If you’re like many people, you waited until the last minute to file your taxes.
Maybe you’re a natural procrastinator, got caught up with work deadlines or were too busy living your life to realize how quickly April 15 was approaching. Or, maybe you were unaware of the deadline or delayed the process because you found it so unpleasant.
A 2025 TurboTax survey found that 54% of 18 to 24-year-olds and 36% of 25 to 34-year-olds don’t know when the tax filing deadline is, and 1 in 4 Americans say they hate doing taxes so much that they put it off until the last minute.
Whatever your reason for putting it off, take heart. Although it may be tough to secure a tax professional late in the season, most people can do it themselves without too much trouble. Here’s how to file your taxes at the last minute but still on time.
Request a Transcript From the IRS
Individual taxpayers can request a transcript of their account history from the IRS for a particular tax year. It includes wage and income information reported on your behalf throughout the year.
Misplace a W-2? Didn’t receive a 1099? Here’s where you’ll find that information. You can create an account or visit as a guest, but you’ll need to provide your Social Security number and other information either way.
Transcripts can be mailed but, because the clock is ticking, opt for online so you can view the information immediately.
“It used to be that only accountants would access these transcripts, but now they’re available to individual taxpayers as well,” says Cari Weston, a certified public accountant based in Washington, D.C.
“This can be a helpful tool, especially if you’re worried about whether you received all of your 1099s or other income declarations,” she adds.
[READ: What Is a 1099 Form and What Should You Do With It?]
Dust Off Last Year’s Return
Unless you’ve had a major life change, windfall, marriage or divorce, or additional children, your prior year’s return will be a great starting point as you begin to file this year.
Even if you’re self-employed or went through a bout of unemployment, having last year’s return handy may help trigger memories of deductions, missed income, expenses related to job searching and looking for new clients. This will help you avoid the hassle of recalculating your home office deduction.
[10 Common Life Events That Can Impact Your Taxes]
Crack Open the Vault
Let’s be honest: If you were the type to keep meticulous tax records throughout the year in a neatly organized accordion file, accounting software or app, your taxes would be done by now.
Instead, it’s time to drag out that box of receipts, remember where you left your W-2s, download credit card statements and bank statements and comb through emails for nonprofit thank you notes for charitable donations.
[Guide to Deductions for Charitable Donations]
Calculate Any Windfalls
Receive a year-end bonus? Strike it big in Vegas? Watch one of your penny stocks soar overnight? Remember, if you know about it, so does the IRS.
How you declare the earnings and the amount of taxes you’ll pay on it will depend on such factors as how you came into the money and the state where it occurred. In some cases, you may have to file an additional state return, especially if the windfall came as the result of an inheritance.
Make an IRA Contribution
“A lot of people will write on their returns that they’ve made a contribution to their IRA, thinking they’ll do it after,” Weston says. “The problem is, they then forget to make the contribution.”
It can be a rather glaring omission, especially if you’re counting on your IRA contributions to help offset your tax burden. The solution? Make the contribution, then record the actual amount rather than what you think you’ll make later.
Verify, Then Verify Again
If the devil’s in the details, then the terror’s in the typos. Weston says she’s seen returns flagged for simple things: a dependent’s Social Security number entered improperly or a zero missing on the income figure.
If you owe a penalty and provide your routing number for direct withdrawal or list a savings account rather than a checking account, the IRS won’t be able to process your payment even if your bank account is entered correctly, and you’ll receive a penalty for a failure to pay.
If You Can, Use Direct File
There are many excellent third-party tax filing software programs you can use, such as TaxAct and TurboTax, but you may have access to the IRS free software, Direct File.
It’s currently available in 25 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The Direct File program was developed for people with relatively simple tax situations and who fit under certain income thresholds. As long as you qualify, you can use it to prepare and file your return with the IRS, easily and quickly.
File an Extension
Can’t quite pull it all together in time? It’s better to file for an extension by April 15 than to file late and get hit with the failure to file penalty of 5% of the tax due for each month the return is late, up to 25%. (Note that this penalty is separate from the 0.5% failure to pay penalty for any tax owed, which is applied each month until it maxes out at 25%.) It’s also better than preparing your return incorrectly and then having to amend it later.
“File an extension, come up with the best estimate of your tax, send the best guess of money owed, and then either take your time or hire someone or buy software to file your return correctly before October,” Weston says.
Don’t Forget to Send It In
Mail or e-file your return by April 15. Sounds obvious, right? You would be surprised at how often people complete their taxes, only to set them aside to celebrate and never get back to them.
Weston recalls a former client who got tired of waiting in line at the post office. She went home without mailing it, since she and her husband didn’t owe anything and weren’t expecting any refund. The result? Thousands in failure to file penalties.
Finally, Cover Your Tracks
Small precautions now can save a lot of hassle later. If you used your office scanner to transfer your W-2s to an online storage system, emailed them to your accountant or sent them from a friend’s computer or other type of unsecured device, go over your tracks and delete it all.
This includes items from your email that may now be in a shared downloads file and anything with your personal contact or identity information on it, anything stored in the scanner’s memory and any items you may have meant to shred and toss into the recycling bin instead.
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A Checklist for Last-Minute Tax Filing originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 04/09/25: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
