Tax day is here and there are probably more than a few people sweating it out. Whether you aren’t able to file in time or haven’t got the money in hand to pay your taxes, April 15th can be worse than Halloween when it comes to horror stories. Luckily, in the midst of this recession, you can still find ways to meet your government and financial obligations as long as you’re willing to talk to the IRS and let them know what’s going on.

Problems Related To Recession

Last year, if you took funds out of your IRA to pay some expenses because you lost a job or a credit line froze, you are not alone. As millions have lost their job, they have had to take extraordinary steps to keep paying bills and some of these steps are taxable, like an early withdrawal from an IRA. If you took the money out for education or in financial hardship, you should check with a tax person to see if you will have to pay taxes on it or not. There are some exceptions. Foreclosures, on the other hand, may land more people with huge tax bills when they are already deep in the hole.

In addition, even those with jobs felt the squeeze of the credit crunch. They may have adjusted their withholdings trying to gain a little more leeway in their monthly budgets. This can come back at the end of the year in the form of an unexpected tax bill.

What To Do If You Owe

There are number of ways to try to meet these obligations. You can file for an extension and pay some of what you owe now. You can schedule a monthly payment plan with the IRS. These two options come with penalties and interest on the amount you owe, but at least you won’t be evading your tax obligations. Finally, if you still can’t seem to come up with some cash, get in contact with the IRS and see if you can settle the debt in some other way. They are much more open to helping people during these tough economic times.