If you missed the tax filing deadline, don't throw in the towel. Here's what you need to do:

First, don't panic, but get your return filed as quickly as possible. If you owe money, the sooner you file the less you will pay in penalties and interest.

E-file programs are still available through the October 15, 2012 extension deadline, and e-filing is faster. The sooner you can get your return accepted, the better off you will be whether you owe money or expect a refund.

National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina E. Olson, of the Taxpayer Advocate Service, evaluated the current correspondence and examination process in great detail. She found a number of problems for taxpayers, and suggests a solution.

We usually think of identity theft in terms of someone getting their hands on the credit cards and bank routing numbers of another. Tax-time identity theft has a little different look. According the the IRS, this is what tax-related identity theft looks like.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) exists to ensure that all taxpayers know and understand their rights and that all are treated fairly.

Their mission statement says: "As an independent organization within the IRS, we help taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS and recommend changes that will prevent the problems."

Beware of "too good to be true" tax preparation offers. Schemes usually involve creative, but illegal, classifications of income that would seem to reduce your taxable income. However, participating in an illegal tax scheme can get you jail time, fines and the obligation to repay your taxes with penalties and interest.

The Vow To Hire Heros Act of 2011 provides a credit to businesses hiring eligible unemployed veterans. Both for profit and not for profit businesses can benefit, and the IRS just made it easier to claim by extending the deadline on filing the required certification and by authorizing the use of electronic transmission of signatures and necessary forms.

Mention the IRS to nearly anyone and you'll likely get moans and groans. Tax time and the rigorous mental exercise that is tax filing are just part of that.

There is also the fearsome spectre of an IRS that can (and will) check your figures, your deductions, your life itself, and come back at you with levies and penalties if - somehow - you failed to achieve compliance.

This year, April 15, 2012 (the standard tax deadline date) falls on a Sunday. That would push the tax dealine back to the 16th this year, but...

On the following Monday, Emancipation Day will be observed in the District of Columbia pushing the deadline back yet another day.

That means the tax season deadline for 2012 is Tuesday, April 17, giving tax payers a couple of extra days to file for the second year in a row.