What's the IRS penalty if I miss the April filing deadline?
The IRS applies late penalties and interest on a case-by-case basis and will send a separate bill if penalties apply.
Because the IRS has the last word on penalties, we can't calculate the exact amount if your return is late. But the info below will give you an idea of what to expect in a worst-case scenario (courtesy of IRS Tax Topic 653).
No penalty if you're getting a tax refund.
However, you must file your 2017 taxes by April 18, 2021 (or October 16 of 2021, if you filed an extension). After that, any unclaimed tax refunds get turned over to the U.S. Treasury.
No penalty if you file by October 16, 2018, provided you filed an extension and paid your tax bill by April 17, 2018.
Late filing penalties apply if you owe taxes and didn't file your return or extension by April 17, 2018, or if you filed an extension but failed to file your return by October 16, 2018.
The late filing penalty is 5% of the additional taxes owed amount for every month (or fraction thereof) your return is late, up to a maximum of 25%.
If you file more than 60 days after the due date, the minimum penalty is $205 or 100% of your unpaid tax, whichever is less.
Late payment penalties apply if you didn't pay taxes owed by April 17, 2018, regardless of whether you filed an extension or not.
The late payment penalty is 0.5% (1/2 of 1 percent) of the additional tax owed amount for every month (or fraction thereof) the owed tax remains unpaid, up to a maximum of 25%.
For any month(s) in which both the late-payment and late-filing penalties apply, the 0.5% late-payment penalty is waived.
Interest (compounded daily) starts accumulating on unpaid taxes one day after the due date of the return, until the bill is fully paid off. The current interest rate is 4.18% (3% on top of the federal short-term rate of 1.18%) and is subject to change.
Example: Let's say you didn't file your return by the April 17 deadline and you owe the IRS an additional $1,000.
Scenario 1: You file an extension on or before April 17 and pay your $1,000 bill on April 27 (10 days late). Your penalty would be $5 (the 0.5% late-payment penalty applied to $1,000), plus another dollar or so for the interest.
Scenario 2: You didn't file an extension, and you file your return on April 27 (10 days late) along with your $1,000 payment. Your penalty would be $50 (the 5% late-filing penalty applied to $1,000), plus another dollar or so for the interest.
Scenario 3: You file your return 5 years late, along with your $1,000 payment. Your penalty would be around $482 (the maximum late-filing penalty of 25% applied to $1,000, plus 4.18% interest compounded daily assuming the interest rate doesn't change).
Related Information:
How can I pay my federal taxes?
What if I can't pay my taxes?
What if I miss the April 17, 2018 filing deadline?
What if I missed the October 16 filing deadline?
RS Tax Tip 2013-58, April 18, 2013
April 15 is the annual deadline for most people to file their federal income tax return and pay any taxes they owe. By law, the IRS may assess penalties to taxpayers for both failing to file a tax return and for failing to pay taxes they owe by the deadline.
Here are eight important points about penalties for filing or paying late.
A failure-to-file penalty may apply if you did not file by the tax filing deadline. A failure-to-pay penalty may apply if you did not pay all of the taxes you owe by the tax filing deadline.
The failure-to-file penalty is generally more than the failure-to-pay penalty. You should file your tax return on time each year, even if you’re not able to pay all the taxes you owe by the due date. You can reduce additional interest and penalties by paying as much as you can with your tax return. You should explore other payment options such as getting a loan or making an installment agreement to make payments. The IRS will work with you.
The penalty for filing late is normally 5 percent of the unpaid taxes for each month or part of a month that a tax return is late. That penalty starts accruing the day after the tax filing due date and will not exceed 25 percent of your unpaid taxes.
If you do not pay your taxes by the tax deadline, you normally will face a failure-to-pay penalty of ½ of 1 percent of your unpaid taxes. That penalty applies for each month or part of a month after the due date and starts accruing the day after the tax-filing due date.
If you timely requested an extension of time to file your individual income tax return and paid at least 90 percent of the taxes you owe with your request, you may not face a failure-to-pay penalty. However, you must pay any remaining balance by the extended due date.
If both the 5 percent failure-to-file penalty and the ½ percent failure-to-pay penalties apply in any month, the maximum penalty that you’ll pay for both is 5 percent.
If you file your return more than 60 days after the due date or extended due date, the minimum penalty is the smaller of $135 or 100 percent of the unpaid tax.
You will not have to pay a late-filing or late-payment penalty if you can show reasonable cause for not filing or paying on time.
Note: The IRS recently announced special penalty relief to many taxpayers who requested an extension of time to file their 2012 federal income tax returns and some victims of the recent severe storms in parts of the South and Midwest. For details about these relief provisions, see IRS news releases IR-2013-31 and IR-2013-42. The IRS has also provided individual tax filing and payment extensions to those affected by the Boston explosions tragedy. See IR-2013-43 for more information.
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