There is no penalty for being late, if you are getting a refund (or owe nothing). If you owe money, you want to do it soon, as the penalty increases for each month, or part of a month, you are late.
If you owe tax and don't file on time, there's also a penalty for not filing on time. The failure-to-file penalty is usually five percent of the tax owed for each month, or part of a month that your return is late, up to a maximum of 25%. If your return is over 60 days late, there's also a minimum penalty for late filing; it's the lesser of $435 (for tax returns required to be filed in 2022) or 100 percent of the tax owed.
In addition, if you file a return but don't pay all tax owed on time, you'll generally have to pay a late payment penalty. The failure-to-pay penalty is one-half of one percent for each month, or part of a month, up to a maximum of 25%, of the amount of tax that remains unpaid from the due date of the return until the tax is paid in full.
