Did Your Tax Return Get Caught in the Crash? Here's What to Do
When federal tax returns were due on Tuesday, April 17, many individuals and business owners ran into a sticky situation. The IRS hardware that was connected to the agency's master file crashed early that morning, which caused serious problems as the agency could not accept returns or payments that day from a number of digital sources. Taking nearly 11 hours to fix, the crash impacted many tax returns.
Was yours one of them? Here's what to do if it was.
If your return was caught up in the crash, there are two different approaches that can be taken. This strongly depends on whether you owed money on your return or if you were owed a refund from the IRS. In either case, you can choose to file your return later, but how you handle payment will be impacted. The IRS did grant an additional day for returns to be filed following the crash, but even if you missed that date, you should still file as quickly as possible.
If you owed money on your return, make that payment as quickly as possible, even if it's just an estimate. The IRS regularly charges interest, fees and penalties on late payments, so it's important to get that money to them as quickly as possible to avoid those charges, even if you don't file your return at the same time.
If you are owed money by the IRS, you have a little more leeway in your timing. As with many organizations, the IRS will happily hold that money for you until apply for its return, in this case by filing your taxes. However, that doesn't mean you should leave it sitting there. File now and you can determine how to invest those funds to your benefit.
By staying on top of changes and issues at the IRS, you can ensure that you can stay ahead of potential issues instead of having to catch up to them after the fact. With the recent tax code changes, many businesses are uncertain of how to adapt their tax strategy to meet those changes. If you need help developing a strong new tax strategy, AccountRely can help. Please feel free to contact one of our experienced associates today for more details.
