Federal tax deadline, what happens if you don’t file at all

DELMARVA – Monday, April 18th is the last day to file your federal taxes, so if you haven’t yet or just forgot, then a local accountant has some last-minute advice.

In Delaware, residents have until April 20th to file their state taxes and in Maryland, they have until July 15th to file their state taxes. At this point, local accountant Mark Welsh says, you’ll most likely have to file an extension, whether you owe money or not.

If you owe money, you’ll either have to send it in with your tax return or file for an extension Monday or send in your extension so you can get on a payment plan. However, if you don’t file at all, we’re told there could be some serious consequences.

“They pretty much only have one option and that’s to file an extension of time and that form is a 48-68 which is an automatic 6-month extension of time to file.” Welsh adds, “If you do nothing, you’re potentially going to get hit with a failure to file and potentially a failure to pay penalty if you do nothing.”

Welsh also says penalties and interest will begin piling up if you owe money and don’t file and pay on time, or get on a proper payment plan.