Tax Day is four weeks away. Have you filed your taxes yet?

TROY — Tax Day is four weeks away, and the latest Internal Revenue Service data shows that approximately 60 million returns have been processed so far.

This total represents less than half of the returns that had been processed by the deadline last year, as millions of Americans have yet to file.

Consumer Reporter Xavier Hershovitz visited Miami County to speak with a local financial expert about the approaching deadline.

As tax professionals enter the peak of the season, they are warning taxpayers that those who have not started the process may face limited options for professional assistance.

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Rob Burnette, CEO and financial planner at Outlook Financial Center in Troy, said his office is currently in the middle of its busiest season. “We are up to our neck in returns,” Burnette said.

He noted that the remaining four weeks do not provide much flexibility for those who have not yet begun their paperwork. “If you haven’t started, you need to get started now, because four weeks since you’re now getting in at the peak of the season, is not a lot of time,” Burnette said.

Individuals looking for professional help this late in the year may find that many firms are no longer accepting new appointments.

Burnette explained that many agencies are already at capacity and have shifted their focus to managing their existing workload. “A lot of the tax professionals that you might go to, they’re full, they’re busy, and I know some agencies are just when you walk in, they are automatically filing extensions,” Burnette said.

Returning clients often experience a faster filing process because their foundational data is already stored in a preparer’s system.

Burnette said that for these individuals, the work primarily involves updating specific figures for the current tax year. “I don’t have to enter all your data. I’ve already got that. All I got to do is update the numbers. I can do that pretty quickly,” he said.

Taxpayers are also reminded that filing an extension only provides more time to submit the return itself, not more time to pay any taxes owed to the government.

Regardless of whether an extension is filed, all tax payments are due by April 15. Burnette warned that failing to pay by the deadline results in financial consequences. “And if you don’t pay it, then you’re going to be incurring interest and penalties and things like that,” he said.

For those planning to file their own taxes without professional help, Burnette suggested starting the process immediately to account for the complexity of current tax codes. Even simple returns may take longer than they did in previous years. “Start today. I mean, like I said, if you’re going to do your taxes yourself, just understand they are more complex,” Burnette said.

Burnette said he will continue working through the deadline to serve clients as they arrive. “Just understand that you’re at the end of the line,” Burnette said.

“The preparer is not trying to be mean to you; they’re just trying to serve the clients as they come in the door.”

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