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Topic Number 301 - When, How, and Where to File
When to file
If you're a calendar year filer and your tax year ends on December 31, the due date for filing your federal individual income tax return is generally April 15 of each year. If you use a fiscal year (tax year ending on the last day of any month other than December), your return is due on or before the 15th day of the fourth month after the close of your fiscal year. If your due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the due date is moved to the next business day. For the 2018 tax return, the due date is April 15, 2019 for most filers. For residents of Maine and Massachusetts, the due date is April 17, 2019 because of the Patriot's Day and Emancipation Day holidays in those states.
Your return is considered filed on time if the envelope is properly addressed, has enough postage, is postmarked, and is deposited in the mail by the due date. If you file electronically, the date and time in your time zone when your return is transmitted controls whether your return is filed timely. You will later receive an electronic acknowledgement that the IRS has accepted your electronically filed return.
If you served or are serving in the Armed Forces in a combat zone or a contingency operation, or become hospitalized as the result of an injury received while serving in such an area or operation, after the end of your tax year but before the normal filing due date of your return, you may have additional time to file and pay taxes. You generally have at least 180 days after you leave the designated combat zone/contingency operation to file and pay taxes. See Publication 3, Armed Forces' Tax Guide. If the Service determines you to be affected by a presidentially declared disaster or a terroristic or military action, you may have up to one year after the due date of your return to file and pay taxes, depending on the deadline specified by the Service. If you're living and working outside the United States and Puerto Rico, please refer to the instructions in Form 4868.pdf, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.
Extensions to file - If you cannot file by the due date of your return, you should request an extension of time to file. To receive an automatic 6-month extension of time to file your return, you can file Form 4868. File your extension request by the due date of your return. An extension of time to file is not an extension of time to pay so you'll owe interest if the tax you owe isn't paid by the original due date of your return. You may also be subject to a late-payment penalty on any tax not paid by the original due date of your return. For more information about extensions, see Extension of Time to File, What Is the Due Date of My Federal Tax Return or Am I Eligible to Request an Extension? and Topic No. 304.
How to file
You may want to file your return electronically. You'll usually receive your refund within 3 weeks of the date when the IRS receives your return, even faster if you elect to have it directly deposited into your checking or savings account. Most professional tax return preparers offer electronic filing of tax returns with their return preparation services and may charge a fee to file your return electronically. Also, when you prepare your return yourself using tax-preparation software, you may have to pay a fee to file your return electronically. However, you may qualify for free electronic filing through Free File. For more information on electronic filing in general, select the e-file logo on our home page.
If you mail a paper Form 1040.pdf, it can take six to eight weeks to process. Be sure to attach:
- A copy of Forms W-2 and any other applicable forms (for example, Form 2439.pdf, Notice to Shareholder of Undistributed Long-Term Capital Gains) to the front of your return.
- Related schedules and forms behind your return in the order of the sequence number located in the upper right-hand corner of the schedule or form.
- Form W-2c.pdf (a corrected Form W-2) if received; attach a copy of both your original Forms W-2 and any Forms W-2c.
- Form W-2G.pdf and Form 1099-R.pdf if there was federal income tax withheld.
Signing the return - For signing an electronic return see Topic No. 255 and How do I sign my tax return when I e-file?
For signing a paper tax return:
- If you file a joint return, both spouses must sign the return. If your spouse cannot sign because of a medical condition and requests that you sign the return, sign your spouse's name in the proper place, followed by the word 'by' then your signature, followed by the word 'husband' or 'wife.' Be sure to also sign in the regular space provided for your signature. Attach a statement that includes the form number of the return you're filing, the tax year, the reason your spouse cannot sign the return, and that your spouse has agreed to your signing for him or her. If you're the guardian for your spouse who is mentally incompetent, you may sign the return for your spouse as 'guardian.'
- If your spouse cannot sign the return for any other reason, you may only sign it if you have a valid power of attorney. You should attach the document granting you power of attorney to the return. You may use Form 2848.pdf, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative for this purpose.
- If you're filing a return for a minor child who cannot sign the return, sign the child's name followed by the word 'by,' then your signature, and your relationship, such as 'parent' or 'guardian for minor child.'
For information on filing and signing a return for a decedent, refer to Topic No. 356.
Where to file
When you e-file a return, since it's electronically transmitted, you don't need to worry about sending it to the right area. However, when filing a paper return, send it to the address indicated in the instructions for the form you're filing. See Where to File Paper Tax Returns With or Without a Payment.
When you owe a balance - You may pay any balance you owe via IRS Direct Pay. Alternatively, you may enclose a check or money order with your paper return or, if you filed electronically, with the 2018 Form 1040-V.pdf, Payment Voucher:
- Make the check or money order payable to the United States Treasury.
- On the front of your payment include your name, address, taxpayer identification number (SSN, ITIN, EIN), daytime phone number, the tax year, and type of form you're filing (for example, 2018 Form 1040).
- Enclose your payment loosely with your return; don't staple or otherwise attach your payment or Form 1040-V to your return.
- Don't mail cash with your return.
If you prepare your return using tax-preparation software, consult your software's instructions to determine how to make payment through the software. For detailed information on paying your taxes by credit or debit card, other electronic payment, or cash, visit our Payments page. For more information on paying your taxes, refer to your form instructions and to Topic No. 158.
If you cannot pay your balance - If you cannot pay all of the tax due on your return, the IRS may be able to assist you with a payment arrangement. For additional information on what to do if you cannot pay your income tax, refer to Topic No. 202.
Fax machines are still trucking along in offices around the world. Government agencies, lawyers, doctors, and other slow-moving organizations often still require faxes — at best, it’s a necessary evil.
Fax is often seen as more secure than email, although it really isn’t. Fax machines communicate over phone lines without any encryption and fax machines are often kept in busy areas where documents could be easily grabbed by anyone.
Alternatives to Faxing
RELATED:How to Scan Documents to PDF with Your Android Phone’s Camera
There are plenty of alternatives to faxing. If you aren’t limited by laws or because the person on the other end demands you use fax, try one of these alternatives:
- Email Documents: Yes, the humble email can replace many faxes. You’re probably faxing a document typed from a computer anyway, so why bother using a fax machine? Attach the file to an email or just include the important text in an email itself.
- Scan and Email: If you have a fax machine that also functions as a scanner, you can use it to scan paper documents into your computer as PDF files. Attach those PDF files to an email to send them along. You could even try using your phone to scan the document — sure, it won’t be the best quality, but we’ve seen some pretty low-quality faxes.
- Upload Documents: Some organizations may allow you to upload these scanned document files on the web rather than simply emailing them.
- Use Snail Mail: Snail mail is a slower alternative to faxing that’s worse in many ways, but it’s not always bad. If you don’t have a fax machine and the document isn’t urgent, you can generally mail a document to most organizations instead of faxing it. Sure, you have to deal with the postal system, but at least you don’t have to fax anything.
Sign Documents Without Printing Them
RELATED:How to Electronically Sign PDF Documents Without Printing and Scanning Them
You may have to sign documents and send them to someone, and once they’re printed out you may be tempted to fax them. After all, the alternative would be to print the document, sign it, scan it back into your computer, and email it. Rather than waste your time doing this, you can use software to apply your real signature to a document on your computer. Simply capture your signature once and it will be stored as an image you can apply to documents. You can easily sign future documents without printing them.
If you have a tablet with a stylus, you can even use the stylus to sign a document directly on your screen.
Fax a Document Online
RELATED:How to Send and Receive Faxes Online Without a Fax Machine or Phone Line
Online fax services allow you to fax a document without needing a fax machine of your own or even a telephone line. You use a web-based interface to upload a document and enter the recipient’s phone number. The service itself takes care of all the last-mile stuff, faxing your document to the remote fax machine via their own telephone lines.
If you only need to send faxes rarely, these services will allow you to send a few pages here and there without spending a cent. If you have to fax documents more often, you may have to pay something — but you’d have to pay for a fax machine and a telephone line, anyway.
These services technically involve faxing, but at least they don’t feel like using a clunky old fax machine and don’t require that you have a landline telephone.
Receive a Fax Online
Receiving a fax can be a headache if you have a home office. Your fax machine needs to be on and listening for faxes all the time. You need a dedicated line to receive faxes so you don’t miss any faxes when you’re on the phone. You might try asking people to fax you a document at a specific time when you’re sure your landline phone isn’t tied up.
Rather than deal with all this nonsense, ask people to scan and email documents to you. You could also use other tools if you don’t want to rely on email — for example, you could use JotForm along with Dropbox to create a web page where people could upload PDF files and they’d appear in a folder in your Dropbox.
You could also try using a service that provides you with a dedicated fax number and allows you to receive faxes there. These generally cost money — after all, the fax service has to pay for a dedicated landline phone number and monitor it for you. eFax does offer 10 free incoming pages a month, although they don’t give you any free outgoing pages. HelloFax lets you send five free pages, but that’s it. Every free online faxing service has a catch like this — the free offer exists to draw you in, while you have to pay for the most important features. Faxing involves interfacing with fax machines and landline telephone numbers, and that’s not free. It’s also often used for business purposes, and businesses are willing to spend money on this sort of thing.
The Last Resort: Use an Actual Fax Machine Without Owning One
If you don’t want to deal with online services or snail mail and you absolutely have no choice but to send the occasional document as a fax, there’s still an alternative to buying your own fax machine and using a landline telephone. You can probably visit a local store that offers copying and they’ll let you pay a few cents to send a fax. This isn’t ideal if you frequently send faxes, but if you have to fax something once per year, this can be an okay option.
Of course, this still involves using a fax machine. Some organizations just demand faxes and you may not feel comfortable uploading extremely sensitive documents to a web-based fax service. There’s not much you can do if you have to deal with an organization that demands faxes.
Faxing will still be with us for a while yet, if only because of regulations that encourage health care and legal organizations to keep using the older fax system instead of modern alternatives.
Image Credit: Abhisek Sarda on Flickr, tales of a wandering youkai on Flickr, AuthenticEccentric on Flickr
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