It’s time for Alabamians to get their last-minute tax returns filed. Today is the last day to send in their paperwork. The deadline was extended due to the pandemic. The state is now seeing a return to normal tax seasons. Karen Miller works with the UA Culverhouse School of Accountancy. She says there is always a wave of people who wait until the last two weeks of April and then experience issues. Hope isn’t lost for these individuals though.
“A lot of times there’s a way that we can try to help them right before the deadline, but the other good news is you can get up to a 6-month extension, everyone is eligible for that. Now, what it does not do, though, is extend the time for paying your taxes,” said Miller
Miller recommends utilizing online tax resources and updating the software on them before filing to ensure that changes caused by new Alabama legislature are applied correctly. She says many individuals who leave their taxes until the last minute can run into similar problems.
“People will accidentally leave out certain types of income or deductions. They might accidentally leave off some interest income…and unfortunately that will typically trigger a notice form the IRS if an item is not reported. We see both sides, both the emission of income, but then sometimes omitting favorable deductions,” Miller observed.