If you haven't filed your tax returns yet, you're not alone.
According to Tim Ford, manager at Jackson Hewitt, more than 18 million tax payers in the U.S. have put off their tax returns to the last week.
Hewitt said he doesn't believe it's procrastination that's keeping people away, but uncertainty.
The biggest concern he's seen is cancelation of debt, such as home foreclosures.
"There is a mortgage forgiveness that people qualify for so if they lost money for a house being foreclosed it is income that may not be taxable to them," said Ford.
Another question he often receives is what happens if someone lost their job in the last year. "Just because they didn't work doesn't mean they don't have something coming back to them," said Ford.
Hewitt said the worst thing people can do is not file a return at all. "If they don't file a return there is a five percent monthly penalty for failure to file," said Ford.
Ford also says if you choose to do your taxes on your own, use an electronic program rather than paper.
"The IRS will generally find an error in one out of every four paper returns, in an electronic return once they accept it the odds of finding an error are on out of every 100," said Ford.
The deadline to file your taxes is April 15. If interested in using a tax service you will need to have paperwork declaring any major expenses as well as all income earned.
Major expenses include; houses, cars, medical bills, property taxes, student loans, etc. Money earned includes any pay check you may have received no matter how small.
Robert Boyd Reporter
April 8, 2009
