Lathrup Village firm helps taxpayers meet deadline amid power outages

(WJBK) - It's probably the worst time to lose power if you're a tax business.

But of course, that's exactly what's happening at Levy and Associates in Lathrup Village. Now they've got the generators running to make sure those last minute filings are in -- taxes have to be filed by Tuesday.

"Make sure you are going to file your taxes because failure to file penalty is huge," said Lawrence Levy of Levy & Associates.

Every year at this time, Lawrence Levy always sees those tax procrastinators come into his office.

"We see last minute stragglers this time of year and then again in October because the extension takes you to October 15," he said.

As if it wasn't crazy enough this time of year at Levy's Lathrup Village office, they just lost power because of the weather.

"I was at the office this morning at 5 a.m. trying to have our electricians hook up generators so we could be up and running so that we could make sure we could function today," he said.

If you're at home watching this - it's probably time to start thinking of plan B. 

"There are solutions out there - make sure you seek professional advice, a tax resolution firm that knows what to do and what not to do and knows what your options are," Levy said.

If you can't get it together before Tuesday's deadline and think that you are going to owe money, there are definitely consequences. 

"If you know that you're going to owe you should certainly file even if you can't pay to avoid the failure to file penalty," Levy said.

While some people are already out spending that tax return money, if you file electronically by Tuesday - when will you see your money?

"Generally speaking e-filing a tax return and if you have a refund you should get it back between a week and 10 days," Levy said.

If you're still scrambling, visit www.levytaxhelp.com or call Levy & Associates at 1-800-TAX-LEVY.