MIDLAND, Texas — The deadline to file your taxes or file an extension is fast approaching.
July 15th is the new deadline to file after the original date in April was pushed back. But even though the deadline to file your taxes is different, the process to file will remain the same.
"Basically with the moving of the deadline back from April 15th to July 15th you know the normal process that you would go through and file a return on April 15 is the same thing that should be happening for July 15," said April Walker, lead manager on tax practice and ethics team at American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
There are penalties if you don't make a payment or file for an extension by the 15th.
"If you don’t make the payment by July 15th, it’s essentially an interest charge that the IRS starts charging you. They hit you with the penalty for not paying on time and then they hit you with an interest charge for every day that you paid late," said Anne Harvey, tax director for the Hanover Company.
If you're expecting to get a refund on your tax return, you can take that refund and apply it to next year's tax return.
"If you think you’re going to owe money for next year and you’re already halfway into this year and you don’t need the cash, you can apply your refund to next year’s tax and there’s an option or a line item on the tax return to do that," Harvey said.
When filing, there are some common pitfalls for a lot of people. Walker said you need to make sure your name is correct on your forms and that your dependents are labeled correctly because if they aren't correct things won't go through the system.
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