Dave Ramsey: 6 Tax Tips for Procrastinators as Tax Day Approaches

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If you haven’t filed taxes yet, don’t panic. While you’re running out of time, you’ve still got until April 15 to get your return in on time — and financial personality Dave Ramsey has some tips to make the whole process easier for you. The first thing to remember is not to panic. Even if you don’t think you’ll be able to file a complete return in time, you still have options. But there are also some traps you’ll want to avoid so that you don’t get yourself into hot water with the IRS.

Here are some of Dave Ramsey’s top tax tips for procrastinators that can help you get through the process of filing a successful tax return, even at this late date. 

File on Time

The No. 1 rule for filing taxes is to submit them before the tax deadline. Usually, this is April 15, although it can be extended if that day falls on a weekend.

Ramsey notes that the penalty for failing to file on time is significantly worse than even failing to pay on time — 5% for every month (or fraction of a month) that your return is late, up to a maximum of 25%. This means if you fail to file for five months and your tax bill is $10,000, you’ll now owe $12,500. Your failure to pay penalty would only be 0.5% of what you owe per month, or one-tenth of the failure-to-file penalty.

Try To Finish a Few Days Early

Filing taxes at any time can be stressful, but if you’re saving it all until the final night, you’re putting yourself in an even more difficult situation. For starters, procrastinating means you’ll have more days to stress out about not getting your taxes done. Even worse, when you finally file, you’re more likely to make mistakes since you have tried to cram everything in at the last minute. And if you do make mistakes on your tax return, the IRS will eventually come calling — often with additional penalties.  

Start Now Because Itemizing Takes Time

Ever since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doubled the standard deduction in 2018, fewer Americans than ever have itemized their taxes — about 10% instead of 30% before the Act. Still, there’s a chance that all of your itemized deductions will exceed the standard deduction, which is $27,700 for joint filers and $13,850 for single filers. Since it can take a lot of time to collect the information on all of your potential itemized deductions, Ramsey urges filers to start as soon as possible, even at this late date.

File Electronically and Get Direct Deposit

If you’re waiting for a refund, you don’t want to give the IRS any more excuses for a delay than humanly possible. As Ramsey notes, at the end of May 2023, the IRS had a whopping 2.4 million unprocessed tax returns. That’s the type of mess you don’t want to get caught in. While filing early is one way to avoid the crunch at tax time, submitting your return electronically — and requesting direct deposit of your refund — is the fastest way to get your return processed quickly. 

File for an Extension — But Pay on Time

If you are filing too late and you just can’t pull together all of the documents or other information you’ll need to file a complete return, request an extension. Six-month extensions are automatically granted by the IRS, so there’s no worry about having to go through any type of application process. Simply file Form 4868 before April 15 and you’re good to go.

But the most important thing to note about filing an extension is that while you’re granted extra time to file your return, you’re not given extra time to pay what you owe. When you file an extension, include the amount that you think you’ll owe and submit it to the IRS. This way you can avoid the significant failure-to-pay penalty, as outlined above.

Use Software

Ramsey is so in favor of using tax software that his company has created its own. But tax software in general has gotten so advanced in this day and age that it can help nearly anyone, from the beginner to those with more complicated returns. Most tax software comes with a guarantee against errors, and many offer some type of audit protection as well. Filing with software can also give you confidence to complete your taxes in the first place, as the question-and-answer format that most offer can make it less onerous to get through the process.

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