people file late sometimes, and it has systems in place to deal with that.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s absolutely critical that you file every year, for a variety of very good reasons. Failure to file means that you might:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Incur interest and penalties.<\/li>\n<li>Lose a refund (you can claim a refund for up to three years after the return due date).<\/li>\n<li>Reduce your Social Security benefits. If you\u2019re self-employed and don\u2019t file, you will not be credited for income that year.<\/li>\n<li>May not qualify for credit and lending opportunities.<\/li>\n<li>Certain professional licenses (CPA, legal) may be revoked in some states.<\/li>\n<li>May be prohibited from serving in public office<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Extenuating circumstances? Don\u2019t Panic!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Were you or a family member extremely ill or disabled? Did you suffer severe hardships due to natural disasters? If you didn\u2019t file because of hardships, we at Urbach &amp; Avraham, CPAs can assist you in requesting an abatement from the IRS of penalties imposed due to the late filing.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">File It ASAP<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As soon as you realize you have a past-due tax return, you should prepare and file it.<\/p>\n<p>If you can\u2019t pay what you owe when you file, you can ask for an additional 60-120 days to fulfill your financial obligation. If that\u2019s not enough time and\/or you\u2019re going to need to pay in installments, you can apply for an IRS Payment Plan.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">What If You Don\u2019t File?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The IRS may file a substitute return for you. If this happens, you may not get all of the deductions and credits that you should. We advise you to still file a tax return that includes everything, even if the IRS already prepared a substitute return. The IRS usually adjusts the return they created to reflect credits, deductions, and exemptions when they\u2019re made aware of them.<\/p>\n<p>The IRS will notify you if they file a substitute return.\u00a0If you don\u2019t\u2019 file or submit a petition to Tax Court, the IRS will proceed with its proposed assessment, which will trigger a tax bill. Failure to pay it will result in your account going into the collection process. This can include the filing of a federal tax lien or a levy on your bank account or wages. If you continue to ignore the bill, you may be subject to additional penalties and\/or criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n<p>If prior year information is required, we can assist you in obtaining IRS transcripts. These transcripts provide all sources of payors of wages, interest, dividends, pensions and proceeds from sale of securities and real estate.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">On Your Mark, Get Set, File!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Any correspondence from the IRS can create anxiety, as can realizing you missed a tax deadline. At Urbach &amp; Avraham, CPAS, we encourage you to contact us if you\u2019re concerned about a return you didn\u2019t file. We can help you understand what your options are and how to proceed. We can assist you in abating penalties and obtaining IRS Transcripts if necessary. We can also help with tax planning throughout the year, so you don\u2019t have to deal with a past-due return again.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Better late than never\u201d applies when it comes to filing income tax returns. Here\u2019s what you should know.\u00a0 Maybe you didn\u2018t get your 1040 done in time in a previous year and figured you couldn\u2019t still file your income taxes. Or you thought you owed money that you didn\u2019t have. The IRS knows that people [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,11,14,22,23,24],"tags":[113,252],"class_list":{"0":"post-3903","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-small-business-forum","8":"category-estate-trusts-guardianships","9":"category-income-taxes","10":"category-medical-practices","11":"category-tax-tips-for-individuals","12":"category-taxes","13":"category-taxes-medical-practices","14":"tag-individual-income-taxes","15":"tag-unfiled-tax-returns","16":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3903"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3909,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3903\/revisions\/3909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}