Late Filing

Interest, compounded daily, is charged on any unpaid tax from the due date of the return until the date of payment. That rate is determined every 3 months. For 2013 the interest rate is 3%. In addition, if you filed on time but did not pay on time, you will generally have to pay a late payment penalty of one half of one percent of the tax owed for each month, or part of a month, that the tax remains unpaid after the due date, up to a maximum of 25%. The one half of one percent rate increases to one percent if the tax remains unpaid after several bills have been sent to you and the IRS issues a notice of intent to levy. If you owed tax and did not file on time, the penalty is even higher. The combined late filing and late payment penalty is 5% of the tax owed for each month, or part of a month, that your return was late, up to a maximum of 25%. If your return was over 60 days late, the minimum penalty is the smaller of $100 or 100 percent of the tax owed.