I Never Submitted My Taxes in April. Am I Too Late?

As of May 5, the IRS had received over 141 million tax returns and processed the bulk of them. But what if you never got around to filing your taxes this year? 

The good news is that it's not too late to submit your 2022 return. But you may face a penalty for being late, depending on your situation.

When the IRS owes you money

As of May 5, the IRS had processed almost 94 million tax refunds. If you never submitted your taxes in April but are due a refund for 2022, the good news is that you won't be penalized for being late with your return. 

In this situation, the IRS doesn't penalize tax-filers for one simple reason -- by submitting your return late, you've allowed it to hang onto your money for longer. Since the IRS isn't losing out financially, there's no need for a penalty to come into play.

Now, you should know that you actually have three years from when taxes are due to submit a return. So technically, even if you don't get around to submitting your 2022 tax return this month, or even this year, you won't be out of time. However, if you don't act quickly, you'll have to wait that much longer for your tax refund to hit your bank account. And that's just punishing yourself.

When you owe the IRS money

If you didn't submit your 2022 tax return in April when it was due and you owe the IRS money from last year, the situation is different. In that case, you can, and should, still submit your taxes. But you should also do so as soon as possible -- namely because at this point, you've already incurred a penalty for being late with that return.

The IRS imposes a failure to file penalty when you're late with a tax return and owe money. That penalty is equal to 5% of the unpaid tax bill associated with your late return for each month or partial month you're late, up to a total of 25%.

Note that this is not the same penalty for paying your tax bill late -- that's a separate penalty you'll be assessed. Rather, you're looking at a 5% penalty simply by being late with your tax return. 

At this point, we're already more than a month past the April 18 tax-filing deadline, but we're not yet at the two-month mark. So if you manage to file your 2022 tax return before June 18, you can at least limit your penalty to two months.

It pays to get moving on your tax return

All told, you get three years past this year's April 18 filing deadline to submit your 2022 tax return. But whether you owe the IRS money from 2022 or are owed money, it's in your best interest to get that return submitted as soon as you can. This holds true even if you filed an extension on or prior to April 18.

If you got a tax extension, you won't have to worry about the failure to file penalty if you owe money from 2022. But you're accruing interest and penalties on your unpaid tax bill itself, so the sooner you get your taxes done and know what to pay, the better. And in the case of a refund, the sooner you get your money, the easier it might be to manage your bills or meet a goal you've been putting off due to a lack of funds.