General income tax filing deadline extended to May 17
As an extended-for-2021 tax deadline approaches, both taxpayers and preparers are experiencing a filing season like no other in recent memory.
“It’s been a very unusual year and quite a hectic year in the tax world,” said Beth Bennett, franchisee of the East Ellijay H&R Block location.
Both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and State of Georgia have extended the general income tax filing deadline for this year from April 15 to May 17.
Bennett noted that there are a few reasons to go ahead and file.
“They’ve extended the deadline till May 17, which is very beneficial, but I still recommend filing now to mitigate any identity theft. The sooner you can file every year, the better off you are safety wise,” she noted.
“Identity theft is a major issue. People can file under your name and get a big refund. Then, when you go and file your tax return, yours will get rejected and say you’ve already filed. There are people who’ve (made) a career out of it.”
Bennett confirmed that her office has been receiving a lot of questions about the extended unemployment payments started last year, as well as stimulus checks issued in 2020.
“We are hearing a lot about that. It’s been a very busy phone year,” she said.
“The unemployment is a very fluid situation right now. The IRS has said you can exclude up to $10,200 of unemployment income per taxpayer from being taxable this year. You’ll report it on the return, and it will back it out. For married filing joint, there would be an income cutoff. If you made over $150,000, you don’t get to exclude that income.”
As of Monday, Georgia had not made the same decision about excluding unemployment income from taxation.
“Any of our clients who have unemployment, we are going ahead and filing their federal tax return, but not their state because Georgia hasn’t decided to go with the federal treating of that unemployment income,” Bennett said.
This year’s 1040 form has a special line item for stimulus checks.
“You’re not reporting it to claim it as income, but to reconcile and make sure you received as much as you should have,” Bennett said. “Let’s say you didn’t get it on a child, but should have. You put the amount on your tax return that you did receive and it will reconcile it. If you put $0 and you did get it, that could delay your refund.”
The IRS adds new update codes to its software each year, but that’s been especially true for the 2020 tax year. Those changes and updates, in turn, have to then be adopted by tax preparers, Bennett noted.
“The IRS has to update their tax forms, then update the software in their system. Then, they’ve got to push it out to everyone who writes software (including) businesses like us. We’ve got to get it into our software and update our forms and systems and test it with them,” she added.
Per the IRS, taxpayers who need additional time to file past the May 17 deadline can request an extension until Oct. 15 by filing Form 4868 through their tax professional, with tax software or by using the Free File link at IRS.gov.
Also per the IRS, although filing Form 4868 gives until Oct. 15 to file a 2020 tax return, it does not extend time to pay taxes due. Federal income tax should be paid by May 17 to avoid interest and penalties. Estimated quarterly tax payments are still due on April 15.
Bennett said she often speaks to local civic groups about tax tips and issues, and her office takes questions from the public.
“They are more than welcome to call us. We answer questions for free. We’re more than happy to come out and speak wherever we can,” she added.
AARP tax program at library
A free tax assistance and preparation program offered by AARP continues this year at the Gilmer County Library. The local public library has been a previous site for AARP’s volunteer-based Tax Aide program.
According to AARP.org, although the tax help program is aimed at people age 50 and older, as well as those who have low to moderate incomes, it’s open to anyone free of charge.
For more details on availability of this program, contact the Gilmer County Library at 706-635-4528.