Extensions Are a Bad Idea

I'm not talking about hair extensions; I have no opinion on those. This post could appropriately be titled "Why You Should File Your Taxes on Time". My online program says I was granted an extension, but I don't think I received confirmation of that from the IRS. I've done my own taxes using the same system since 1998 although the name changed. It used to be called Kiplinger's TaxCut and now it's H&R Block at Home, or something like that. Before that, I did them the old-fashioned way, lots of by-hand notations and calculations. It was a lot harder. I did actually start my 2014 taxes in plenty of time to finish but ran into questions: How do I enter payments from my son's 529 plan to his university? Which of my inherited accounts do I have to pay taxes on? Even though I always itemize, my taxes are usually pretty straightforward -- and are usually finished long before the deadline.

Now I am in a crunch to finish because my son is reapplying for federal grants for school. Whether that was the case or not, it really is late in the game not to get it done. It's not getting any earlier. I called to make an appointment with an accountant yesterday, but her office didn't return my call so I'm going to try my best to do it on my own this weekend. I'll probably owe, and even assuming I was granted the extension, that doesn't stop the clock on interest, only on penalties. If I wasn't granted the extension, I'll have both interest and penalties in addition to my tax obligation. I'm afraid to see what it will be.

Being under pressure to get it done isn't conducive to accuracy, which also scares me a little bit. This is one of two monkeys I really need to get off my back. A side benefit of finishing my taxes is that I need to clean off my desk to make sure I have all the papers I need. Actually, that will be at least as big a pain in the ass, but it will be nice to have that done too. Papers organized and filed -- I can hardly imagine it! There are many things in my life that would have been better done months ago. The desk and the taxes will be a good start.