October 15 is Closer Than You Think
The Short and Pointed 6-Week Tax Plan
October 15 seems so far away, doesn’t it? It’s just the first of September, after all. The problem for many small businesses, especially in a down economy, is that they are so busy running the business that no one even notices as September quietly rolls into October. And if you wait until October to start trying to put your tax return together, you are facing a near impossible filing deadline.
A common reason small businesses file an extension is because they don’t have all their information organized in time for their accountant to complete a tax return before April 15. Many of those who file an extension do so and then forget about the October 15 deadline because it’s so far away. At the current speed of business, six months seems like an eternity. The problem is that we are so busy trying to make a business run, addressing the hundreds of minor emergencies that crop up in a typical day, that we lose focus on getting our taxes together in a reasonable timeframe.
Because we spend a great deal of our energy and time on helping our clients regain compliance at TaxMasters, we thought it might be effective to put together an easy-to-follow 6-week plan small businesses can use to make sure they get their taxes filed by the extension deadline on October 15. Kind of a preemptive action to help small business owners before they need us.
If you don’t start getting your tax information together now, you run the risk of missing the filing deadline, which means an automatic penalty. No one wants to pay the IRS more than they have to. So follow this plan and file on time this year. And remember that using a reputable tax professional to prepare your returns on time is one of the easiest ways to stay out of trouble with the IRS.
The Dates
September 1–Call your accountant and schedule the day you’ll provide your information
September 2–Physically put your hands on your income statements, expense statements, tax documentation, and other relevant paperwork
September 6–Start organizing all that stuff you pulled together on September 2 in a format your accountant can use
September 8–Chase down all your deduction information and add that to your file
September 9–Finish compiling all paperwork so you can hand it off on Friday
September 10–Deliver everything you put together to your accountant and schedule the pick-up date for no later than October 11
October 11–Pay the accountant and review your return
October 12–Take your time and review the return again, making certain you understand it
October 13–Finish working through any issues or questions you had about the return, sign it, and file it
October 15–Pat yourself on the back for a job well done and enjoy the fact that you are in compliance with the IRS
Following this schedule doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t have to call us in the future, but failing to file your tax return is the quickest way to attract unwanted attention from the IRS.

Patrick Cox is President, CEO, and Board Director of Tax Masters, Inc. (TAXS), a company dedicated to helping consumers solve their tax problems. Patrick Cox is a tax expert who founded Tax Masters in 2001, which has become one of the most effective IRS tax representation firms in the IRS tax relief industry. Patrick Cox and Tax Masters are located in Houston, Texas and the company is publicly traded under the ticker symbol TAXS.
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