By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — We're a month into the tax season and officials with the Internal Revenue Service reporting things seem to be going smoothly.
Spokesman for the IRS Michael Devine said as of Feb. 10 almost 29 million tax returns have been filed for this tax season.
Devine says to get your returns ready to be filed, most people should be looking out for their W-2s from employers and a variety of the form 1099.
"So, these are the forms that you normally get, and unless your situation has really changed from last year go back and look at the 2021 tax return," Devine said. "That would give you a very good starting point on what your 2022 return will look like, and it will also tell you what documents you used then and which ones you should have now."
Devine said people should already have their tax forms, and if you do already have those forms, there's no need to wait until the last minute to file.
"Because April 18th is the date you have to file your tax return or get an extension, it's also the day that you have to pay any taxes that are due, there's no extension on paying just an extension on actually preparing the tax return," Devine said. "So, waiting until the last minute is something a lot of people do, it's not a good thing to do."
Devine says if you have not received your tax forms by the end of this month you should check your spam folder if they were emailed or call your employer. You can also contact the IRS for help if you are missing forms.
This year, thanks to some legalities, taxpayers will have extra time to file their returns.
Devine says normally tax returns are due by April 15th, however that day falls on a Saturday and legally taxes cannot be collected on a weekend or holiday, so it would roll over to the following Monday
"Unfortunately, or fortunately for taxpayers, April 16th is Emancipation Day, that's a holiday that's celebrated in Washington D.C." Devine said.
And because that's on a Sunday, the federal holiday would move to Monday, April 17, pushing the tax deadline to April 18.
"So, this year you have three extra days to file, but we really say if you've got all the documents you need, don't wait," Devine said.
Devine said just because the deadline to file is April 18, you still have to pay those taxes that are due, which you cannot get an extension on.