Late Filing...Please Help

[shaylanpatel]

Hi,

I know this may sound stupid to most of you but I just filed my taxes on Sep 14th. I’ve never filed taxes before and I was so confused and unsure of whether or not I had to given that I only work a part time job and my parents still claim me as a dependent because I’m 20. There aren’t really any excuses but I was told that I didn’t have to given those factors and I don’t know, I should’ve been more proactive about researching. I also kept running into problems with filing and didn’t know what to do because I don’t speak to my parents that often so I don’t really have guidance when it comes to this.

I have no idea how badly I’ve screwed up and I have no idea what to do or where to go from here. 

According to TurboTax I was owed a refund from the federal level and I owed New York State $184. Obviously that was due on July 15th but I don’t know how much I owe now and I’m so scared that I’ve completely ruined myself financially. Even though my parents still claim me as a dependent I more or less support myself fully and I’m in school full time so I don’t just have funds laying around. I have no idea what to do and I’m just so scared of what’s to come from the IRS and State tax division. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

[xmasbaby0]

@shaylanpatel 

Breathe.....You have not ruined yourself financially.  If you are getting a federal tax refund there is no penalty for filing past the deadline--in fact you have three years to file a return if you are getting a refund.  So if you are getting a federal tax refund or at least did not owe the IRS, you are fine.  You  may owe a late filing fee or interest to New York since you say you had tax due for your state return.  If you owe anything to NY, after they process your state return they will send you a bill for the small extra amount.

You say you are 20 and are a full-time student, so your parents can still claim you as a dependent on their tax return.  When you answered the questions in My Info did you say YES to the question about whether you could be claimed as someone else's dependent?  Look at your Form 1040.  Is there an "X" in the box by whether you can be claimed as a dependent?  It is up near the top of the form--below your name and address on the section that says "Standard Deduction."

If your parents claim you as a dependent that means they are the ones who get to claim education credits, so if you received a 1098T for your tuition they get to use it on their tax return.

You had to enter your W-2(s) in Federal>Wages & Income.  If you had more than one job in 2019, all of your W-2's have to be on the same tax return.  Did you enter everything?

Did you e-file your tax returns?  Did you go all the way through the FILE section and click a big orange button that said "Transmit my returns now?"  

When you e-file your federal return you will receive two emails from TurboTax.  The first one will say that your return was submitted.  The second email will tell you if your federal return was accepted or rejected.  If you e-filed a state return, there will be a third email to tell you if the state accepted or rejected your state return.

First, check your e-file status to see if your return was accepted:

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/efile-status-lookup/

If the IRS accepted it, what does it say here? 

https://www.irs.gov/refunds          

Or does your account say “Ready to Mail?”

Note: If it says “Ready to Mail” or “Printed” that means YOU have to mail it yourself.  TurboTax does not mail your tax return for you.

You say you owed tax to NY.  What did you to do pay that tax?  

You must pay your state tax due using the state’s preferred method of receiving payment.  For most states that will be by making a payment to the state’s own tax website, or by mailing a check or money order.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900884-what-are-my-options-for-getting-my-state-refund-or-for-pay...

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901670-how-do-i-contact-my-state-department-of-revenue

TurboTax gives you an estimated date for receiving your federal refund based on a 21 day average from your date of acceptance, but it can take longer.  Many refunds are taking longer during the pandemic. 

Once your federal return has been accepted by the IRS, only the IRS has any control. TurboTax does not receive any updates from the IRS. Your ONLY source of information about your refund now is the IRS.

You need your filing status, your Social Security number and the exact amount  (line 20 of your Form 1040) of your federal refund to track your Federal refund:   

https://www.irs.gov/refunds

To track your state refund:    

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899433-how-do-i-track-my-state-refund

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901548-why-do-some-refunds-take-longer-than-others

If you chose to have your TurboTax fees deducted from your federal refund, that will take some extra time, while the third party bank handles the refund processing.

https://www.irs.gov/refunds/tax-season-refund-frequently-asked-questions

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2840013-does-accepted-mean-my-refund-is-approved

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2724106-my-return-is-accepted-but-still-not-approved-is-there-a-pr...

[xmasbaby0]

SAVE YOUR TAX RETURN !

EVERY year before mid-October you should save a copy of your tax return as a pdf and print a copy of it for your records.  That way you will not be searching online frantically when you need it for a lender, FAFSA forms, your next tax return, etc.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900937-why-should-i-save-a-pdf-copy-of-my-return

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899779-what-s-the-difference-between-the-tax-data-file-and-the-pd...

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1912466-how-do-i-save-my-return-as-a-pdf-in-the-turbotax-software-... •

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1912533-how-do-i-save-my-return-as-a-pdf-in-the-turbotax-software-...

[Opus 17]

Penalties and late fees are a percentage of what you owed.  So there will be no federal penalty for filing late if you are expecting a refund.  NY may send you a bill.  

• The penalty for late filing is 5% of what you owe, per month, for the first 5 months, then 0.5% per month after that.  
• The penalty for late payment is 0.5% of the amount you owe, except that no late payment penalty is charged for any month when you are charged a late filing penalty of 5%.  
• Interest is a variable rate that is around 3% APR.

(NY's penalties and interest rules look like they follow the federal rules.)  So you are looking at $18 of potential penalties, plus another $2 of interest.  

The penalty is waived if your tax payments (withholding) are more than your last years' tax, and if this is the first year you filed, then last year's tax was zero, so you may be completely exempt from paying a penalty.  (This is sometimes thought of as a first-year exemption, although that is not technically true.)

So at most you might owe NY an extra $20.  It's definitely not the end of the world.