Tax Fact #2: Simple Errors Cost Taxpayers Millions
Fact: Errors cost taxpayers over $334 million in penalties in 2010.
Don’t give the IRS a reason to swoop in and penalize you. Here are six of the most common mistakes to avoid:
- Claiming the wrong filing status.
- Math errors.
- Incorrect or missing Social Security numbers.
- Incorrect or misspelling of dependent’s last name.
- Forgetting to include forms.
- Forgetting to sign and date the return.
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I also just learned (the hard way) that it is a myth to think that as long as your business has no taxes due it doesn’t matter if you file late, the IRS will only penalize you if you owe taxes and pay late. If your business is a C- Corp this is true for the most part however, if you are an S-Corp and you file late without an extension or go past the extension deadline but have no tax due, the IRS will still charge you a penalty of $195 per shareholder, per month going back to the original tax deadline! I just got a notice that we owe $3100 in penalties because I missed the extension deadline by 15 days!