When Do You File Your Tax Return? (Trivia)

[rk911]

we are on a snowbird RV trip and our mail just caught up with us today (after 7-weeks!). we almost alway owe (i prefer that to a refund) and if that proves to be the case we'll file on or about April 1. if we fo get a refund we'll file ASAP.

 

[scrabbler1]

Same here. I NEVER have all the necessary documents before early April, if that. Probably more often than not, I have to file for extension because one or more K1 or 1099 are still missing by the deadline. Have been trying to slowly weed out the more notorious outfits, but I'm quite sure it'll be April again this year before the last one trickles in.

The timing of getting important tax documents has caused me some grief over the years, but not recently. One example is how the 4th quarter estimated tax deadline of Jan 15 is before the form 1098 deadline of Jan 31. One year, my co-op had received a big property tax refund which nearly eliminated all of the reported property taxes shown on form 1098. This greatly reduced my itemized deduction and increased my taxes due, nearly putting me into the penalty zone without being able to do anything about it because we were passed the Jan 15 estimated tax deadline.

What I began doing after that was to ask my co-op's managing agent in early December if they knew of any property tax refunds the co-op had received during the year so I could plan accordingly before the estimated tax deadline. They never had a big one since that year but have had a few smaller ones.

 

[mrfeh]

When K-1's don't arrive till March, hard to file in January, even February.

+1

I file as soon as I can, which is usually mid March.

 

[Ginny]

I take our paperwork to the CPA as soon as I receive all of it, usually early Feb. She files as soon as it is completed. I no longer do our taxes as an audit decades ago caused so much stress that I avoid it now. My information has been introduced to the public in numerous hacks: Home Depot, Yahoo, Anthem, Equifax, etc so tax fraud is on my mind.

 

[mountainsoft]

We always file our taxes as soon as my wife receives her W2 form. That's usually the last couple days of January, or the first couple days of February. I just looked and we filed our taxes before Feb 3rd for the last eight years.

We received our refund on Feb 20th this year. As we do every year we immediately spend the refund to pay for our property taxes for the year. Unfortunately, property taxes continue to rise so we have to chip in more and more each year to make up the difference. We received a $4300 tax return this year, property taxes were $4997.

 

[pb4uski]

I usually file very early. For 2019, I filed Feb 14, 2020. We owe ~$250 and I have that scheduled to be paid electronically. We had a small refund from the state and it was credited to our bank account on Feb 25... 11 days afer we filed... pretty good.

I also usually try to owe a small amount... if a fraudster files a return in my name and gets a refund then it is the IRS' problem and not mine... I pay them whatever the balance due is and I'm done.

 

[pacergal]

Used to file early February as soon as all forms were in.
The past few years, our brokerage 1099s have kept being corrected, so now we file mid March. No rush, as we most likely pay more on April 15 anyway.

 

[athena53]

I'm among the group waiting for the last tax forms- in this case it's stock and mutual fund sales from a major brokerage. 1099-DIV and 1099-INT all received and input and I've included an estimate for the missing numbers. Particularly annoying since I'm getting a refund of about $3K between state and local if my estimates are right.

 

[ncbill]

October 15...my personal taxes are a nightmare...lots of K-1s that don't come until March, then corrected versions come a month or two later.

OTOH, I'm doing a couple of trust tax returns & one for a kid...those are already done, but not filed.

 

[Jerry1]

I eFile Fed, but I snail mail state because I refuse to pay a fee to do so. Has to be easier for them than paper so why charge? States should make eFile free and charge a fee for paper these days?

Same here and I agree, State should not charge. I’ll use a postage stamp over $15-$20 any day.

I usually file later (April). Even if I have a refund I just roll it forward anyway.

 

[frayne]

Usually mid to late March in case of any revised 1099s. I hate doing an amended return.

 

[gerntz]

What's a paycheck?

 

[gerntz]

Same here and I agree, State should not charge. I’ll use a postage stamp over $15-$20 any day.

I usually file later (April). Even if I have a refund I just roll it forward anyway.

We do too though I think the paper & ink are worth $15-20.

 

[always_learning]

I try to file as soon as all of our forms are in (because of fraud fear), but it also depends on my mental state as to when I tackle them. I'm a 'paper & pencil' person so I need several hours of quiet time to complete them and then a few more hours a few days later to check my computations.

On average, I'd say they get filed mid-end of Feb, with a few years the first few days of March.

We are usually right on the line of writing a small check to/getting back a small refund from both fed & state.

 

[Midpack]

I eFile Fed, but I snail mail state because I refuse to pay a fee to do so. Has to be easier for them than paper so why charge? States should make eFile free and charge a fee for paper these days?

Same here and I agree, State should not charge. I’ll use a postage stamp over $15-$20 any day.

In all fairness I'm told it's not states that are charging to eFile, it's TurboTax in my case.

But I still wonder why states aren't encouraging eFiling and charging for paper/snail mail. Wouldn't eFiling eliminate a TON of data entry and/or accuracy checking for state DORs? Then again, politicians strongly discourage efficiency when it means [-]voters[/-] any jobs...

 

[cathy63]

California actually has its own e-file system called CalFile. It would work for something like 85% of state taxpayers, but it rules out anyone whose federal return has Schedules C, D, E, F, Roth Conversions, HSA contributions, etc, which is probably the group most capable and interested in using it. I used it to file my Mom's state return after doing the Federal with TTax and it was pretty easy except for having to re-enter everything.

CA also has a law that requires 3rd party preparers to e-file if they use software, so I suspect that covers a pretty large percentage of returns. I think if they started charging more to accept paper returns they'd get a lot fewer returns overall and would end up spending more money to chase down the non-filers than they'd save on the paper processing.

 

[Souschef]

Today. I just got the last 1099 from FIDO.

 

[MJ]

2nd. week in April as we ALWAYS owe money back to the IRS.

I always make sure that my quarterly estimated taxes equal the previous year's taxes so I normally owe taxes so I'll efile the return some time before 4/15 but I will pay my return tax on the last day it is due via EFT.

 

[Dawg52]

I finished up this morning. First time using TurboTax online provided by Fidelity. Always used the downloaded version but moving away from Windows laptops to Chromebook. Online version worked just as well imo if not easier. As far as filing goes....I'll wait until April as I have received corrected documents before(1 time) that required an amended return. I'd just as soon avoid that. I owe $1k to the feds and zero to the state.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

30 minutes ago.

 

[rk911]

I always make sure that my quarterly estimated taxes equal the previous year's taxes so I normally owe taxes so I'll efile the return some time before 4/15 but I will pay my return tax on the last day it is due via EFT.

i always leave a bit more space between payment date and filing date...just becuz sometimes things go bump in the night.

 

[kgtest]

30 minutes ago.

Hah. I filed state. Gotta mail it. Payment drafted on April 15th. I owe u owe off to work I go.

 

[CountryBoy]

I completed mine yesterday, and still in a bit of happy shock... a couple months ago, I read an article how TT tries to confuse you by advertising it's free (if you're filing a simple return) but if you access it thru the IRS website and your AGI is < 36K, it's free regardless of the complexity.


This is the site the IRS directed me to: https://freefile.intuit.com/


It imported all my data from last year's return, imported my 1099-INT from my bank, 1099-B, 1099-DIV, 1099-R from Vanguard. (I was worried I'd have to put it all in by hand, but this worked exactly the same as the online Premier version I use every year.) It completed both my Federal & State, efiled both, never asked me for my credit card. I haven't filed for free since my days with the 1040EZ back in the Stone Age

 

[Old Microbiologist]

We file electronically as soon as all the various 1099's show up. We always owe the IRS because standard withholdings are never enough and Congress set it up that way. We pay by electronic bank transfer on April 15th (or closest business day). No sense giving them money early.

 

[arch57]

I usually file by mid-Feb but this year expecting a huge ACA refund as we kept MAGI low in 2019 and therefore had a very simple return, just my pension and small 1099-DIV, I filed on 1/31. IRS usually will refund in 3 weeks if you e-file but I'm in a bit of a panic now because it has been almost 6 weeks and refund status is still "processing".
It probably raised a red-flag to see a $16K refund when I never claimed the ACA credit before but not worried as everything is legit. Just wanted the funds to deposit $8K into our HSA but have until April 15 to do that.