Late Filing Penalty

The IRS penalty for failure to file a return is pretty stiff. It is 5% of the amount of tax due per month or part of a month up to a maximum of 25%. If you don't owe any tax, then there is no penalty. If the return is more than 60 days late, then there is even a minimum penalty of $135 or tax due. The extended due date of the 2014 individual return is this Thursday October 15, and after that this penalty comes into play if you haven't filed a return for 2014.