Blog Post  After Tax Deadline To-Do

If you’re reading this, that means you made it to the end of tax year 2023 (unless you are filing an extension).  Congratulations! There may be a few tasks on your post-tax season to-do list.

Refunds

You can follow the status of your refund online. Check your refund easily on MassTaxConnect: available 24/7 and gives you the most up-to-date information. It refreshes nightly as your refund moves through the process.

To check the status of your refund, you’ll need a few pieces of information:

• Tax year of your refund
• Your Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number and
• Your refund amount

As usual, taxpayers who e-filed their returns are seeing refunds faster than if they had filed on paper. The current timeline is 4-6 weeks for e-file direct deposits vs. 8-10 weeks for paper filed direct deposits.

Return Filing Extensions

Some taxpayers may not have been ready to file by the deadline. An extension is a real thing. An extension of the time to file, not to pay. Any amount due will continue to incur interest even if a valid extension is on file. Personal income and fiduciary tax extensions must have been filed on or before the tax deadline of April 17, 2024 by midnight.

If a return does not have a tax due and is not filed by the due date, the return will be granted an automatic extension until October 15, 2024. Anyone that missed the deadline to file should make payment of any tax due via a "return" payment on MassTaxConnect. In order for income and fiduciary extensions to be valid, at least 80% of the tax liability should have been paid on or before April 17, 2024, through payments, withholding, and credits.

Payment Plans

If you filed your return and learned you owe a tax liability, DOR offers payment plans for taxpayers unable to pay their bills in full. Watch this tutorial to learn how to request a payment plan on MTC. You can also call the DOR Contact Center at (617) 887-6367 (for tax liabilities of $5,000 or less) or DOR Collections at (617) 887-6400 (for tax liabilities of $5,001 or greater). 

For individuals and businesses, there are two types of payment agreements available:

• For total (individual or business) tax liabilities of $5,000 or less
• For total (individual or business) tax liabilities of $5,001 or greater

A payment agreement is subject to the discretion and approval of DOR. DOR reserves the right to deny your proposal for any reason.