This is why I'm going to the protests today!

"For starters, you have 120 days after filing to pay in full without penalty."

What is the source for this assertion? According to this IRS page [www.irs.gov] , any tax due and unpaid after April 15th starts to accumulate interest and penalties.

@jeffbone: Ack. Didn't see the link -- but the IRS seems to be contradicting itself between those two pages.

If you call them they will work it out with you. That's what I did after Clinton was elected and my tax went way up. I had to pay $1 for a couple of years, and right after that then it went to like $120. I didn't have the money so I called and the lady on the phone said "We've had that a lot this year!"

They let me make payments, no sweat.

@jeffbone: I believe you have to request an payment extension, and the maximum allowable is 120 days (this is not the same as a filing extension). Look up short-term extension of time to pay.

This supposedly avoids certain fees and penalties, but I have no actual experience with it so I can't say for sure.

And unlike BMG, there is no hope that the IRS will fold up any time soon :(

Just charge it to your CC. Its the American way!

There are some pretty hefty fees for setting up the installment plan. I think that should be noted in the article.

So how do taxes work in the US exactly? Do employers not deduct up front? In Canada, my employer deducts my taxes based on how I fill my T1 slip when I get hired. Usually, they deduct a bit more than my actual taxes are (because the T1 doesn't take into account all my deductions). This means that every tax season, the government mails me a check. (cue Yakov Smirnoff voice) "In Canada, taxes pay you!"

The couple of times when I've had to pay in substantial amounts, I just sent $100 and a letter with my return saying I can pay X dollars per month. Then they sent a letter saying ok and they sent me a bill each month for that amount.

@AirIntake: This is my understanding...your taxes are deducted on a state and federal level but you do have to claim them for tax season. When you are hired, you fill out a form and note your deductions (single, married, have dependents, etc.). The IRS determines the amount of taxes you pay based on deductions you state. For tax season, you get a slip of paper which reports the money you have earned. The IRS calculates the money you have earned with the taxes that have been deducted, and if you have paid too much they send you back money. If you owe - eesh.

@AirIntake: It's basically the same in the U.S. Employers take the money out of each paycheck and all. But tax returns, which are due today, are basically a means to figure out how much has been taken out of your paycheck, and whether that was too much or not enough. It's sort of like what you describe in Canada, where the employer takes out too much so the government mails you a check. But this is once a year, and it's more likely that you didn't pay enough.

@Watergun: Amen. Tea party FTW!

I'm doing an installment on my 2007 taxes. When you have taxes due, any money the government gives you (following years tax returns, stimulus checks, etc) gets kept by them.

I'm making more than my minimum payment, but it's still a slow go on a hamster wheel. Also NEVER be late on an installment, because it voids your agreement. So does not filing by the 15th of April while in agreement.

@pecan 3.14159265: Ok, so it's basically the same. I've just never owed any money.

@DePaulBlueDemon: Mine wasn't that bad, only $105.00 (at least that was what I got charged last year) which took the place of that month's payment. Not to say I didn't double up that month.

@AirIntake: Me either. I think for me it's also a mental tactic, in that if I've given more than I owe, I had already "given" that money anyway and was making do without it - so getting some back is a really good psychological bonus for me.

Call up the IRS and try and get on the "Charlie Rangel Payment Plan."

A couple years ago I left a job and instead of rolling over my 401k, I cashed it out (dumb idea). Turned out I was penalized for that, and owed the IRS about $1000. I didn't have it so I set up a payment plan using their Online Payment Agreement page. There was a small fee, like $50, I believe. It was pretty easy to set up. I paid it off over 10 months.

@AirIntake: Depends on what kind of work you're doing. There is W2 which is the slip of paper filled out, taxes deducted etc. Then there is 1099, and other forms of self employment, which you have to pay quarterly, but there are no deductions from your pay. Meaning you will owe. It's not the tax that is bad, its the social security payments that kill.

IRS = U.S. Government's version of the Mafia

@HogwartsAlum: Exactly. They want your money so they will ALWAYS work with you if you are cooperating and trying to pay.

@techstar25: It kind of depends on how much of a penalty you would incur. I signed up with my work's 401(k) about a month before I got laid off, so I had only accrued maybe $80. Cashing it out was just easier.

@HiPwr: Or, just consider yourself a "non-resident alien" like Wesley Snipes. I'm pretty sure that worked out for him, but I can't remember.

@pecan 3.14159265: except that the government is making interest off that money. Its especially bad if you live in California and the government is not able to mail out refunds because they're broke.

@Watergun: Sooo glad I'm not living in California. I don't know what I'd do, though, if I found myself having just enough to pay taxes, but then finding out I owed. I guess a payment plan would be the course of action, but I don't think I'd feel good about owing money when I don't have enough to cover the amount to begin with.

@Courteous_Gentleman: yep, hopefully there will be a lot of people there. I'm gonna drink some tea haha

Cool tip for insiders-in-the-know

Write either "Glen Beck", "Rush Limbaugh" or "Tea Bag Party 2009" in the 1040 space for Taxes Owed, and you'll have to pay nothing!

Honest.
Really.
Swear to (Christian-only: sorry you others) God!!

@pecan 3.14159265: Yeah, I did the same thing with something like 250$, walked away with 200.

@HogwartsAlum: Don't it suck when you actually have to pay for all that crap purchased on a credit card before?
I KNOW!!

@Watergun: Make sure you don't travel on any public roads on the way there, k?

@Trai_Dep: This year, it'll work better if you write in "friend of Obama".

@Trai_Dep: what exactly was the point of that?

@DePaulBlueDemon:

well you don't set one up if you can pay it in a few months. The installment plan is if you owe A LOT!

if you can pay it in a few months you can just talk to them and send in checks, last year they didn't even charge me interest.

@Trai_Dep: Old white men will save us from our Taxes!!

Thank the Great Magnet there are those brave enough to not want to give up their money out there.

@AirIntake:

in general that's how it works but the system for figuring out how much to withhold can be tricky and some people don't withhold enough and have to pay (actually better than getting money back since that means you could use your money for longer instead of giving the government a interest free loan).

This year is kinda bad because a lot of self employed/contract people didn't make quarterly tax payments and didn't withhold taxes out of their pay and a lot of people hit a crisis and took money out of their IRA/401K

@Watergun: the original tea party protested taxation without representation. Though in reality teh british parliment system didn't any parliment members represent any specific area. it was a flaw of the British government of the time not a flack against the colonies(though the stamp act and such were indeed F you's to people bypassing the tariffs). Nowadays we have corporate sponsored "protests" ragging on income tax that unless you make over 250k/yr is far from unfair. 99% of people attending these "parties" are safe from any tax increases.

@logicalnoise: The problem is that the government is out of control. We are borrowing money and making our children pay it back. The tea party protesters are worried about long term consequences of our current administration. There is no hypocrisy in using public roads to get there, nice straw man argument there. The protests were started long before corporate sponsorship came along. 99% of these people will have taxes rise. Just wait.

@Trai_Dep: Don't you mean:

Timothy Geitner

or maybe Charles Rangle?

or even better Tom Daschle

@Watergun:

While you have your crystal ball out, what will this weeks Powerball numbers be?

Independent of what you may perceive as a straw man argument, semantically aligning a "protest" with the Tea Parties of the 18th century is bad form - when the only protests are those to display highly assumptive arguments on what "may" happen and an "out of control" government; yet acting so blissfully/smugly ignorant to the comparative freedoms afforded them is something more worthy a protest.

@AirIntake: I'm hardly a tax expert and other people here have given you some concise and helpful answers, so I'm not going to attempt to answer the question.

What I can tell you is that my husband is British and this year, when we owed for the first time, I attempted to explain our tax system to him.

He eventually walked away and started rearranging the wine rack.

No joke.

I owed this year and couldn't get the scratch in my bank account this time. I called the IRS and the guy I spoke to offered me the 120-day extension right away. He was very nice and it was easy.

The IRS has a (deservedly) scary reputation, but I tend to think that if you're being honest and trying to pay, you don't have much to fear. And other times I've contacted their customer service in the past, they would put most privately run businesses to shame. Their phone reps are always polite and professional.

@Jason Rose: What makes you think I have a crystal ball. Obama pushed through almost a trillion dollars in stimulus money, who do you think is going to pay for it? What makes you think the protesters are blissfully ignorant of their freedoms. This seems like a non-sequitur. The conditions of the current protests are not the same as 18th century America...wow you get a gold star for history. You are the one who is blissfully ignorant of the problems facing America today. The legislators didn't even read the stimulus bill. That is why I'm protesting. Borrowing another term from the tea party protesters: Live Free or Die.

@Watergun: I'm a republican. The mobilization of "protesters" for this Tea Party movement is amazing. My grievance is the with the awkward symbolism and date choice for the movement. Of course the US taxpayers are going to foot the bill to revitalize this country, we live here. Who do you suggest pay for it?

@chipslave: I'm pretty sure you're joking, but in case you're not, be aware most CC's consider this a cash advance and charge accordingly.

@junkmail: Hey, it's Tax Day. Don't we all need to blow off some steam? Are they thinking of taxing free yuks, too?

For this day only, on this thread, I won't even defend Captain SparklyUnicorn and his passel of prancing ponies as they leap effortlessly across infinite rainbows!

@Jason Rose: I suggest we stop spending.

@Jason Rose: Define "mobilization." also "amazing."

@TheWillow:

Seeing the American public unite on a singular cause is something so rarely witnessed these days.

Unless 8 babies or Janet Jackson's boob are involved.