Tax Deadline Chaos: Avoid Pitfalls with JMA Enterprises

0:00It's April 7th, I'm Cory with the story, and this is Birmingham News today. Local news powered by AI. With the April 15th tax deadline just days away, tax offices like Jammy Enterprises in Birmingham are slammed with last-minute filers rushing in. Owner Alicia White, who's been in the game for 20 years, says it's the usual chaos folks hunting down pros to beat the clock and avoid penalties. She breaks it down into three waves every season. Early birds hit in January, chasing earned income credits for holiday bills or emergencies. March brings the steady regulars, her biggest crowd, then come the procrastinators right at the end, often owing money and dragging their feet. These late comers face real headaches if they're not ready. White warns again showing up with shoe boxes of receipts or messy bags of papers. It slows everything down, racks of fees for extra bookkeeping, and usually means filing an extension to October 15th. She's seeing more of those extensions lately, especially from business owners dumping

1:00bank statements too late. Beyond organization, she stresses vetting your tax prepper carefully. She's cleaned up plenty of messes from shady ones, pushing fake credits or stealing refunds through identity theft. Always grab a copy of your return before signing. It's your neck on the line with the IRS if fraud pops up. Bottom line? Don't sleep on this. Hit your doc straight, pick a solid pro, and file smart to dodge the drama and extra cost heading into crunch time.