If you owe taxes and didn’t file your tax return or request an extension by the April 17, 2012, deadline, penalties and interest will usually be added to any tax you owe. The IRS will deny a request for an extension that is filed after midnight on April 17. However, you should still file your tax return, even if it’s late.

The late filing penalty is normally 5 percent per month, or part of a month, based on the unpaid balance, up to a maximum of 25 percent. If the tax return is more than 60 days late, the minimum penalty is $135 or the balance due, whichever is less.

A late payment penalty, normally one-half of one percent per month, may also apply, along with interest, currently at the rate of 3 percent per year, compounded daily.

Interest and penalties add to the total amount you owe, so the sooner you file, even if you can’t pay all or some of the taxes due, the less you will owe.

More information about penalty and interest charges is contained in Chapter 1, Filing Information, of IRS Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax.

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Here are five things the IRS wants you to know about phishing scams.

1. The IRS never asks for detailed personal and financial information like PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for credit card, bank or other financial accounts.
2. The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information. If you receive an e-mail from someone claiming to be the IRS or directing you to an IRS site: Do NOT reply the message. Do NOT open any attachments – attachments may contain malicious code that will infect your computer. Do NOT click on any links. If you clicked on links in a suspicious e-mail or phishing website and entered confidential information, visit the IRS website and enter the search term ‘identity theft’ for more information and resources to help.
3. The address of the official IRS website is http://www.irs.gov/ Do not be confused or misled by sites claiming to be the IRS but ending in .com, .net, .org or other designations instead of .gov. If you discover a website that claims to be the IRS but you suspect it is bogus, do not provide any personal information on the suspicious site and report it to the IRS.
4. If you receive a phone call, fax or letter in the mail from an individual claiming to be from the IRS but you suspect they are not an IRS employee, contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to determine if the IRS has a legitimate need to contact you. Report any bogus correspondence.  You can forward a suspicious email to phishing@irs.gov.
5. You can help shut down these schemes and prevent others from being victimized. Details on how to report specific types of scams and what to do if you’ve been victimized are available at http://www.irs.gov/. Click on “phishing” on the home page.

Links:

• Protect your personal information! The IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications through e-mail
• Suspicious e-Mails and Identity Theft

via: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=252313,00.html

To find out if you need to file, check the Individuals section of the IRS website at www.irs.gov or consult the instructions for Form 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ for specific details that may help you determine if you need to file a tax return with the IRS this year. You can also use the Interactive Tax Assistant available on the IRS website. The ITA tool is a tax law resource that takes you through a series of questions and provides you with responses to tax law questions.

Even if you don’t have to file for 2011, here are six reasons why you may want to:

1. Federal Income Tax Withheld You should file to get money back if your employer withheld federal income tax from your pay, you made estimated tax payments, or had a prior year overpayment applied to this year’s tax.
2. Earned Income Tax Credit You may qualify for EITC if you worked, but did not earn a lot of money. EITC is a refundable tax credit; which means you could qualify for a tax refund. To get the credit you must file a return and claim it.
3. Additional Child Tax Credit This refundable credit may be available if you have at least one qualifying child and you did not get the full amount of the Child Tax Credit.
4. American Opportunity Credit Students in their first four years of postsecondary education may qualify for as much as $2,500 through this credit. Forty percent of the credit is refundable so even those who owe no tax can get up to $1,000 of the credit as cash back for each eligible student.
5. Adoption Credit You may be able to claim a refundable tax credit for qualified expenses you paid to adopt an eligible child.
6. Health Coverage Tax Credit Certain individuals who are receiving Trade Adjustment Assistance, Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance, Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance or pension benefit payments from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, may be eligible for a 2011 Health Coverage Tax Credit.

Eligible individuals can claim a significant portion of their payments made for qualified health insurance premiums.

For more information about filing requirements and your eligibility to receive tax credits, visit www.irs.gov.

via: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=251941,00.html