Today, April 15, is the last day to file your taxes. Any returns filed electronically after midnight are considered to be late.

Those who haven't paid will start accruing interest and penalties. The penalties, according to workers of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, are 5% per month or per partial month up to a max of 5 months, or 25% plus interest on any unpaid balance. 

If you need an extension, you can go to any tax office for assistance. 

“It is fairly routine and a quick and simple return that needs to be filed it takes 10 or 15 minutes. And if you file and extension it gives you an extra 6 months to file your return. However, it is an extension only of the time to file not of the time to pay.” said Bruce MacKinnon, Office Leader of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service.

If you have a balance due, you have to pay it along with the extension fee. If you don't, you'll still receive penalties. Once you file your taxes after paying for the extension, you can receive the extension charge back later in the year.

Today, tax service locations are very busy, especially with walk ins. But they're prepared for a long night to help people with their taxes.

“We’ve stayed till midnight in the past," MacKinnon explains. "Several of our offices are already showing they are very busy and are expecting volumes to build as the day goes on people getting off of work. We’re expecting to be extremely busy in the late afternoon and evening." 

He also says tax refunds have been a little smaller around the board this year.

A 48-68 form is the extensions form to ask for. They say it's common for people to ask for extensions. 

“People who either have not been able to gather everything that they need or have been distracted with other obligations do file extensions and we do a good number of them every year,” MacKinnon adds. 

One common mistake they see when people file taxes is not having a full picture of your income or not having many of the forms required for completing your tax filing. 

“The most important thing you can do is to file even if you have a balance due. Make sure you file because you do eliminate the failure to file penalty. And if you’re not able to file the complete return as we’ve mentioned, make sure you file an extension that at least defers the date to get the return itself filed out until October,” reminds Mackinnon. 

If you need help filing your taxes or want to know which forms you'll need you can click the link here.