Generally the deadline for filing with the IRS for the Income Tax return is April 15th. Some people work on it really early, while other people wait until the last minute, and some file really late. Some people don't file, and eventually have to pay penalties or make some kind of settlement with the government. I have done it all different ways, but never late. There have been years in the past when I filed before I got all my tax records back from some who were slow, and then I had to file an ammendment, which usually worked out okay. One years my tax accountant didn't realize that I had a Bachelor's degree, so she took some credits for me that I should not have had. The IRS became aware of that, and I got into a slight bit of trouble, but nothing really serious. The IRS penalized me for filing late because of the mistake, then they added interest, and I redid my taxes myself because I lived too far away from my tax accountant, and I just used most of her figures and corrected the problem, and everything was fine.
I now have everything I need to file my taxes, so I am going through all of the spending records, and organizing, and adding up some of my spendings. I get all the information together, and then I let the tax accountant decide what of my information to use. I know I list some things that can't be used, but I would rather give her the figures then let her decide rather than not giving her enough information to do my taxes correctly. For many years I did the accounting myself for my taxes, but my tax situation got complicated enough so that it made sense to let someone who knew what they were doing, and knew the laws deal with it. I started plenty early this years, and I am taking my time getting my tax information ready. I have been using the paper that I prepared the year before, and then I update all the information, come up with new totals, as well as leaving some out that don't make sense anymore. I will probably have it all finished and ready for the accountant by the end of the week. I add such things as total gasoline burned in the car, total the amount of money we spent on food, total the electric and heating costs, and it can be a night mare, but I am working through it slowly and methodically, so it will be okay, and at the end of the week I will still have my sanity!!!!