What do I do if technical issues prevent me from filing my return on time? Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Planned maintenance scheduled April 17/18, 2019 at 00:00UTC (8:00pm US/Eastern) Frequently Answered Questions (by topic) Member discussion on Closed vs DeletedWhat are the consequences of filing personal income tax return past the deadline of April 15th (i.e. filing late)? [US]Does making credit card tax payment through service provider constitute IRS form 4868 extension request?Automatic Extension online filing request gets denied w/ code R0000-052-01 - why?Tax payment has not appeared in bank account ~20 days after filing electronically with TurboTax. What to do?Filing tax return for sole proprietorhip & regular employeeWhen filing for an NOL, do you have to file the amended previous years' returns after the NOL return?If you don't file a tax return, when will the IRS file a “substitute return”?US Expatriate, do I have to file for an extension, or do I automatically get it, as in without doing anything?2016 Tax Returns filing: extended deadlineAdd money to amount paid with tax filing extension

How should I respond to a player wanting to catch a sword between their hands?

Can smartphones with the same camera sensor have different image quality?

Who can trigger ship-wide alerts in Star Trek?

Stop battery usage [Ubuntu 18]

What would be Julian Assange's expected punishment, on the current English criminal law?

How can players take actions together that are impossible otherwise?

Is there a documented rationale why the House Ways and Means chairman can demand tax info?

How to market an anarchic city as a tourism spot to people living in civilized areas?

What do you call a plan that's an alternative plan in case your initial plan fails?

What can I do if my MacBook isn’t charging but already ran out?

What loss function to use when labels are probabilities?

Writing Thesis: Copying from published papers

What's the point in a preamp?

Passing functions in C++

Was credit for the black hole image misattributed?

Can a zero nonce be safely used with AES-GCM if the key is random and never used again?

Classification of bundles, Postnikov towers, obstruction theory, local coefficients

What do I do if technical issues prevent me from filing my return on time?

grandmas drink with lemon juice

Strange behaviour of Check

How to say that you spent the night with someone, you were only sleeping and nothing else?

What do you call the holes in a flute?

Unable to start mainnet node docker container

Antler Helmet: Can it work?



What do I do if technical issues prevent me from filing my return on time?



Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara
Planned maintenance scheduled April 17/18, 2019 at 00:00UTC (8:00pm US/Eastern)
Frequently Answered Questions (by topic)
Member discussion on Closed vs DeletedWhat are the consequences of filing personal income tax return past the deadline of April 15th (i.e. filing late)? [US]Does making credit card tax payment through service provider constitute IRS form 4868 extension request?Automatic Extension online filing request gets denied w/ code R0000-052-01 - why?Tax payment has not appeared in bank account ~20 days after filing electronically with TurboTax. What to do?Filing tax return for sole proprietorhip & regular employeeWhen filing for an NOL, do you have to file the amended previous years' returns after the NOL return?If you don't file a tax return, when will the IRS file a “substitute return”?US Expatriate, do I have to file for an extension, or do I automatically get it, as in without doing anything?2016 Tax Returns filing: extended deadlineAdd money to amount paid with tax filing extension



.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;








1















I use an online tax site to prepare and file my taxes. I have completed my return in their system, but there are technical issues on the site which currently prevent me from e-filing my return. Of course there is one more day in which hopefully this would all get straightened out, but as there is nobody in the office now and presumably in the morning they are going to be swamped with people who can't file there is always the possibility things won't work out.



What should I do in this case? Is there any recourse I have against the site if I have been unable to file my taxes for over 24 hours due to their fault? I have already paid all the fees. I have a small refund due for federal, and a bit less small state amount due. (Both amounts are less than $100) I understand there are stiff penalties if you don't file on time and owe something.



Update: Here is what I have considered already:



  1. I could print out the return and mail it.
    In theory, one has to have their return postmarked by midnight April 15th (or is it 11:59:59p.m. since the new day starts at 12:00:00 a.m.?). However, in practice I would need to actually take it in person to the closest post office and either drop it off while they are still there and sure to process it by the end of the day, or wait in long line to ask them to hand cancel it to be 100% certain. Since I can't remember the last time I needed postage, I would need to go to the post office anyway to buy a stamp, and probably an envelope that it would fit in.

Also, as I have paid all the filing fees, I feel like this really shouldn't be necessary to go to all the trouble of printing (this would take at least an hour out of my day to get this all done).



  1. I could request an extension. The IRS web site states:


People who haven’t finished filling out their return can get an
automatic six-month extension. The fastest and easiest way to get the
extra time is through the Free File link on IRS.gov. In a matter of
minutes, anyone, regardless of income, can use this free service to
electronically request an automatic tax-filing extension on Form 4868.




The pedant in me notes that I have finished filling out my return, I just am having trouble filing it. The actual page is here - presumably this will take a bit of time to go through the process, and I obviously can't use the site corresponding to my preparer since they are having site issues.










share|improve this question
























  • Can you print out your return? If so, can you snail-mail your return to the IRS -- as long as it is postmarked by midnight April 15, you have filed on time. Make sure you get a postmark.

    – ab2
    5 hours ago











  • @ab2 I'll update my question to address this as it's approaching the comment length limit.

    – Michael
    4 hours ago

















1















I use an online tax site to prepare and file my taxes. I have completed my return in their system, but there are technical issues on the site which currently prevent me from e-filing my return. Of course there is one more day in which hopefully this would all get straightened out, but as there is nobody in the office now and presumably in the morning they are going to be swamped with people who can't file there is always the possibility things won't work out.



What should I do in this case? Is there any recourse I have against the site if I have been unable to file my taxes for over 24 hours due to their fault? I have already paid all the fees. I have a small refund due for federal, and a bit less small state amount due. (Both amounts are less than $100) I understand there are stiff penalties if you don't file on time and owe something.



Update: Here is what I have considered already:



  1. I could print out the return and mail it.
    In theory, one has to have their return postmarked by midnight April 15th (or is it 11:59:59p.m. since the new day starts at 12:00:00 a.m.?). However, in practice I would need to actually take it in person to the closest post office and either drop it off while they are still there and sure to process it by the end of the day, or wait in long line to ask them to hand cancel it to be 100% certain. Since I can't remember the last time I needed postage, I would need to go to the post office anyway to buy a stamp, and probably an envelope that it would fit in.

Also, as I have paid all the filing fees, I feel like this really shouldn't be necessary to go to all the trouble of printing (this would take at least an hour out of my day to get this all done).



  1. I could request an extension. The IRS web site states:


People who haven’t finished filling out their return can get an
automatic six-month extension. The fastest and easiest way to get the
extra time is through the Free File link on IRS.gov. In a matter of
minutes, anyone, regardless of income, can use this free service to
electronically request an automatic tax-filing extension on Form 4868.




The pedant in me notes that I have finished filling out my return, I just am having trouble filing it. The actual page is here - presumably this will take a bit of time to go through the process, and I obviously can't use the site corresponding to my preparer since they are having site issues.










share|improve this question
























  • Can you print out your return? If so, can you snail-mail your return to the IRS -- as long as it is postmarked by midnight April 15, you have filed on time. Make sure you get a postmark.

    – ab2
    5 hours ago











  • @ab2 I'll update my question to address this as it's approaching the comment length limit.

    – Michael
    4 hours ago













1












1








1








I use an online tax site to prepare and file my taxes. I have completed my return in their system, but there are technical issues on the site which currently prevent me from e-filing my return. Of course there is one more day in which hopefully this would all get straightened out, but as there is nobody in the office now and presumably in the morning they are going to be swamped with people who can't file there is always the possibility things won't work out.



What should I do in this case? Is there any recourse I have against the site if I have been unable to file my taxes for over 24 hours due to their fault? I have already paid all the fees. I have a small refund due for federal, and a bit less small state amount due. (Both amounts are less than $100) I understand there are stiff penalties if you don't file on time and owe something.



Update: Here is what I have considered already:



  1. I could print out the return and mail it.
    In theory, one has to have their return postmarked by midnight April 15th (or is it 11:59:59p.m. since the new day starts at 12:00:00 a.m.?). However, in practice I would need to actually take it in person to the closest post office and either drop it off while they are still there and sure to process it by the end of the day, or wait in long line to ask them to hand cancel it to be 100% certain. Since I can't remember the last time I needed postage, I would need to go to the post office anyway to buy a stamp, and probably an envelope that it would fit in.

Also, as I have paid all the filing fees, I feel like this really shouldn't be necessary to go to all the trouble of printing (this would take at least an hour out of my day to get this all done).



  1. I could request an extension. The IRS web site states:


People who haven’t finished filling out their return can get an
automatic six-month extension. The fastest and easiest way to get the
extra time is through the Free File link on IRS.gov. In a matter of
minutes, anyone, regardless of income, can use this free service to
electronically request an automatic tax-filing extension on Form 4868.




The pedant in me notes that I have finished filling out my return, I just am having trouble filing it. The actual page is here - presumably this will take a bit of time to go through the process, and I obviously can't use the site corresponding to my preparer since they are having site issues.










share|improve this question
















I use an online tax site to prepare and file my taxes. I have completed my return in their system, but there are technical issues on the site which currently prevent me from e-filing my return. Of course there is one more day in which hopefully this would all get straightened out, but as there is nobody in the office now and presumably in the morning they are going to be swamped with people who can't file there is always the possibility things won't work out.



What should I do in this case? Is there any recourse I have against the site if I have been unable to file my taxes for over 24 hours due to their fault? I have already paid all the fees. I have a small refund due for federal, and a bit less small state amount due. (Both amounts are less than $100) I understand there are stiff penalties if you don't file on time and owe something.



Update: Here is what I have considered already:



  1. I could print out the return and mail it.
    In theory, one has to have their return postmarked by midnight April 15th (or is it 11:59:59p.m. since the new day starts at 12:00:00 a.m.?). However, in practice I would need to actually take it in person to the closest post office and either drop it off while they are still there and sure to process it by the end of the day, or wait in long line to ask them to hand cancel it to be 100% certain. Since I can't remember the last time I needed postage, I would need to go to the post office anyway to buy a stamp, and probably an envelope that it would fit in.

Also, as I have paid all the filing fees, I feel like this really shouldn't be necessary to go to all the trouble of printing (this would take at least an hour out of my day to get this all done).



  1. I could request an extension. The IRS web site states:


People who haven’t finished filling out their return can get an
automatic six-month extension. The fastest and easiest way to get the
extra time is through the Free File link on IRS.gov. In a matter of
minutes, anyone, regardless of income, can use this free service to
electronically request an automatic tax-filing extension on Form 4868.




The pedant in me notes that I have finished filling out my return, I just am having trouble filing it. The actual page is here - presumably this will take a bit of time to go through the process, and I obviously can't use the site corresponding to my preparer since they are having site issues.







income-tax electronic-filing






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 4 hours ago







Michael

















asked 5 hours ago









MichaelMichael

8541915




8541915












  • Can you print out your return? If so, can you snail-mail your return to the IRS -- as long as it is postmarked by midnight April 15, you have filed on time. Make sure you get a postmark.

    – ab2
    5 hours ago











  • @ab2 I'll update my question to address this as it's approaching the comment length limit.

    – Michael
    4 hours ago

















  • Can you print out your return? If so, can you snail-mail your return to the IRS -- as long as it is postmarked by midnight April 15, you have filed on time. Make sure you get a postmark.

    – ab2
    5 hours ago











  • @ab2 I'll update my question to address this as it's approaching the comment length limit.

    – Michael
    4 hours ago
















Can you print out your return? If so, can you snail-mail your return to the IRS -- as long as it is postmarked by midnight April 15, you have filed on time. Make sure you get a postmark.

– ab2
5 hours ago





Can you print out your return? If so, can you snail-mail your return to the IRS -- as long as it is postmarked by midnight April 15, you have filed on time. Make sure you get a postmark.

– ab2
5 hours ago













@ab2 I'll update my question to address this as it's approaching the comment length limit.

– Michael
4 hours ago





@ab2 I'll update my question to address this as it's approaching the comment length limit.

– Michael
4 hours ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















2














If you are owed a refund, nobody cares when you file.



What you must do timely is pay. There is no extension to pay.



To be more precise, the penalty for late filing is a formula based on what you owe. If you owe $0, the penalty is $0. Sadly the penalty does not go into negative numbers, so they won't pay you if they owe you! So to that effect the 4868 as an extension is fairly superfluous. However, it is rather useful as a payment coupon since 4868 does not extend the deadline to pay.



After April 15, 2022, you forfeit a right to a refund.



So focus on sending a payment to the state timely! You don't need to file your state, just get 'em paid. Use your stare's version of a Form 4868 for a coupon.



Postmark in the mail is good enough. Post offices no longer stay open until midnight on tax day, you have to get it in by normal close-of-business.




P.S. The railroads, who know a thing or two about Standard Time having invented it, take the viewpoint that 12:00:00 is ambiguous and midnight trains are in fact carded for 12:01 am.



Also remember that efile is not filing. It is consensual electronic data interchange in lieu of filing. IRS will cheerfully withdraw its consent if they don't like something about your figures. They can't do that if you paper file, unless the filing is obviously frivolous or incomplete.






share|improve this answer

























    Your Answer








    StackExchange.ready(function()
    var channelOptions =
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "93"
    ;
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
    createEditor();
    );

    else
    createEditor();

    );

    function createEditor()
    StackExchange.prepareEditor(
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: true,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: 10,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader:
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    ,
    noCode: true, onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    );



    );













    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function ()
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmoney.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f107807%2fwhat-do-i-do-if-technical-issues-prevent-me-from-filing-my-return-on-time%23new-answer', 'question_page');

    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown

























    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes








    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    2














    If you are owed a refund, nobody cares when you file.



    What you must do timely is pay. There is no extension to pay.



    To be more precise, the penalty for late filing is a formula based on what you owe. If you owe $0, the penalty is $0. Sadly the penalty does not go into negative numbers, so they won't pay you if they owe you! So to that effect the 4868 as an extension is fairly superfluous. However, it is rather useful as a payment coupon since 4868 does not extend the deadline to pay.



    After April 15, 2022, you forfeit a right to a refund.



    So focus on sending a payment to the state timely! You don't need to file your state, just get 'em paid. Use your stare's version of a Form 4868 for a coupon.



    Postmark in the mail is good enough. Post offices no longer stay open until midnight on tax day, you have to get it in by normal close-of-business.




    P.S. The railroads, who know a thing or two about Standard Time having invented it, take the viewpoint that 12:00:00 is ambiguous and midnight trains are in fact carded for 12:01 am.



    Also remember that efile is not filing. It is consensual electronic data interchange in lieu of filing. IRS will cheerfully withdraw its consent if they don't like something about your figures. They can't do that if you paper file, unless the filing is obviously frivolous or incomplete.






    share|improve this answer





























      2














      If you are owed a refund, nobody cares when you file.



      What you must do timely is pay. There is no extension to pay.



      To be more precise, the penalty for late filing is a formula based on what you owe. If you owe $0, the penalty is $0. Sadly the penalty does not go into negative numbers, so they won't pay you if they owe you! So to that effect the 4868 as an extension is fairly superfluous. However, it is rather useful as a payment coupon since 4868 does not extend the deadline to pay.



      After April 15, 2022, you forfeit a right to a refund.



      So focus on sending a payment to the state timely! You don't need to file your state, just get 'em paid. Use your stare's version of a Form 4868 for a coupon.



      Postmark in the mail is good enough. Post offices no longer stay open until midnight on tax day, you have to get it in by normal close-of-business.




      P.S. The railroads, who know a thing or two about Standard Time having invented it, take the viewpoint that 12:00:00 is ambiguous and midnight trains are in fact carded for 12:01 am.



      Also remember that efile is not filing. It is consensual electronic data interchange in lieu of filing. IRS will cheerfully withdraw its consent if they don't like something about your figures. They can't do that if you paper file, unless the filing is obviously frivolous or incomplete.






      share|improve this answer



























        2












        2








        2







        If you are owed a refund, nobody cares when you file.



        What you must do timely is pay. There is no extension to pay.



        To be more precise, the penalty for late filing is a formula based on what you owe. If you owe $0, the penalty is $0. Sadly the penalty does not go into negative numbers, so they won't pay you if they owe you! So to that effect the 4868 as an extension is fairly superfluous. However, it is rather useful as a payment coupon since 4868 does not extend the deadline to pay.



        After April 15, 2022, you forfeit a right to a refund.



        So focus on sending a payment to the state timely! You don't need to file your state, just get 'em paid. Use your stare's version of a Form 4868 for a coupon.



        Postmark in the mail is good enough. Post offices no longer stay open until midnight on tax day, you have to get it in by normal close-of-business.




        P.S. The railroads, who know a thing or two about Standard Time having invented it, take the viewpoint that 12:00:00 is ambiguous and midnight trains are in fact carded for 12:01 am.



        Also remember that efile is not filing. It is consensual electronic data interchange in lieu of filing. IRS will cheerfully withdraw its consent if they don't like something about your figures. They can't do that if you paper file, unless the filing is obviously frivolous or incomplete.






        share|improve this answer















        If you are owed a refund, nobody cares when you file.



        What you must do timely is pay. There is no extension to pay.



        To be more precise, the penalty for late filing is a formula based on what you owe. If you owe $0, the penalty is $0. Sadly the penalty does not go into negative numbers, so they won't pay you if they owe you! So to that effect the 4868 as an extension is fairly superfluous. However, it is rather useful as a payment coupon since 4868 does not extend the deadline to pay.



        After April 15, 2022, you forfeit a right to a refund.



        So focus on sending a payment to the state timely! You don't need to file your state, just get 'em paid. Use your stare's version of a Form 4868 for a coupon.



        Postmark in the mail is good enough. Post offices no longer stay open until midnight on tax day, you have to get it in by normal close-of-business.




        P.S. The railroads, who know a thing or two about Standard Time having invented it, take the viewpoint that 12:00:00 is ambiguous and midnight trains are in fact carded for 12:01 am.



        Also remember that efile is not filing. It is consensual electronic data interchange in lieu of filing. IRS will cheerfully withdraw its consent if they don't like something about your figures. They can't do that if you paper file, unless the filing is obviously frivolous or incomplete.







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited 2 hours ago

























        answered 4 hours ago









        HarperHarper

        25.2k63789




        25.2k63789



























            draft saved

            draft discarded
















































            Thanks for contributing an answer to Personal Finance & Money Stack Exchange!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid


            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function ()
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmoney.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f107807%2fwhat-do-i-do-if-technical-issues-prevent-me-from-filing-my-return-on-time%23new-answer', 'question_page');

            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown







            Popular posts from this blog

            Disable / Remove link to Product Items in Cart Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 23:30 UTC (7:30pm US/Eastern) Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Unicorn Meta Zoo #1: Why another podcast?How can I limit products that can be bought / added to cart?Remove item from cartHide “Add to Cart” button if specific products are already in cart“Prettifying” the custom options in cart pageCreate link in cart sidebar to view all added items After limit reachedLink products together in checkout/cartHow to Get product from cart and add it againHide action-edit on cart page if simple productRemoving Cart items - ObserverRemove wishlist items when added to cart

            Helsingin valtaus Sisällysluettelo Taustaa | Yleistä sotatoimista | Osapuolet | Taistelut Helsingin ympäristössä | Punaisten antautumissuunnitelma | Taistelujen kulku Helsingissä | Valtauksen jälkeen | Tappiot | Muistaminen | Kirjallisuutta | Lähteet | Aiheesta muualla | NavigointivalikkoTeoksen verkkoversioTeoksen verkkoversioGoogle BooksSisällissota Helsingissä päättyi tasan 95 vuotta sittenSaksalaisten ylivoima jyräsi punaisen HelsinginSuomalaiset kuvaavat sotien jälkiä kaupungeissa – katso kuvat ja tarinat tutuilta kulmiltaHelsingin valtaus 90 vuotta sittenSaksalaiset valtasivat HelsinginHyökkäys HelsinkiinHelsingin valtaus 12.–13.4. 1918Saksalaiset käyttivät ihmiskilpiä Helsingin valtauksessa 1918Teoksen verkkoversioTeoksen verkkoversioSaksalaiset hyökkäävät Etelä-SuomeenTaistelut LeppävaarassaSotilaat ja taistelutLeppävaara 1918 huhtikuussa. KapinatarinaHelsingin taistelut 1918Saksalaisten voitonparaati HelsingissäHelsingin valtausta juhlittiinSaksalaisten Helsinki vuonna 1918Helsingin taistelussa kaatuneet valkokaartilaisetHelsinkiin haudatut taisteluissa kaatuneet punaiset12.4.1918 Helsingin valtauksessa saksalaiset apujoukot vapauttavat kaupunginVapaussodan muistomerkkejä Helsingissä ja pääkaupunkiseudullaCrescendo / Vuoden 1918 Kansalaissodan uhrien muistomerkkim

            Adjektiivitarina Tarinan tekeminen | Esimerkki: ennen | Esimerkki: jälkeen | Navigointivalikko