{"id":286933,"date":"2026-04-18T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/?p=286933"},"modified":"2026-04-18T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T12:00:00","slug":"missed-the-april-15-deadline-irs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/missed-the-april-15-deadline-irs\/","title":{"rendered":"Missed the April 15 Deadline? Here\u2019s What the IRS Is Going to Hit You With Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tax Day 2026 came and went<\/strong>. If you didn\u2019t file your return or pay what you owe, you\u2019re probably wondering what happens next<\/strong>. Short answer: nothing instant or apocalyptic. But the longer you wait, the more it\u2019s going to cost you. The IRS doesn\u2019t send a warning shot\u2014they just start adding charges.<\/p>\n

First thing to understand: there\u2019s a big difference between not filing and not paying. A lot of people mix them up. But the IRS treats them separately<\/strong>, with separate penalties. And yeah, you can get hit with both at the same time. Knowing which one applies to you actually matters\u2014because it changes what you should do first.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s What the IRS Could Start Charging You Right Now<\/h2>\n

The penalty for filing late (they call it \u201cfailure to file<\/strong>\u201d) is 5% of your unpaid tax for every month or partial month your return is missing. That adds up fast, maxing out at 25%<\/strong>. The clock starts ticking the day after the deadline\u2014no letter, no phone call.<\/p>\n

The penalty for paying late (\u201cfailure to pay<\/strong>\u201d) is way smaller: 0.5% per month on what you owe, also capped at 25%<\/strong>. So yeah, not filing is ten times more expensive per month than not paying.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the takeaway: even if you\u2019re broke, file your return anyway. Seriously. The moment you hit \u201csubmit,\u201d that 5% monthly penalty stops. You\u2019ll still owe interest and the smaller late-payment penalty, but you just cut off the worst part.<\/p>\n

Didn\u2019t File and Didn\u2019t Pay?\u00a0What if You Did Both<\/h2>\n

The IRS doesn\u2019t just add 5% + 0.5% to get 5.5%<\/strong>. They actually subtract the late-payment penalty from the late-filing penalty during the months both apply. So you end up with 4.5% (filing) + 0.5% (payment) = 5% total. Still painful, but not as brutal as 5.5%.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After five months, the filing penalty maxes out at 25% and stops. But the payment penalty keeps going until it also hits 25%. Worst case? You could owe up to 47.5% in penalties alone<\/strong>\u2014on top of your original tax bill\u2014plus interest that compounds daily.<\/p>\n

Oh, and if you\u2019re more than 60 days late, there\u2019s a minimum penalty. For 2026 returns, that\u2019s the smaller of $525 or 100% of what you owe. So if you only owed $400, congrats\u2014you now owe $400 in penalties alone. That stings.<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t Pay the Full Amount? You Still Have Options<\/h2>\n

The IRS isn\u2019t totally heartless. They offer payment plans.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Owe $50k or less<\/strong> (including penalties and interest)?<\/strong> You can get a long-term monthly plan.<\/li>\n
  • Owe up to $100k?<\/strong> Short-term plan, up to 180 days. No setup fee for short-term. Long-term plans cost between $22 and $69, less if you\u2019re low-income.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    But don\u2019t get too comfortable\u2014interest and penalties keep piling up until every dollar is paid. Honestly, if you can borrow money from a bank or a credit card<\/strong> at a lower rate than what the IRS charges<\/strong>, do that instead. The IRS\u2019s combined rate often ends up higher than conventional loans.<\/p>\n

    Can You Get Penalties Removed? Sometimes<\/h2>\n

    You can ask the IRS to waive penalties if you have a \u201creasonable cause<\/strong>\u201d\u2014like a serious illness, a fire, or something legit that wasn\u2019t your fault. No guarantee, but they do review each case.<\/p>\n

    Interest is harder to get rid of. Usually, they only remove interest if the penalty itself gets wiped out.<\/p>\n

    There\u2019s also something called \u201cFirst Time Abate.\u201d If you\u2019ve had a clean record for the past few years, you can request a one-time penalty removal without even explaining yourself. Worth a shot.<\/p>\n

    What if You\u2019re Actually Getting a Refund?<\/h2>\n

    Then relax\u2014kind of. If you don\u2019t owe anything and the IRS owes you money, there\u2019s no penalty for filing late. The only downside is you\u2019re just delaying your own money.<\/p>\n

    But don\u2019t wait forever. You have three years from the original deadline to claim that refund. For tax year 2025, that means you need to file by April 15, 2029. After that? The money\u2019s gone. The IRS keeps it, and you can\u2019t get it back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Tax Day 2026 came and went. If you didn\u2019t file your return or pay what you owe, you\u2019re probably wondering what happens next. Short answer: nothing instant or apocalyptic. But the longer you wait, the more it\u2019s going to cost you. The IRS doesn\u2019t send a warning shot\u2014they just start adding charges. First thing to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":286934,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"hide","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"custom","post_date_format_custom":"d\/m\/Y H:i","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"no-crop","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-715"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":"The IRS starts adding penalties the day after the deadline. Here is what's coming next and what are your options"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-286933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-irs"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286933"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":286936,"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286933\/revisions\/286936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}