Tax day is Tuesday.
And for some, the day is one of anticipation of a refund from the state or federal government. For others, the day is a nightmare of having to owe money to the government.
“I filed mine a few months ago, preparing them myself for my husband and I,” Jennifer Miller Rockwell of Bradford said. “We had them back 14 days later; didn’t get as much filing married and jointly as I would have thought. Seems we would have been better off filing separately.”
For her part, Ida Schuler of Bradford said her husband completed their taxes, and the refund is going toward paying off bills.
Through April 7, the IRS had processed more than 100.9 million tax returns and issued more than 80.2 million refunds totaling $228.9 billion. In Pennsylvania, the state Department of Revenue has received 4.1 million personal income tax returns as of April 7, less than this time last year.
“We expect a surge of taxpayers filing this weekend as the April 18 due date approaches,” state Department of Revenue spokesman Kevin Hensil told The Era on Friday. “Please allow 8 to 10 weeks for the department to process an income tax return and for Treasury to send the refund.”
IRS officials say that the average refund is $2,851.
Relying on the most-recent information, dating to 2014, The Center for Rural Pennsylvania reports that Potter County tops the four-county region in average federal income tax payment due at the time of filing, and McKean County leads with the largest tax refund across the region.
The average federal income tax payment due at the time of filing for Potter County is $4,882; Elk County, $4,277; McKean County, $3,779; and Cameron County, $2,909.
Meanwhile, the average federal income tax refund for McKean County was $2,654; Potter County, $2,578; Elk County, $2,345; and Cameron County, $2,221.
For rural federal tax filers, 79 percent, or 1,257,520 people, were eligible for a refund. A total of 15 percent, or 234,960 people, owed taxes, and a total of 6 percent, or 102,700 people, received no refund or owed taxes, according to information from The Center for Rural Pennsylvania.
By the end of this week, the IRS is expecting to receive about 18 million individual income tax returns of which about 16 million were filed electronically. Next week, the IRS is expecting 12 million tax returns to be filed.
“With the tax deadline approaching, taxpayers shouldn’t panic. The IRS has many options available to help people as they finalize their tax returns or if they need to get extra time to file,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said in a prepared statement.
Several options are available to individuals who have yet to complete their tax returns, including free e-filing or a six-month extension.
“The extension to file is not an extension to pay,” Hensil said. “If you feel you will owe tax, you should pay at least 90 percent of the tax you expect to owe by April 18, 2017, then file your return by October 16, 2017, and pay any additional tax due at that time. Interest will be due with the payment, but the penalty will be waived if the tax due is less than 10 percent of the tax liability.”
For those with tax-related questions, the IRS will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today. The Pennsylvania Taxpayer Service and Information Center will be open 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Tuesday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at 717-787-8201. Assistance is also available atwww.revenue.pa.gov.
