Did You Miss the Tax Deadline? 3 Steps You Can Take Next

The April 15th tax deadline has come and gone. If you missed the tax deadline, don’t worry, you can still file. Here are 3 steps to get your taxes done today and get your refund.

File Now – Don’t wait any longer

If you haven’t filed your taxes yet, don’t panic. You can still file today. If you are expecting a tax refund, which close to 80% of taxpayers do, you will not receive a penalty for filing late. Simply go online and use e-file with direct deposit to get your refund fast.

Don’t think you need to file? You may still want to.

Every year the IRS reports over $1 billion in unclaimed tax refunds. Even if you made under the IRS income threshold for filing ($15,750 single, $31,500 married filing jointly for 2025), you should still file a tax return if you had federal taxes withheld from your paychecks or you are eligible for tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Use E-file with Direct Deposit

Even though you missed the deadline, you can still go online and e-file your taxes conveniently with TurboTax. E-file allows your tax return to be received and processed by the IRS quickly and easily. Plus, you will also receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your return.

If you mail in your tax return, it will take the IRS longer to receive and process your return. E-filing with direct deposit is the fastest way to get your tax refund. The IRS states it will issue nine out of 10 tax refunds within 21 days or less from acceptance. 

Pay Any Taxes Owed

If you owe money, you’ll want to file as soon as you can to avoid a bigger failure-to-pay penalty. If you didn’t file an extension in April you’ll have a failure-to-file and a failure-to-pay penalty. Although you may have a penalty for filing late, your penalty will be smaller than if you don’t file at all. Filing and paying as soon as possible will reduce what you owe in interest. The longer you wait to file and pay, the bigger the interest penalty.

Some taxpayers put off filing because they owe money and they don’t know how they’re going to pay. If you put off filing for this reason, there are steps you can take that will be better and less costly for you. 

You should file as soon as possible, pay what you can, and then request a payment plan from the IRS. The IRS has several options to help you. You can request a short-term payment plan, long-term installment agreement, an offer in compromise, or temporarily delay collections in some situations. You can set up a: 

• Short-term payment plan: You should select this plan if you can pay what you owe within 180 days. 
• Long-term installment agreements: This plan allows you to pay what you owe over six years. 
• Installment agreement: If your total taxes, penalties, and interest are up to $50,000, you can request an installment agreement online.

Don’t worry if you missed the deadline, you can still file with TurboTax. No matter what moves you made last year, TurboTax will make them count on your taxes. Whether you want to do your taxes yourself or have a TurboTax expert file for you, we’ll make sure you get every dollar you deserve and your biggest possible refund – guaranteed. 

Victims of recent federally declared disasters often qualify for certain extended tax deadlines. You can find out specific extended deadlines for disaster relief or tax provisions for states affected by disasters from the IRS.