- The deadline for Georgians affected by Hurricane Helene and a rare snowstorm has been extended to May 1st.
- Rotary Club volunteers are staying open late to meet the demand, filing over 370 returns so far.
- If you owe taxes, the payment was still due April 15th. You can file for an extension to October 15th, but payments still need to be made.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Hundreds of Thomasville residents thought they'd missed their chance to file—until the IRS gave them two more weeks.
I'm at the Rotary Club tax site, where volunteers say they're staying open late to meet the last-minute demand.
You'd expect things to wind down on April 15th, but here at the Rotary Club tax service, it's actually picking up—with neighbors scrambling to take advantage of the extension.
"We could have closed, but too many people called up and said, we understand there's an extension, can you do it? So we decided to stay open for two more weeks. So we'll finish up on the 29th, and then we have two more days to finalize everything. It will be done by the 1st of May," said Bryan.
The deadline was pushed after Hurricane Helene and a rare snowstorm hit Georgia last year—putting parts of the state, including Thomas County, under a federal disaster declaration.
That gave residents more time to file.
"So we're getting how people who thought they could do it privately, but the timers run out, and they don't have the money. So they've been coming now to us," said Bryan.
I ran into Jannis Wilkerson, who's been using the Rotary Club service for the past three years.
She told me this time, the extension is what saved her spot.
"I probably wouldn't have gotten an appointment due to the fact I waited too late," said Jannis.
And it wasn't just the storm keeping people from filing on time—life gets in the way, too.
"Because of doctor's appointments and different things, I just failed to make the appointment earlier. I was thankful that I was able to get in, and I didn't realize that it had been extended whenever they made me this appointment," said Jannis.
But for those still thinking about putting it off—it's worth remembering the IRS will eventually catch up.
"If they don't file their taxes, the IRS at some point will realize this, because just like your job, when you get to the end of the year, you get a W-2, the same W-2 that you get is sent to IRS. So they look to see your tax return against that W-2. When they don't find it, they will contact you, and then you'll receive a penalty and have to pay interest on the taxes you owe," said Bryan.
If you miss the May 1st deadline, you can still file for an extension to push your paperwork to October 15th.
But just know—if you owe money, that was still due back on April 15th to avoid any penalties.
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