Unpaid Tax at 4/15/2019

The IRS and Georgia will punish you if you haven't paid in enough tax by the due date of the 2018 tax return. They will really punish you if there is unpaid tax and no tax return or extension filed. The IRS failure to file penalty is 5% of the unpaid taxes per month or part of a month up to a max of 25%. The Georgia failure to file penalty is the same. The IRS and Georgia late payment penalties are 1/2 of 1% per month or part of a month on any unpaid tax balance. The IRS annual interest rate on unpaid taxes is currently 6%. The Georgia interest rate is the federal reserve prime rate plus 3% (8.5%) and can be adjusted every January.

Fulton County Senior Homestead Exemption

You have until April 1 to apply for a senior homestead exemption in Fulton County. This is a new law that gives homeowners that are age 65 and over another $20,000 in exemption regardless of income. To qualify you have to go in person to one of the 5 Fulton County Board of Assessors' offices and fill out a 1 page application. You need to bring with you your driver's license, current registration for all vehicles of owner and spouse, and your last property tax bill. I went last week to the North Fulton Service Center room 210 and it took about an hour.

Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions

The tax reform act eliminated miscellaneous itemized deductions such as employee business expenses and investment expenses. However there are still some left that are fully deductible you might not know about including the following: gambling losses to the extent of gambling winnings, job related expenses of the handicapped, estate taxes imposed on taxable income, and the unrecovered cost of annuities on a decedent's final return.

Corporate and Partnership Tax Returns

The due date for 2018 corporate and partnership tax returns is Friday, March 15, 2019. This also happens to be the Ides of March when Julius Caesar was assassinated and Rome started going downhill. You can extend the filing of the returns for six months until September 16, 2019.