Only those owing IRS should worry about tax deadline

Today isn't really the deadline to file your federal income-tax return.

And it certainly isn't the deadline to file to get your economic-stimulus rebate.

In fact, today isn't the deadline for about five out of six people who will file a return for 2007.

If you're expecting a refund, as is the case with about 80 percent of people, then the Internal Revenue Service doesn't mind at all whether you file by April 15 or not. You can file your 2007 return next week, or even next year. It's just fine with the IRS. The government likes free loans.

Amid the hype surrounding April 15, the fact that April 15 really isn't the absolute deadline is a fact that's often forgotten, said IRS spokesman Eric Erickson. You actually have until April 15, 2011, to file if you're getting a refund — though it wouldn't be terribly smart to wait that long.

That might cause a big sigh of relief for those scrambling to crunch numbers and staple W-2s by tonight.

But if you're waiting to file your federal return, you'd better be absolutely sure that you are indeed owed a refund. If you have any doubt at all, you should file for a six-month extension (Form 4868) just to be safe. If it turns out you were wrong and owed tax, the penalty for filing late when you actually owe is 10 times higher than the penalty for paying late.

The focus today is on about 27 million filers who owe taxes for 2007 and an additional 1.3 million who still haven't filed 2004 returns and are due refunds.

Across the nation, $1.2 billion in 2004 refunds is waiting to be paid. If the money is not claimed with a return that is postmarked or e-filed by today, it becomes property of the U.S. Treasury.

People who don't have the money to pay their 2007 tax bill can request an extension to pay or can request an installment plan to pay (Form 9465), although interest and penalties would apply in both cases.

Today also isn't the deadline for an estimated 20 million people who are expected to file just to get this year's economic-stimulus rebate. Ideally, they should file by Oct. 15 if they want to get their money this calendar year, he said. (They must file a Form 1040A.) If the IRS gets their return and can't process it by Dec. 31, as required by the law Congress passed, then consumers would have to wait until the next tax-filing season starts in January.

There is no penalty for not filing by today for people who are filing only to get the rebate, Erickson stressed. You don't have to file for the rebate at all. But if you don't file, you won't get the rebate.

The government will start sending rebate payments May 2; the timing will be staggered by the last two digits of your Social Security number. People who filed their return and are getting a refund by direct deposit should have their money by May 16. Others will get a paper check by July 11.