The final day to file your taxes is April 18. For some of us, the process is simple: just fill in the required boxes and wait for a return.
But for those who are self-employed, have investments, work multiple jobs or collect tips, the process can be much more complex. Also the tax code changes from year to year, so there are always new twists that are hard to keep up with.
Lucky for us, Raphael Tulino, a spokesman for the IRS, and Todd Cox, a Las Vegas CPA and former Gaming Control Board agent, are here to help answer any questions. There are some 800 IRS forms or schedules; which one should you use? Should you itemize or take the standard deduction? And what expenses are even tax deductible?
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
If somebody hasn't started that process of preparing their taxes, and maybe they have a big list of complications, what would you suggest that they do?
TULINO: I wouldn't panic. And I wouldn't procrastinate to the very last minute to file a return out of haste that might be inaccurate, or have errors, which slows things down. So you can do one or two things, you can start gathering things and do it step by step. So by the time you get to the next two, maybe three, or four or five, six days, you're not overwhelmed by it, if you're doing it yourself via tax software, try not to send paper into this agency if you can try to use an IE file, direct deposit and go paperless. But that being said, if you need an extra six months, you can take it through mid-October. It's easy to request it, it's automatic, you can do it via software, or you can send a little quarter page Form 4868 in along with a payment if you have a balance due, and you can run some numbers in software for that, or maybe take a look at last year if you haven't really done much.
Is it too late to try to get a CPA to work on something if you have a lot of these complications?
COX: Even at the last minute, contact if you need help, and contact a CPA and they can assist you in assessing your tax situation and building a strategy that you're going to get to minimize any damage that you might have. If I were to get a client right now, call me out of the blue that I didn't know, and they're like, ‘Hey, I've got this set of facts and circumstances,’ I'd probably say, ‘Well, we're going to need to send in one of those extensions.’ And if there's a balance due, if we think that there's going to be an amount due, we'll just add, pay that amount with a little bit of a cushion in there probably. And that way, if you file an extension, or even if you don't file an extension, but you have a refund due, if you don't, there's no penalty for not filing a tax return when you have a refund due.
I got divorced last month. My ex-wife won’t send me her W-2 form. Can I still file as married without it for 2022?
COX: It sounds like you need to file married filing separate. I mean, unless you have access to her information, and she wants to file married filing joint. You both have to consent to filing that way. And if you don't file that, if you don't have her information … you'll probably need to file married filing separate. … The married filing separate is the absolute worst rate schedule of all, it's worse than single. And so, you know, it's the worst of all worlds, but it's better than not filing a tax return and then getting on the radar of our friends in the IRS.
Can you go to an IRS office?
TULINO: We did this last year. It's four Saturdays, February, March, April, May on a special Saturday, and this one's coming up … show up without an appointment on a Saturday. And so it can be busy, I'm sure. Normally, you can get out of the office, of course, anytime you need to make an appointment. And normal business hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., for the 110 N. City Parkway office in Las Vegas, but the special Saturday deal is something where you can just show up without an appointment. And if you have a situation like this [caller] has here and you want resolution, we're there for you.
If you require face-to-face service at an IRS office, you must call 844-545-5640 to schedule an appointment.
Guests: Todd Cox, CPA, former agent, Gaming Control Board; Raphael Tulino, Southerwestern U.S. spokesman, IRS
