April 15th tax day is upon us.

When I used to prepare my tax return myself, I would always send it in early. Now as my return has become complicated, I have a CPA in the family prepare it. As such, we are at the bottom of his list so we tend to send it only about a week early.

What are the penalties for sending off your return April 16th? Is braving the lines at a post office at midnight really worth it?

Penalties for filing your income tax return late range from $50 to $500, depending on your net income. If you haven't filed a return, the penalty is based on the amount of net income shown in your previous year's return. When you file the late return, the penalty will be adjusted to reflect your actual income figure

You may also be charged interest penalties if you owe taxes. If you do not file your tax return on time and have not paid all your taxes, there is a penalty charge of 5% per month (or partial month) of lateness to a maximum of 25%.

Last year my state return was not delivered by the post office due to insufficient postage (something like 4-cents), and returned. Can you believe those idiots? Anyway, I just slapped on another stamp and dropped it back in the mail. I got my refund no problem, no penalty.

I am a last-minute filer. In fact, I am on my way to the accountant's office to sign the return right now. (He files it electronically.)

In the past I may have mailed my taxes a couple of days late. I also may have not been given a penalty even though I may have owed money.

It seems like the deadline and the penalties are a bit over-hyped. Has anyone here actually been assessed penalties?

If the penalty and interest is low, then it is probably not worth the IRS' effort to go after those fees. However, if you the IRS ends up auditing those prior returns, the penalties will be even higher. But the odds are on your side.