ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 15, 1996 TAG: 9604150074
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
NEVER PUT OFF until tomorrow what you can avoid a penalty for paying today.
Taxpayers sweating out the final hours before the midnight filing deadline will find more high-tech assistance - but less old-fashioned person-to-person help - this year.
Need a form at the last minute? Try downloading one from the Internal Revenue Service home page on the Internet. Or call on your fax machine.
But an 11th-hour search for forms by taxpayers without access to a computer or fax machine may prove difficult. The IRS has closed 93 walk-in assistance centers and reduced hours at 442 others. Also, it has stopped distributing forms at banks.
Common forms still are available at post offices and a wider selection at libraries, as well as IRS offices that survived the agency's belt-tightening.
The IRS home page also has tax information on a wide range of topics. Or taxpayers can listen to tapes on about 150 subjects by calling (800)829-4477. That's also the number to check on the status of refunds.
Reaching an IRS employee by telephone just before the filing deadline may be next to impossible. During January, February and March, the IRS answered about one in five calls placed to its help line, (800)829-1040. But that ratio is sure to be a lot worse today.
Taxpayers who can't get the information or forms they need should consider an all-out effort to locate just one - Form 4868. It grants an automatic filing extension until Aug.15.
However, it is not an extension of time to pay any taxes owed. Form 4868 filers should estimate how much they owe and include a check. If your estimate is too high, the IRS will send you a refund after you file your return.
If you can't pay all you owe, send as much as you can. You'll still get the extension. And the IRS will bill you for the balance, plus interest and any penalty due. That amounts to about 14 percent at an annual rate, so it may be cheaper to get a loan and pay on time.
You may ask to pay in installments on Form 9465. The IRS will let you know within 30 days. A $43 fee will be added to your first payment.
Taxpayers may apply for a payment extension by filing Form 1127. It's for the handful of taxpayers who can prove not only that they can't pay but that the deadline itself is imposing a hardship. An example would be a taxpayer who would be forced to sell a property at a distressed price before the deadline but who could sell at a fair market price, given a little more time.
Filing late, as opposed to just paying late, really gets expensive. The penalty is 5 percent per month (an annual rate of about 60 percent).
If the IRS owes you money, there's no penalty for failing to file - other than letting the government use your money interest-free. But if you're wrong and end up owing money, you'll face a large penalty. Also, you forfeit refunds not claimed within three years of the return's due date.
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