TUCKER, Ga. — Taxes are due Monday, Apr. 15. As the deadline quickly approaches, 11Alive has some tips from a tax expert.
Andrew Poulos, with Poulos Accounting and Consulting, said there are consequences to procrastinating.
"So many people wait until the last minute," Poulos said. "They always try to rush. They procrastinate. And so, it's just progressively getting worse."
Poulos said he's working overtime with his clients the day before the deadline. He's sharing some dos and don'ts.
"You don't want to rush the file and make a mistake or file an incorrect or incomplete return," Poulos said. "That's actually worse than just going on extension and taking your time."
Poulos said that at this point, it's probably best to file an extension -- but don't stop there.
"If you expect that you're going to owe and you have the money, pay that with the extension," Poulos said. "The extension is only an extension of time to file the tax returns, not an extension of time to pay."
He suggested taxpayers don't wait until their new deadline of Oct. 15 to turn in what they owe.
"You're going to get penalties and interest added to your tax return bill," Poulos said.
Poulos explained that there are different tiers of these penalties. If you file an extension and wait to pay, it's more affordable, but there's a big hit to your pockets if you miss your chance to extend.
"Five percent penalty per month as long as you're late," Poulos said. "It maxes out, of course. The failure to file a penalty is indeed a big penalty. So, you want to try to avoid that at all costs."
He added that there's no avoiding Uncle Sam. Some common mistakes people make are forgetting something in the mail or forgetting interest earned on bank accounts. Also, remember that earnings like cryptocurrency, dividends, and stocks are all reportable.
So, be sure to have some time to get it complete and correct.
"If you think that the IRS doesn't know about it, they certainly do," Poulos said.
Plus, taxpayers certainly want to give themselves extra time to fix any mistakes the Internal Revenue Service may find.
If mailing any forms, Poulos suggested using certified mail and getting a return receipt because if there is no proof that it was sent on time to the IRS, it may as well have never happened.