The passing of April 17th has marked the end of this year’s tax deadline for most, but that does not mean that steps should not be taken to ease next year’s tax season as well. For those that have missed this year’s deadline and have fallen behind, there are some measures you can take. The rest can focus on smoothing out their tax preparation process for this current year.

If you have not filed your taxes, are not on extension, or have simply missed the deadline, then the first thing you should do is to reach out to the tax company who is handling your taxes and to check to see if they did file an extension without sending you a copy. If there’s no extension, you still should file a return, even if it’s past the deadline, you will still want to go ahead and file one in order to reduce the potential financial penalty for being late. Different penalties will be applied for late filing and late payments, but it all depends on the how long it takes you to file or pay what you owe. If you wait to file more than two years past the deadline, the IRS is not required to pay you a single cent if you had a refund, so that should help you get motivated!

If you are on extension, do not procrastinate. The added time you were given was to help you prepare an accurate tax return. Use this time wisely to continue to gather the info you needed rather than waiting to the last possible minute.

And finally, if you turned in your taxes without a hitch, enjoy the coming summer months. If your tax filing process did not go so well, find out what caused the problems and iron them out for next year. Was there a death in the family? Did your employment status suddenly change? Was there a divorce that changed your marital status?

There can be many unexpected hiccups in life that can affect your tax return. That is why it is recommended to start early and talk to your tax preparer throughout the year to check in on events current, planned and unplanned. It’s better to tell your tax preparer well in advance of that impending marriage or baby on the way. Even a divorce—if you started divorce proceedings now, it’s likely you’ll have a “single” status by next year’s tax return.

So if you are looking for help with bookkeeping or tax consulting for next year, then give us a call. We can help design a plan that will ensure you stay on track and accountable for the calendar year of 2012. Call Simons Accountancy now to make an appointment—we’ll do a review of your taxes and get you on track for next year: (714) 637-4552