The Extended Tax Deadline Is Coming. Why You Shouldn’t Miss It.

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WSJ Your Money Briefing 7 min 2 speakers 8 chapters transcribed 2 months ago
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

Unknown 0:00
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Daniella Cheslow 0:30
Here's your Money Briefing for Wednesday, September 14th. I'm Daniela Cheslow for The Wall Street Journal, filling in for J.R.

Why did a record 19 million taxpayers request an extension this year?

Daniella Cheslow 0:42
Whelan. Fall isn't usually tax time, but a record 19 million taxpayers asked for an extension, and now we're just over a month away from the October 17th deadline.
Ashlea Ebeling 0:55
There's a variety of factors to blame beyond just procrastination. Basically, there are these shifting due dates over the last three years, COVID-related tax law changes, the IRS backlog, and frankly, just taxpayer burnout.
Daniella Cheslow 1:08
The Wall Street Journal's Ashlia Ebeling covers personal finance. She joins us to discuss why so many people are seeking extensions, and she'll have some guidelines late tax filers should keep in mind. That's after the break.
Unknown 1:22
This podcast is brought to you by ReliaQuest. Cyber criminals are constantly attacking. They want your data.

What pandemic-related deadline shifts contributed to more extension filings?

Unknown 1:28
They want your identity. They want your innovation. ReliaQuest fortifies your business with agentic defense, AI that detects, contains, and eliminates cyber threats in minutes. It helps your security team move faster at the work that matters most to protect the business now and delivers insights to help them predict what's next. ReliaQuest. Agentic defense for the enterprise. Learn more at ReliaQuest.com. That's R-E-L-I-A-Q-U-E-S-T dot com.
Daniella Cheslow 2:00
Nearly one in eight Americans asked to file their taxes late this year. During the first two years of the pandemic, the IRS pushed back the tax deadline and waived late filing penalties. But this year, the deadline of October 17th is real. Ashlia Ebeling covers personal finance for The Wall Street Journal, and she joins me now to talk about why that firm deadline is important. and how to avoid any financial penalties for missing it. Hi, Ashlea.

How do late K-1 forms and business credits delay individual tax returns?

Daniella Cheslow 2:27
Thanks for being here. Nice to be here. We are more than a month away from the late filing deadline. Why do you think it's noteworthy to talk about the people filing late this year?
Ashlea Ebeling 2:36
There's so many more. There are millions more. So it's a record 19 million taxpayers that asked the IRS for extra time to file their 2021 individual income tax returns this spring. And that's up from around 12 million in the last couple of years when the IRS gave taxpayers more time because of the pandemic and up from less than 16 million in prior years.
Daniella Cheslow 2:59
Wow, that's a huge hike.
Ashlea Ebeling 3:01
Is this mostly just people who are disorganized? There's a variety of factors to blame beyond just procrastination. Basically, there are these shifting due dates over the last three years, COVID-related tax law changes, there are late K-1 forms coming in.

What caused the IRS backlog of unprocessed returns and how does it ripple forward?

Ashlea Ebeling 3:17
the IRS backlog, and frankly, just taxpayer burnout.
Daniella Cheslow 3:20
What do you mean by a late K-1 form?
Ashlea Ebeling 3:23
Those are forms that need to be filed for any taxpayers with partnership income. For example, most real estate investors would get them. So they have to wait for those business returns before they can file their individual returns.
Daniella Cheslow 3:37
We saw a lot of shifting due dates for taxes during the pandemic. Could you tell me a little bit more about what that looked like?
Ashlea Ebeling 3:44
The IRS pushed back the traditional April 15th tax day deadline to July 15th in 2020. And then they pushed it back to May 17th in 2021. This year, they didn't budge on tax day. So that's one reason that tax pros think that there are more people who ended up on extension.
Daniella Cheslow 4:02
There were also some COVID-related tax credits. How are those factoring into this picture?
Ashlea Ebeling 4:07
One big credit for small business owners is called the employee retention tax credit. And that essentially reimburses business owners for declining gross receipts during the pandemic if they continue to employ employees.

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