The Daily Money

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Sun Apr 14 2024

Daniel de Visé | Personal Finance Reporter

Good morning. This is Daniel de Visé with your Daily Money, Sunday Tax Edition.

On Sundays up to April 15 -- tomorrow -- we've been walking you through what's new and newsworthy in Tax Season 2024.

Tax Day is here. What if you still haven't filed your return?

Here are some tips for tax procrastinators, straight from the IRS:

File your taxes electronically

The IRS considers e-filing the safest, fastest and easiest way to submit a tax return. Any taxpayer can e-file.

Here are some e-file options.

Double-check your SSN

An incorrect, illegible or missing Social Security number can delay or diminish a refund, the IRS says. Check and recheck identification numbers for everyone listed on your return.

Check the math on your tax return

Especially if you are filing a paper return, review your numbers. Make sure you have correctly calculated your refund, or how much you owe.

Go to the tax tables

It's easy to grab the wrong figure from a long list of numbers. Check the IRS tax table to make sure you are reporting the correct amount of tax due for your taxable income and filing status.

Here is the tax table.

Sign your tax return

This might seem obvious, but don't forget to properly sign and date your tax return. If you are filing jointly, both of you must sign, even if only one of you reported income. If you used a tax preparer, they, too, must sign.

Follow the IRS mailing instructions

If you're sending a paper check to the IRS, make it payable to United States Treasury. Enclose it with, but don't attach it to, the return or payment voucher.

The IRS advises that the check should include "the Social Security Number of the person listed first on the return, daytime phone number, the tax year and the type of form filed" – if you can find the space for all that.

Use the correct address

If you're mailing a paper return, make sure you are using the correct IRS mailing address. There are several.

Here is a list of filing addresses.

Pay your taxes electronically

If you owe taxes, the IRS considers electronic payment a safe, convenient and secure method. Taxpayers may pay by electronic withdrawal or use a credit or debit card.

Here are your electronic payment options.

Request a tax extension

Can't get your return in by April 15? You can file an extension, giving you six more months. But remember: An extension to file is not an extension to pay. If you owe, you could face late-payment penalties.

"To make the extension fully effective, you should pay what you owe" by April 15, said Chester Spatt, a professor of finance at Carnegie Mellon University.

Don't know what you owe? "Guestimate on the high side," he said.

Here's more on extensions.

About the Daily Money

This has been a special Sunday Tax Edition of The Daily Money. Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer news from USA TODAY. We break down financial news and provide the TLDR version: how decisions by the Federal Reserve, government and companies impact you.