Tax procrastinator?

[AllGold]

Just curious about the statistical distribution between early and late filers.

I'm usually in the just-by-the-deadline camp but this year I was a couple days early (giving me time to do things like create polls about tax filing).

[MacArtist]

I had mine finished yesterday at 4:30pm.

I knew I had to pay in. I'm not going to rush to give Uncle Sam my/his money.

[Rick-o]

Usually a few days before deadline, but this year I finished about a week ahead of time.

[Lew Zealand]

IOU US Gubmint & Taxachusetts West (CA), so I pay out on the 15th.

If the gov owes me, then it's my mistake for giving them too much $$ during the previous year. I don't make that mistake often.

[Bill in NC]

Done by early March.

Payment held until today, of course.

[AlphaDog]

Bill in NC wrote:
Done by early March.

Payment held until today, of course.

See? Bill understands that there's a difference between waiting until the last minute to do your taxes and waiting until the last minute to send in the return and the money.

[A-Polly]

None of the above: a form 4868 (which I filed*) now provides an extension till 15 October.

*The last time I filed ahead of time I made a mistake, was audited, and had to pay something like $900 more. So now it's sort of a superstitious ritual to just go ahead and file for the extension. Takes the pressure off, anyway, even if you don't need six whole months.

[Mike Sellers]

I haven't filed on time in five years. I always go for the extra six months.

FYI, if you're self-employed, you also get an additional six months to contribute to a SEP. The IRA deadline is still April 15th regardless of an extension.

[AllGold]

I don't know if it's still true but many, many years ago some financial guru said filing an extension actually decreases your chances of an audit, even if you have your taxes ready and file right away. It probably won't help if you have big red flags in your return, but apparently, the IRS pulls the vast majority of their random audits from the on-time filers.

[Mike Sellers]

AllGold wrote:
I don't know if it's still true but many, many years ago some financial guru said filing an extension actually decreases your chances of an audit, even if you have your taxes ready and file right away. It probably won't help if you have big red flags in your return, but apparently, the IRS pulls the vast majority of their random audits from the on-time filers.

But I've also read that the IRS delays a percentage of random audits so filing an extension doesn't game the system. But I can't help feeling that your scenario is more accurate and they just put the other story out there to keep more people from filing for extensions. Let's face it, by October, they just want to get the last tax season wrapped up and move on to the next one.