I hope you have managed to stay safe and well! We focus on resolving tax issues in Prince William County and throughout the lower Northern Virginia area.
I’m writing this to remind taxpayers to file all tax returns they’re responsible for filling, when the returns are due. No matter if you’re talking about 1040s, 940s, 941s, or sales tax returns (just to name the most prominent returns), it is always better to file the returns by the established deadline, as opposed to attempting to wait until you can pay the tax that was supposed to accompany the returns. First, let’s be honest, the plan to “catch up” or thinking that business will be better, or “I’ll make more money next year” and you’ll be able to pay the taxes later, never seems to work out the way we intended. The failure to file penalties are 5% per month for the first five months that the returns are not filed, plus interest, plus the failure to pay penalties.
Also, if you have circumstances where you think you may have paid for one return or another (via estimated taxes, trust fund payments, etc.), but you cannot find the cancelled checks or track down the payment information, again, just file the returns, and find the backup later. The sooner you file the returns, the better. Whereas compliance is considered both filing all returns when due and paying all taxes related to the returns by the date that the payments are due. Partial compliance would go a long way in regards to dealing with various representatives from tax reporting agencies.
In fact, in a conversation with a IRS Revenue Officer (RO) this past week, as I was trying to resolve a trust fund and reporting issue for a customer. The RO suggested that taxpayers responsible for filing 941s should seriously consider depositing trust funds (you’re supposed to use EFTPS for trust fund deposits) at the time that they process payroll, in order to avoid non-compliance (this would be prior to the returns being filed)
If you feel as though you may be one of the taxpayers having trouble with staying or becoming compliant with your tax obligations, with the regulatory authorities, We can help!. Perhaps you are one of the taxpayers who is owed a tax refund. You only have three(3) years from the original due date of the tax return to claim this refund. No matter what, after the three(3) years, “Poof” your refund is gone forever.
According to the Deputy Commissioner for Small Businesses for the IRS, this might be the worst time to try and “fool” the IRS and attempt avoid compliance. They just have too many tools at their disposal (his words), so don’t put off filing your returns for another year. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.