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Still haven't filed your taxes? How to avoid penalties or lost refunds

Published

2 years ago

April 13, 2024

Still haven't filed your taxes? How to avoid penalties or lost refunds

After the epic storms deluged California in early 2023, the IRS and the state Franchise Tax Board gave most taxpayers in the state until mid-November to file their returns and pay what they owed.

After the epic storms deluged California in early 2024, the IRS and the Franchise Tax Board gave taxpayers in San Diego County until mid-June to file their returns and pay what they owe. For everyone else in the state, Monday remains the filing deadline — at least at the moment.

If you don’t pay at least a goodly chunk of your 2023 taxes by then, you will be penalized automatically, even if you file for an extension by Monday night.

Tax experts say the best course of action is to file your return on time and pay everything you think you owe. The IRS, nonprofit groups and commercial tax-preparation companies offer multiple ways to prepare and file returns for free online.

If you can’t afford your tax bill, you have some choices to make by Monday at 11:59 p.m., when the deadline is due to arrive.

There is a chance President Biden will approve Gov. Gavin Newsom’s request for a major disaster declaration covering Los Angeles, Ventura, Butte, Glenn, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Sutter counties by the end of the day Monday, which could trigger a delay in the tax-filing deadlines. Counting on a last-minute reprieve, however, is a gamble with potentially high stakes, depending on how much you owe in taxes for 2023.

What are the penalties for not filing?

Tax experts say that if the IRS owes you a refund, you won’t face a penalty for not filing your return. Instead, you’ll have a different deadline: If you wait more than three years to file a return for that year, you’ll sacrifice your claim to the money.

If you have taxes due, Andy Phillips, director of H&R Block’s Tax Institute, said it’s important to file your return or file for an extension on time, even if you can’t cover the balance at the moment. That’s because the penalty for not filing can be up to 10 times the penalty for filing but not paying on time.

The IRS will charge you 5% of what you owe every month until you file, with the penalty capped at 25%, Phillips said. But it also charges interest, and there’s no cap on how much interest you’ll owe. Currently, the interest rate is 8%, compounded daily.

The Franchise Tax Board’s penalty is 5% per month, capped at 25%; the state’s tax code makes no mention of interest charges. It also imposes a lower penalty on people who owe no more than $540.

Both the feds and the state offer hardship exceptions.

Need more time to gather your paperwork? Both the IRS and the Franchise Tax Board offer six-month extensions on the deadline for filing an annual return to anyone who applies.

There is a catch, though: Even with an extension, you’ll still face an underpayment penalty if you don’t pay at least 90% of what you owe by the end of the day Monday, Phillips said. But at least you won’t be hit with the added penalty for not filing.

What are the penalties for not paying?

For the record:

3:59 p.m. April 12, 2024An earlier version of this story said the IRS penalty for unpaid taxes was 5% of the unpaid balance plus 0.5% per month, up to a maximum of 25%, plus interest. That is the Franchise Tax Board’s penalty. The IRS charges 0.5% per month, up to a maximum of 25%, plus interest.

The IRS charges .5% of the original underpayment per month the balance is not paid, capped at 25%, plus interest. The Franchise Tax Board charges 5% of the underpayment plus .5% per month, capped at 25%, with interest, which is currently 8%.

Phillips said the IRS applies a penalty only if you paid less than 90% of what you owed by the deadline. If you are facing a penalty, he said, you need to consider how that amount (including interest) stacks up against the cost of taking out a loan, using your credit cards or pulling cash out of savings or profitable investments.

One option is to enter a payment plan with the IRS, which will cut the underpayment penalty in half, Phillips said — although you’ll still be paying interest on the amount you owe while you’re chipping away at your balance. As long as you’re compliant with the plan, he said, the IRS won’t go into forced-collection mode.

You can apply for a payment plan with the IRS through the agency’s website.

The Franchise Tax Board also offers installment plans that allow you to pay your tax debt over time, typically three to five years. The plans are available only to taxpayers who owe less than $25,000 and who’ve filed all required returns in the previous five years. Applications are accepted online, by mail or by calling (800) 689-4776.

The state offers to cancel a late-payment or late-filing penalty for taxpayers who are otherwise in compliance, but a taxpayer can claim this relief only once in their lifetime. In addition, the offer applies only to penalties for tax years 2022 or later.

To apply for a one-time abatement, return a completed form FTB 2918 by mail or call 800-689-4776 and request one.

How does the IRS collect penalties?

Regardless of whether you file a return, the IRS and the Franchise Tax Board will have collected data from employers, banks, mutual funds and other sources about your income and tax payments. And they will use that information to calculate what they believe you owe (or what they owe you). They won’t refund your overpayment automatically — you’ll get that only if you file a return — but they can force you to pay the taxes you’ve underpaid.

Phillips said the IRS typically starts by sending a letter asking you to pay up. If you don’t, it can seize a portion of your wages, your Social Security benefits and your investments. As a last resort, he said, it can put a lien on your house and force its sale.

To avoid going into collection, Phillips said, you might offer to pay a compromise amount — for example, if you can show that you weren’t responsible for the underpayment. The feds accept only a small percentage of the applications for this kind of relief, he said; it’s more likely that the agency will put you into a payment plan or temporarily suspend collection efforts until your income grows. If you find yourself in the latter category, you will face ever-growing interest charges on your unpaid tax debt.

Consumer advocates warn taxpayers to be cautious about hiring anyone who promises to be able to slash your tax debt, because many of those pitches are from scammers. Phillips agreed, saying, “Make sure you do your homework about who you’re dealing with.”

Who has to file a return?

The feds require anyone who earns more than a certain amount set by the IRS to file a return, even if they don’t owe anything. The amount varies according to filing status and age; for example, for 2023 it was $13,850 for a single filer under 65, or $15,700 for a single filer 65 or older.

The requirement applies regardless of your citizenship status. But if you don’t have a Social Security number — for example, if you’re in the United States on a temporary work visa or you’re here without authorization — you’ll need to obtain an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.

Mandy Irvine, associate director of economic mobility for United Ways of California, said it’s a misconception that an ITIN is a sign that you’re in the country without authorization — ITINs are used by anyone who doesn’t qualify for a Social Security number. In addition, the law bars the IRS from sharing the information it collects from tax returns with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Through myfreetaxes.org, the United Way connects people with IRS-certified volunteers to help them prepare and file their returns. If you need an ITIN, Irvine said, look for a volunteer site that has a certified acceptance agent who can check your passport or other documents to verify your identity. That way, she said, you won’t have to mail them to the IRS.

Where can I get last-minute help from the IRS?

The following Federal Taxpayer Assistance Centers will be open Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.:

300 N. Los Angeles St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
501 W. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802
880 Front St., Suite 1247, San Diego, CA 92101
212 Coffee Road Suite 200, Bakersfield, CA 93309
2525 Capitol St., Fresno, CA 93721
1301 Clay St., Oakland, CA 94612
450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102
55 S. Market St., Suite 100, San Jose, CA 95113
4330 Watt Ave., Sacramento, CA 95821

The agency stressed that although IRS employees will be on hand to offer in-person help with questions and account issues, they will not prepare your taxes for you. It also suggested that you come equipped with two forms of identification (including a current government-issued photo ID), the Social Security or Taxpayer Identification numbers for everyone in your household, and any notices or mailings the IRS has sent you.

If you have a question about a tax return you’ve already filed, make sure to bring a copy with you.

Business

Courts rejects bid to beef up policies issued by California’s home insurer of last resort

Published

8 hours ago

December 24, 2025

Press Room

Courts rejects bid to beef up policies issued by California’s home insurer of last resort

Retired nurse Nancy Reed has been through the ringer trying to get insurance for her home next to a San Diego County nature preserve.

First, she was dropped by her longtime carrier and forced onto the state’s insurer of last resort, the California FAIR Plan, which offers basic fire policies — something thousands of residents have experienced at the hands of fire-leery insurance companies.

But what she didn’t expect was how hard it would be to find the extra coverage she needed to augment her FAIR Plan policy, which doesn’t cover common perils such as water damage or liability if someone is injured on a property.

She secured the “difference-in-conditions” policies from two insurers, only to be dropped by both before finally finding another for her Escondido home.

“I’ve lived in this house for 25 years, and I went from a very fair price to ‘we’re not insuring you anymore’ — and I’ve had three different difference-in-conditions policies,” said Reed, 71, who is paying about $2,000 for 12 months of the extra coverage. “And I’m holding my breath to see if I will be renewed next year.”

Now, a Department of Insurance regulation that would have required the FAIR plan to offer that additional coverage has been blocked by a state appeals court — leaving the plan’s customers to find that insurance in a market widely considered dysfunctional.

The court ruled earlier this month that the order would have forced the plan to offer liability insurance, which was not the intent of the Legislature when it established the plan in 1968 to offer essential insurance for those who couldn’t get it.

“We appreciate that the court confirmed the California FAIR Plan is designed and intended to operate as California’s insurer of last resort, providing basic property coverage when it cannot be obtained in the voluntary market,” said spokesperson Hilary McLean.

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said he is “looking at all available options” following the decision. “I’ve been fighting so people can have access to all of the coverage the FAIR Plan is required by law to provide,” he said in a statement.

Lara has faced criticism from consumer advocates who’ve called for his resignation over his response to the state’s ongoing property insurance crisis.

A FAIR Plan policy covers fires, lightning, smoke damage and internal explosions, as well as vandalism and some other hazards at an additional cost. But in addition to water damage and liability protection, it doesn’t cover such common perils as theft and the damage caused by trees falling on a house.

The demand for the additional coverage — commonly referred to as a “wrap-around” policy — has become even greater than in 2021 when Lara issued the order overturned on appeal.

The FAIR Plan at the time had about 160,000 active dwelling policies following a series of catastrophic wildfires, including the 2018 fire that nearly destroyed the mountain town of Paradise. By September, that number had grown to 646,000.

The insurance department lists less than two dozen companies that offer wrap-around policies, including major California home insurers such as Mercury and Farmers and a a number of smaller carriers.

Broker Dina Smith said that to find the coverage for her home insurance clients she needs to place about 90% of them with carriers not regulated by the state — with the combined coverage typically costing at least twice as much as a regular policy.

“The [market] is very limited,” said Smith, a managing director at Gallagher.

Safeco has not written California wrap-around coverage since the beginning of the year and will begin non-renewing existing policies next month. Smith also said carriers are being selective, with the ones that offer the coverage often demanding exclusions, such as for certain types of water damage.

“If I’ve got a newer home with no prior claims … for liability losses, it’s going to be easy to write. If I get a home that is built in the 1950s that might still have galvanized pipes … that’s going to be a tough one,” she said.

Attorney Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, a San Francisco consumer group, said the difference-in-conditions, or DIC, market is getting just as problematic for homeowners as the overall market.

“The market is not as strong as it needs to be … given how many people are in the FAIR Plan, and there aren’t as many DIC options — with the DIC companies being just as picky as the primary insurers,” she said.

There is also confusion about the policies, she said. Her group is considering pushing for a law next year that would clearly label the coverage so consumers better understand what they are buying.

Business

Student Loan Borrowers in Default Could See Wages Garnished in Early 2026

Published

18 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

Student Loan Borrowers in Default Could See Wages Garnished in Early 2026

The Trump administration will begin to garnish the pay of student loan borrowers in January, the Department of Education said Tuesday, stepping up a repayment enforcement effort that began this year.

Beginning the week of Jan. 7, roughly 1,000 borrowers who are in default will receive notices informing them of their status, according to an email from the department. The number of notices will increase on a monthly basis.

The collection activities are “conducted only after student and parent borrowers have been provided sufficient notice and opportunity to repay their loans,” according to the email, which was unsigned.

The announcement comes as many Americans are already struggling financially, and the cost of living is top of mind. The wage garnishing could compound the effects on lower-income families contending with a stressed economy, employment concerns and health care premiums that are set to rise for millions of people.

The email did not contain any details about the nature of the garnishment, such as how much would be deducted from wages, but according to the government’s student aid website, up to 15 percent of a borrower’s take-home pay can be withheld. The government typically directs employers to withhold a certain amount, similar to a payroll tax.

A borrower should be sent a notice of the government’s intent 30 days before the seizure begins, according to the website, StudentAid.gov.

The administration ended a five-year reprieve on student loan repayments in May, paving the way for forced collections — meaning tax refunds and other federal payments, like Social Security, could be withheld and applied toward debt payments.

That move ushered in the end of pandemic-era relief that began in March 2020, when payments were paused. More than 9 percent of total student debt reported between July and September was more than 90 days delinquent or in default, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In April, only one-third of the 38 million Americans who owed money for college or graduate school and should have been making payments actually were, according to government data.

“It’s going to be more painful as you move down the income distribution,” said Michael Roberts, a professor of finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. But, he added, borrowers have to contend with the fact that they did take out money, even as government policies allowed many to put the loans at the back of their minds.

After several extensions by the Biden administration, payments resumed in October 2023, but borrowers were not penalized for defaulting until last year. About five million borrowers are in default, and millions more are expected to be close to missing payments.

The government had signaled this year that it would send notices that could lead to the garnishing of a portion of a borrower’s paycheck. Being in collections and in default can damage credit scores.

The government garnished wages before the pandemic pause, said Betsy Mayotte, president of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors, which provides free advice for borrowers. But the 2020 collections pause was the first she was aware of, she said, and that may make the deductions more shocking for people who have not had to pay for years.

“There’s a lot of defaulted borrowers that think that there was a mistake made somewhere along the line, or the Department of Education forgot about them,” Ms. Mayotte said. “I think this is going to catch a lot of them off guard.”

The first day after a missed payment, a loan becomes delinquent. After a certain amount of time in delinquency, usually 270 days, the loan is considered in default — the kind of loan determines the time period. If someone defaults on a federal student loan, the entire balance becomes due immediately. Then the loan holder can begin collections, including on wages.

But there are options to reorganize the defaulted loans, including consolidation or rehabilitation, which requires making a certain number of consecutive payments determined by the holder.

Often, people who default on debt owe the smallest amounts, said Constantine Yannelis, an economics professor at the University of Cambridge who researches U.S. student loans.

“They’re often dropouts or they went to two-year, for-profit colleges, and people who spent many, many years in schools, like doctors or lawyers, have very low default rates,” he said.

This year, millions of borrowers saw their credit scores drop after the pause on penalties was lifted. If someone does not earn an income, the government can take the person to court. But, practically speaking, a borrower’s credit score will plummet.

Dr. Yannelis added that a common reason people default was that they were not aware of the repayment options. There are plans that allow borrowers to pay 10 percent of their income rather than having 15 percent garnished, for example.

The whiplash policy changes around the time of the pandemic were “a terrible thing from a borrower-welfare perspective,” Dr. Yannelis said. “Policy uncertainty is really terrible for borrowers.”

Business

Kevin Costner’s western ‘Horizon’ faces more claims of unpaid fees

Published

20 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

Kevin Costner’s western ‘Horizon’ faces more claims of unpaid fees

In the midst of attempting to complete filming on his western anthology ”Horizon: An American Saga,” Kevin Costner is facing another legal dispute over the production.

On Monday, Western Costume Co. sued Costner and the production companies behind the epic western, claiming unpaid costume fees and damages to some of the clothing during the filming of the series’ second episode.

“The costumes are costly to replace if damaged or not returned,” states the complaint, which included copies of invoices for about $134,000 in costume rentals. “Without a reasonable basis for doing so and/or with reckless regard to the consequences, defendants failed to pay for the rented costumes and failed to return the costumes undamaged.”

Western Costume, the iconic business based in North Hollywood, is seeking to recover roughly $440,000, including legal fees, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

A spokesperson for Costner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal and financial problems that have dogged the sprawling western drama, which Costner directed, co-wrote, starred in and partially funded.

In May, United Costume Corp., sued the production, claiming $350,000 in unpaid fees for the first two chapters of “Horizon.” Two months later, the costume firm filed to dismiss the suit with prejudice.

In May, Devyn LaBella, a stunt performer on “Chapter 2,” sued the production for sexual discrimination, harassment and retaliation in Los Angeles Superior Court. LaBella alleged an unscripted rape scene was filmed without the presence of a contractually mandated intimacy coordinator.

In a motion filed in August to get the suit tossed, Costner said he had reviewed LaBella’s complaint and was “shocked at the false and misleading allegations she was making.”

In October, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied Costner’s anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss the case. The judge also denied LaBella’s claim that Costner had interfered with her civil rights through the use of intimidation or coercion with respect to her participation in the filming of a rape scene, but allowed several of her other claims to proceed.

The case is pending.

The production is also facing an arbitration claim for alleged breaches in its co-financing agreement with its distributor New Line Cinema and City National Bank, “Horizon” bondholder, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

In June 2024, “Chapter 1” of the planned four-part series was released in theaters followed by a streaming broadcast on HBO Max, but it was largely panned by critics.

In its review, The Times described “Horizon” as “a massive boondoggle, a misguided and excruciatingly tedious cinematic experience.”

It failed at the box office, grossing just $38.8 million worldwide, on a reported $100 million budget.

“Chapter 2” premiered at the Venice International Film Festival last September, but its theatrical release was pulled and remains indefinitely delayed, while the final two chapters remain in production or development, according to IMDb.