Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News)— Alex Nitka walked into his office at 8:00 a.m. a week before Tax Day to find a pile of his clients’ tax returns ready to be reviewed and filed. He said this week will be hectic for all the tax managers at Dannible and McKee as they hustle to finalize all the tax returns before April 15.
“You keep just kind of whittling away every day and then hopefully by the time you get to next Monday, there’s hopefully no more people on that list,” said Nitka, a senior tax manager at Dannible and McKee.
However, not all taxpayers will be ready to file before the 11:59 p.m. deadline on April 15, in which case Nitka recommended they file for an extension. When taxpayers file for an extension, they must estimate and pay what they think they’re going to owe in taxes. They then have until Oct. 15 to file their returns, Nitka said.
“It’s better to file an extension if you owe versus just filing late, because you’ll be subject to late filing penalties and late payment penalties,” Nitka added. “If you don’t pay with the extension you’ll still be subject to late payment penalties, but you won’t be subject to late filing penalties which can be more substantial.”
Nitka also recommended that taxpayers who plan to mail a check send the envelope with a certified mail return receipt request.
“I’ve had clients that have gotten notices from the IRS saying, ‘We didn’t get your return’ or ‘You owed and you didn’t send us a check’ and they can produce that return receipt and that goes a long way,” Nitka said. “There’s been numerous times in my career the IRS has looked back and said, ‘Oh we lost it in our mail processing system.’”
In order to file for an extension, Nitka said taxpayers must fill out the federal form 4868.
