By Colton Lawrence,
The Trucker CFO
The Trucker CFO Team wanted to share a final heads up on an important deadline that the IRS has set for this Friday, September 30, 2022.
Just in case you might have missed it, the IRS announced in August that they would be waiving penalties associated with returns that were filed late for the tax years 2019 and 2020. This announcement by the IRS is particularly valuable for anyone who has paid penalties for filing their returns late for these tax years, and this opportunity is also valuable for anyone who may have outstanding penalties for late filings related to 2019 and 2020.
Under this plan, it’s also important to note that anyone who has not yet filed a tax return for 2019 or 2020 will have until September 30th to get that done. As we share this reminder with you, we’re obviously very late in the game for those who have not filed tax returns, but this opportunity is so significant and valuable that we wanted to provide you with this information.
According to the reports that we have reviewed at Trucker CFO, the penalty relief program from the IRS is part of the agency’s efforts to address the massive backlog of unprocessed returns. Part of this backlog was created during the COVID pandemic, but cutbacks within the agency and other issues over the years have resulted in 25 to 30 million paper tax returns becoming piled up in IRS warehouses and going unprocessed.
A recent bill passed by Congress and signed into law will provide funding for the IRS to hire thousands of agents and ramp up enforcement efforts, which will include identifying people who have failed to file taxes, failed to pay taxes or failed to pay penalties and interest related to taxes. Congress, as part of the funding provided to the IRS, instructed the agency that they needed to provide taxpayers in a situation where they have not filed or owe penalties a form of notice before the agency took steps toward enforcement.
Just how significant is this opportunity to get relief from the IRS penalties we have discussed here? According to the reports our Trucker CFO team has reviewed, the IRS estimates that more than $1.2 billion in penalties will be saved by people who will take the next steps to benefit from this IRS program.
As always, the Trucker CFO podcast we have included with this post goes into more depth on the September 30th deadline, and we would invite you to listen. During the podcast, you will hear what we feel is a very important discussion on the larger issue of tax resolution for those who owe past-due taxes or those people who have not filed taxes in previous years.
As we share with you during the podcast, the time for waiting to get your tax situation corrected is over. The days of lax enforcement will be going away with the addition of personnel that the IRS will be adding in the coming months and years. Whether you can take advantage of the September 30 deadline or it passes you by, this date also serves as a reminder that it’s time to get your financial house and your tax situation in order.
At Trucker CFO, we’re ready to help. If you have questions about taxes, accounting or other aspects of your business, or if you would like to learn more about Trucker CFO, please visit us at TruckerCFO.com.