By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-896272.mp3
Dallas, TX – Today is tax day the deadline to file your federal income taxes is midnight. KERA's BJ Austin has a few tips for those who wait until the last minute.
For late-filers, Clay Sanford, with the Dallas IRS office, says e-filing is the way to go. He says the online programs make it easy to take advantage of tax credits and deductions - especially with the federal Recovery Act passed by Congress.
Sanford: The e-file programs are up to speed on all that, and they're going to ask you questions for things you might qualify for. And if you did your taxes the old fashioned way, where you had to do your own research, you might miss some of that.
Sanford says about 35% of Americans wait until the last day. Most of them "owe" money. He says if you can't pay the total amount, pay what you can. The IRS will bill for the balance, and you may then set up an installment plan online if the amount owed is less than 25 thousand dollars.
You may file for an automatic six month extension. Sanford says that's to provide more time to get necessary paperwork to the IRS. This year, it would be used to complete paperwork to buy a house under the Homebuyers Tax Credit Program which runs through April 30th.
Extension forms may be filled out and submitted at http://www.irs.gov/
The hotline for tax help will take calls until midnight: It's 1-800-TAX-1040.