Ooops!

So what happens when you finish your taxes and find out that you owe the IRS?

A recent article in our local paper gave some information about what happens when you owe. Unfortunately, it had a lot of misinformation and one of my coworkers sent a letter to the editor to (hopefully!) correct it. So here's my stab at clearing up a few common misconceptions about owing the IRS.

If you owe the IRS, it is NOT better to mail in your return. You should still efile. Unless you have to do a paper return based on forms that can't be efiled, ALWAYS efile. I've talked to people who've seen the inside of the IRS mailroom. Um, yeah. Efile. Please.

Also, if you owe, even if you efile your return today, you still have until April 17th to pay. So don't delay filing just because you owe money.

Finally, if you owe money, there are different ways to pay the IRS. You CAN set up a payment plan with them. OR you can also pay by credit card. Don't not pay them because you don't have the money. Send what you can. If you don't make an attempt, that's when you face the scary stuff, such as having future refunds taken away, or having worse things like tax liens happen.