By now, you should have received the documents you need to file your taxes. I know it’s easy to procrastinate though. After all, I’ve had my share of late night runs to the post office on April 15th. But there are some very good reasons not to put off filing your taxes:
- You could suffer from identity theft.
One of the most common acts of identity theft is for someone to file an income tax return in your name and run off with the refund, leaving you stuck explaining to the IRS why everything on your return is wrong. Unlike other forms of identity theft, this can’t be prevented by a security freeze and it won’t show up in credit monitoring because no credit is involved. Your best bet is to file your return before someone else can file it for you. - Your return may be more complex than you thought.
You never know when your tax return may end up being more complicated than you thought. You might need additional paperwork or other information or even need to switch from using software to hiring a professional tax preparer. In that case, you’ll want time to find the right person rather than whoever happens to be available during the busiest time of tax season. - You might need time to get a payment together.
tThe only thing worse than finding out that you owe a large sum to the IRS is finding out just before the payment deadline and not being able to make the payment. You’ll then be subject to interest and penalties. By filing early, you’ll have more time to save up or otherwise get cash to pay your tax bill.
However, there is a crucial reason why you should start your filing sooner than later – click here to read the remaining two reasons not to put off filing your taxes.