Missed the April 15 tax deadline for your business? You’re not alone.
Remember: Filing taxes late doesn’t mean you’ve failed. But it does mean it's time to act quickly and strategically.
Whether you were buried in day-to-day operations, your books weren’t ready, or it simply slipped through the cracks, it’s fixable. In this guide, we’ll walk through what small business owners need to know about filing taxes late, plus the financial steps to get caught up and stay on track.
If you're filing taxes late, it means your business didn’t submit its required return by the IRS deadline, typically April 15 for calendar-year filers.
Two key points to understand:
Most importantly — accurate books come first. You can't file confidently without them.
Late filing can trigger penalties that quickly snowball. Common penalties typically include:
With late filing, there’s no grace period. You’ll need to file ASAP to stop penalties from compounding.
The reality: You probably already have enough on your plate keeping your business finances in a good place. You don’t want these late filing or penalty items hanging out there as well.
Maybe? Again, consult with a tax professional. Tax professionals can potentially request abatements or reasonable cause relief for some hardships in some cases (like illness, disasters, or emergencies).
If you’re potentially eligible for relief, you’ll need clean books, clear documentation, and a proactive approach. That’s where we’ll focus for the rest of this post.
If you’re in the situation where tax day has flown by and you still haven’t filed, here are the steps to getting back on track.
If you're not ready to file your business taxes by the April 15 deadline, you can request an automatic extension to file until October 15. However, this extension only applies to filing your return, not to paying any taxes owed. To avoid penalties and interest, estimate and pay any owed taxes by April 15.
These platforms guide you through the process, ensuring your extension request is submitted accurately and on time.
If your taxes are late, chances are your financials are behind, too. That’s where we come in.
myPocketCFO offers a 2024 bookkeeping catch-up service designed specifically for small business owners who’ve fallen behind. We’ll help you get organized, usually within a week. That means cleaning up your books, reconciling your accounts, and generating the financial reports you (or your tax preparer) need to file and minimize errors.
Filing taxes without clean books is like driving with your eyes closed. You’re making decisions based on guesses, not facts, which can lead to missed opportunities and incorrectly stated financials.
Why this matters: Sloppy or incomplete financials don’t just delay tax filing. They also create future risk across your entire business. Lenders, investors, and vendors often request financials, and if yours aren’t in good shape, you could miss out on opportunities or face compliance issues down the line.
Clean books give you clarity. They let you file confidently, plan ahead, and avoid repeating the same tax-time scramble next year.
And once you’re caught up? We can help you stay that way.
Clean books equal confident filing.
Whether you use a tax professional or do it yourself, it’s important to file your return as soon as possible to minimize penalties. Filing, even without full payment, may reduce the failure-to-file penalty, which is significantly higher than the failure-to-pay penalty.
Even partial payments can help limit both interest and penalty charges.
If you need help understanding your payment options, consult a qualified tax professional. Our role at myPocketCFO is to make sure your financials are accurate and up-to-date before you enter those conversations so you can make informed, confident decisions.
We’re not tax preparers — but we can show you how your payment approach will affect your business finances.
As you figure out your strategy, we can help with guidance on how to assess cash flow, prioritize obligations, and forecast how tax repayment fits into your broader financial plan.
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💡 How myPocketCFO HelpsWe’re not a tax firm. But when your taxes are late, accurate, up-to-date financials are the foundation of everything else. We can help you:
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The best way to deal with late taxes is to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Once you’re caught up, put systems in place now to stay ahead of next year’s deadlines.
Here’s how small businesses that are on top of their game do it. They:
When your books are clean and your financial systems are dialed in, tax time becomes just another part of the process — not a crisis.
Late taxes are usually a symptom of something deeper: disorganized financials, overextended internal systems, or simply having too much on your plate. As a core part of what we do, we help small businesses get control of their finances so this doesn’t keep happening.
Let’s get your books cleaned up and put a system in place that actually works for you.
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