Chris Potter / CC
BATON ROUGE – Today is the deadline to file your federal tax return. If you’ve been waiting until the last minute, you’re not alone. Metairie CPA John Theriot has advice if you are one of the 43 million Americans who procrastinate.
“If you can’t file for some reason, whether your missing forms, or missing documentation, or you just don’t want to get around to it, you should absolutely file an extension,” said Theriot.
Theriot reminds you that an extension doesn’t give you an extension to pay, if you owe the federal government that payment needs to be made today.
“You can’t just send the extension without the money that you owe, if you do not, by the time you pay the balance due you’ll be subject the penalties and interest,” said Theriot.
Trying to send your return by mail today could be risky…especially if you’re dropping it in the nearest mailbox. Theriot says the best way to avoid taking that chance is by going online.
“If you want to file electronically that’s the best, if you can pay electronically that’s even better, but if you file electronically and you can’t pay electronically for some reason, you can bring a check to the post office and have it postmarked today,” said Theriot.
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