The Tax Day deadline is upon us. Your 2023 income taxes are due by April 15 (unless you live in one of these states with automatic extensions). That means that your tax return or your tax extension must be either completed and submitted electronically or postmarked by midnight tonight.

For taxpayers who are certain they’ll receive a refund on their 2023 tax return, the only harm in missing the tax deadline is letting the IRS hold on to your money longer. However, if you owe taxes, you don’t want to wait — penalties and interest can pile up quickly.

Read on to learn more about what happens to late tax returns, including information on penalties, interest and payment plans. For more, here’s the best software for filing your tax return, and learn how to track your refund to your bank account after you do. 

What if I miss the deadline and I’m expecting a tax refund?

If you’re expecting money back from the IRS from your 2023 tax return, there are no penalties for filing late. In fact, you have three years to file your 2023 tax return before the IRS turns your tax refund over to the Treasury and your money is gone forever.

Your tax refund might be delayed by filing late, but you should still expect to receive your money in four to six weeks.

You could be making good use of the money the IRS owes you, and the longer you wait to file your taxes, the more you lose out. Whether you use your tax refund to pay down credit card debt, start an emergency fund, make investments or even just treat yourself to a nice dinner or vacation (depending on your refund amount), you want your money as soon as possible. Letting the IRS keep your tax refund longer only deprives you of possible interest and spending power.

What if I miss the deadline and I owe money on my taxes?

If you miss the tax deadline, don’t file an extension and you owe taxes, there’s a good chance you will incur both late filing penalties and late payment penalties. You’ll also have to pay interest on the money that you owe until it’s completely paid.

What are the fees and penalties for filing taxes late?

There are two basic penalties that the IRS charges for filing taxes late when you owe money: a failure-to-file penalty and a failure-to-pay penalty. On top of that, you’ll also pay interest on the amount you owe.

The failure-to-file penalty hurts the most. It’s generally 5% of the amount you owe for each month or part of a month that your return is late, with a maximum penalty of 25%. If your return is more than 60 days late, the minimum penalty is $435 or the balance of your taxes due, if less than that.

The failure-to-pay penalty will also cost you money, but not nearly as much — a big reason to file an extension on time even if you can’t pay anything. This penalty is usually calculated at 0.5% of any taxes owed that aren’t paid by the deadline. The IRS again charges the penalty for each month or part of a month that your payment is late, with a maximum 25% penalty total.

The IRS also charges interest on late taxes. Determined by adding 3% to the short-term federal interest rate, the IRS interest rate is currently 7%. That rate is adjusted quarterly, and interest is compounded daily.

Can I file an extension past the tax deadline?

Unfortunately, no. Tax extensions provide taxpayers six additional months to complete their tax returns, but they must be filed by the tax deadline. Taxpayers filing extensions must also include the estimated amount of money that they owe using IRS Form 1040-ES. Online tax software can also quickly calculate your estimated taxes.

If you want to file a tax extension with the IRS, you need to do it by the April 15 deadline. You can submit an extension electronically by midnight that day (local time) or mail IRS Form 4868, as long as it’s postmarked April 15, 2024.

What if I file an extension on time?

If you file a tax extension by the April 15 deadline, you get an extra six months. As long as you paid an estimated amount that’s close to what you owe, you won’t be subject to fines or penalties if you file your return and pay any remaining tax liability by Oct. 15, 2024.

If you don’t pay enough money with your tax extension, you may be subject to the late payment penalty. The IRS expects your estimated payment to be at least 90% of your total tax liability. The agency may charge a 0.5% per month penalty on the amount of unpaid taxes if you paid less than that, so you should still complete your tax return and file it as soon as possible.

What if I can’t afford to pay the taxes I owe?

Owing taxes that you don’t have the money to pay can be incredibly stressful. However, you can take action now that will lighten both your financial and psychological burdens.

Consider an IRS payment plan. If you can pay off your tax debt within 180 days, the IRS will let you apply for a short-term payment plan that costs nothing, although you’ll still accrue penalties and interest until your debt is paid off. It’s easy to apply online or at a local IRS office.

If you need more than 180 days, you can apply for a long-term payment plan that costs $31 for automatic monthly bank payments via direct debit, or $130 for non-direct debit payments. Low-income taxpayers — those with adjusted gross incomes at or below 250% of the federal poverty guidelines — can waive the fee for the direct-debit installment plan or pay $43 for the non-direct debit plan.

You might consider other borrowing options outside of the IRS. If your tax liability isn’t too high, you could use a credit card with a 0% intro APR to pay your taxes, assuming you can pay off that debt before the intro period expires. For larger tax debts, you could consider a debt-consolidation loan, though your rate may be higher than the 7% currently charged by the IRS.

This is the second generation of Fitbit’s health-focused smartwatch, and the updated interface and the return of the physical navigation button make this wearable particularly appealing — especially at this price. Besides keeping a close eye on atrial fibrillation (heart rate irregularities), this Fitbit includes a cEDA sensor that detects electrodermal activity, which often correlates to your body’s response to stress. You can also see your nightly blood oxygen levels at a glance. 

It still has all the great features the first-gen Sense offered, like built-in GPS for hikes, biking and driving. The watch also has Amazon Alexa built-in for news updates, bedtime reminders and alarms, and it can control smart home devices too. The smartwatch comes with a variety of clock face options. One battery charge lasts six full days, and a full day’s charge takes only 12 minutes.

Pricing

Starting at $8/serving

Type

Meal kit, grocery provider

Regional Availability

Continental United States

Number of Meal Options per Week

100+

Menu Options/ Diet Types

Vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, egg-free, shellfish-free, nut-free, gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, omnivore

Pros

• Similar to meal kits but without restricting you to specific recipes
• Food arrived fresh and orderly
• More convenient than going to the grocery store
• Good for discovering new foods
• Items can be easily used in other recipes
• Tons of options for vegans and vegetarians

Cons

• Slightly more expensive than buying all the groceries yourself
• Canceling must be done after your most recent box is shipped

Finding a reliable grocery delivery service, prepared meal or meal kit subscription can save you a world of time and effort during busy days. If you can’t decide between the three, Hungryroot pulls elements from each but ultimately leaves you in control of what you cook and eat. I tried the flexible food subscription that sends weekly boxes of groceries along with suggested meals to make with them and even a few prepared foods and ready-to-eat items for days when cooking just isn’t happening.

The subscription service is simple to set up and fun to use. The food is fairly priced and the selection, while limited in some ways, is thoughtfully curated. If you love Trader Joe’s but don’t love the lines, Hungryroot is worthy of a trial. I tested a few weeks’ of Hungryroot to suss out its advantages, drawbacks and unearth any fine print you’ll want to know before you dive in.

Below you’ll find the skinny on Hungryroot grocery delivery and how to get started with the upstart grocery subscription. I even compared Hungryroot’s groceries to those of a national supermarket to find out how much you’ll spend — or save. If you decide to try it, Hungryroot will knock 30% off your first order, too.

How does Hungryroot grocery delivery work?

Unlike traditional meal kits, Hungryroot tailors a delivery of groceries with simple recipe suggestions that can be created from them. While services like Blue Apron and Sunbasket lock you into recipes with rather specific ingredients portioned for that particular meal, Hungryroot sends packaged goods often in the way you’d find them at a supermarket. 

To start, Hungryroot gathers a bunch of information on your eating habits and preferences to get the best food to your door. The quiz asks about foods you like and don’t like, along with any dietary restrictions (Hungryroot has a robust offering for plant-based eaters). It’ll also find out which meals you’re interested in receiving ingredients for — breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks or all four. 

After you log your food preferences via the questionnaire, choose a delivery address and date and supply a credit card, Hungryroot will curate a list of suggested groceries and recipes. Some are standalone food items while others are intended to make easy meals such as simple egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast, or curry chicken wraps for lunch or a light dinner. 

The online market stocks Hungryroot-branded products mixed in with name-brand grocery staples and goods made by small, independent producers of food, drinks and snacks. And shortcuts are the name of the game, with items such as precooked and shredded chicken to make a fast chicken salad wrap, or healthy sous vide egg bites to air fry in the morning before work. 

Most of Hungrroot’s suggested recipes are intended to feed you and the crew for multiple meals per week. Almost everything can also be used outside of the recipe if you decide you’re not feeling that particular meal, so you won’t be stuck with various packets of seasoning, sauces or bunches of herbs that you might not know how to use otherwise.

Swapping items is easy (and fun)

Before you submit your week’s order, you can easily swap items that don’t appeal to you. Each food is assigned a credit value and once you delete an item from the cart, you’ll be given those credits to spend on anything else including produce, snacks, meat, fish, dairy products and tons more. 

If you want something that exceeds your credit value, you can cancel other items to give yourself enough credits or go over and Hungryroot will charge your card on file for the amount. Hungryroot makes suggestions for replacement items too. If you cancel your whole-wheat bread, as an example, a few other bread options will pop up but you’re not beholden to them in any way.

You can also cancel or swap out entire recipes if you want and you’ll receive credits to pick a new one or select grocery items a la carte. It’s like someone walking with you through the store saying, “Hey, I think you might like this based on what you’ve told me,” and then very much letting you decide if you’d like to try it or not.

When I placed my order, I was given three recipe suggestions: egg and cheese sandwiches with seven-grain bread; curry chicken and broccolini wraps (lunch); and a Thai coconut chicken and green bean stir fry. The rest of my order was made up of snacks, cheeses, breakfast items, proteins and meal starters.

Here’s how the price per serving breaks down:

Plans start at $65. Hungryroot gives you the option to add more servings in increments of two to four with a flat increase of $10 and the cost per serving decreases the more you order. Shipping is free for any plan over $70 a week.

Hungryroot’s pricing varies based on what plan you choose. Each plan comes with a number of “credits” that correlate to the number of servings you’ve chosen. The price of your box will remain the same each week if you always use the same amount of credits. Some ingredients, like meats, use up more credits than others, so you’ll either have to pay more for meat-heavy boxes or settle for fewer servings.

How much Hungryroot costs vs. buying everything yourself

To calculate the value of a Hungryroot subscription, I priced out each item I received in my shipment using the lowest price I could find from a local grocery delivery service like FreshDirect or Instacart. Some items are Hungryroot branded; in those cases, I found another similar item of similar portion size and used that price.

• Andrew & Everett shredded mozzarella: $5.69
• Andrew & Everett shredded cheddar: $5.69
• Vital Farms ready-pour eggs: $4.49
• Angelic 7-grain bread: $7
• Angelic sweet potato wraps: $4.59
• Pizza Gourmet wood-grilled flatbread: $5
• Tucson Tamale sausage and cheese breakfast tamale: $3.29
• Three Little Pigs prosciutto (2 ounces): $8
• Three Little Pigs egg bite (1): $2.59
• Trimmed green beans: ($3) 
• Keven’s Paleo Thai coconut chicken: $11
• Rastelli’s albacore tuna steaks (2): $14
• Mighty Spark bruschetta chicken burgers (2): $7
• Seasoned grilled chicken breast: $7
• Lesser Evil Himalayan salt popcorn: $4.29
• Hass Avocado: $3
• Red onion: $1
• Hungryroot coconut curry sauce (8 ounces): $6
• Sweet baby broccoli (8 ounces): $4.59

• Hungryroot total: $120
• Groceries if purchased separately: $107
• Difference: +$13

For my grocery order, Hungryroot proved to be $13 more expensive than if I were to buy the groceries individually. It’s worth mentioning that these items vary in price depending on where you live. For me in New York, where the cost of living is high, these groceries would likely cost a smidge more if purchased at my local markets. I also didn’t include the delivery fee for a typical grocery service like Instacart or Fresh Direct. Nor did I account for the cost of gas driving to and from the market.

With Hungryroot you’re paying a little extra for the convenience of curated recipe suggestions and also food being delivered straight to your doorstep. 

Food you’ll use, not lose

One thing Hungryroot does well is to stock food items that can either function as small meals themselves such as the excellent breakfast tamales and sous vide egg bites, or that can be easily integrated to make more complex meals and recipes. Even the food intended for recipes is often more than you’ll need, so then it’s up to you to decide how to use it.

The loaf of seven-grain bread, for instance, did double duty. I used it for its intended egg and cheese sandwiches but also made a toasty grilled cheese for lunch one day with the mozzarella cheese and prosciutto that was also included in my box. And since I only really needed half of the trimmed green beans for my Thai curry stir-fry, I paired the rest with the tuna steaks for dinner on another night. I also used the sweet potato wraps, shredded cheddar and some salsa I had on hand for a quick quesadilla one afternoon.

As much as I enjoy meal kits, once you select your recipes for the following week, you are more or less locked in. It’s the flexibility Hungryroot affords that separates it from most other meal kit and meal delivery operations. For someone who enjoys cooking creatively and whose desires change on a whim, this format works especially well.

The only ingredient I thought I might not use all of was the 8-ounce jar of Thai curry sauce. I only used about half the jar to make the intended recipe and the meal was still more than enough for me and my dining partner. There was no other natural fit in my grocery order to use the rest of it on, so I bought some eggplant and chickpeas and made a vegan curry meal a few nights later. 

Hungryroot learns what you like and don’t like

After each delivery, Hungryroot surveys you on what you liked and didn’t. It asks you to rate each recipe but also to decide if you’d want certain food items again and how frequently: never, sometimes or often.

How easy is Hungryroot to pause or cancel?

If you sign up for a subscription to Hungryroot you’ll keep getting curated boxes of groceries. You can customize your order every week but unless you cancel, it’ll continue to send boxes and charge your card.

One small annoyance is that you can’t cancel your subscription until your order is fulfilled and shipped (generally same-day shipping) so you’ll have to set a reminder to cancel typically a few days after you’ve confirmed your latest order. 

Who is Hungryroot good for?

If you’ve tried meal kits and like the concept but find that you’re not always in the mood to make the recipes that arrive, I’d suggest trying Hungryroot. You can select full recipes, but they’re never so complex that you can’t use the ingredients in other, often simpler ways if you want. Speaking of the recipes, Hungryroot’s are mostly easy, sometimes with as few as three ingredients. I made a paleo Thai chicken stir-fry, for instance, with precooked chicken, a packet of tasty Thai curry sauce and green beans (uncooked) that turned out great and took almost no time or effort.

Hungryroot also functions like an easy grocery delivery service making suggestions for new and interesting foods and snacks each week based on your preferences so it’s a good pick for anyone who wants to cut down on trips to the market. 

It’s a bit like Trader Joe’s with some fun, proprietary products you probably won’t find elsewhere, so I’d suggest Hungryroot for anyone looking to expand their arsenal of ingredients. 

Who is Hungryroot not good for?

If your goal is to improve your cooking skills and learn to make recipes fit for a dinner party, this probably isn’t the right service. Hungryroot is more about shortcuts and quick meals than it is serious cooking. For that, I’d suggest a full meal kit service such as Sunbasket or Blue Apron.

Final verdict on Hungryroot

Hungryroot makes meal prep for mealtime and snacking super easy and even fun. It’s also a great medium for discovering interesting new foods, snacks and recipes without the pressure to make or eat something you’re not in the mood for. The service curated a tailored bundle of groceries that kept me satisfied for most of the meals throughout the week, all for just a few bucks more than if I went out and got the groceries myself. 

I found the ordering and customizing process easy and liked the recipe and grocery suggestions, but also that I was able to easily swap out items and peruse the extensive market for other things I wanted more. Upon arrival, I found all the food to be fresh and a lot of it was interesting. 

The meals I made were simple but tasty and I was turned on to a few brands and products I wasn’t aware of. The bruschetta chicken burgers, for instance, were an easy meal and a big hit when I sizzled them on the grill one evening. A nice change of pace from the burger and chicken routine. The breakfast tamale was a revelation and a welcome shakeup of my famously mundane breakfast regimen (I definitely plan on ordering more of those).

If you’re looking for easy answers to that perpetual question “what’s for dinner?” but find traditional meal kits a bit too restrictive, Hungryroot is a perfect alternative for all the freestyle home cooks out there.

What are Hungryroot’s recipes this week, April 15, 2024?

Featured recipe of the week

Seared steak and honey herb Brussels sprouts: This meal couldn’t be easier but still has dinner party cache.

More Hungryroot recipes this week

• Easiest pulled chicken fajitas.
• Blackened chicken with sauteed vegetables.
• Creamy avocado veggie burger and sweet potato fries.
• Beyond marinara and spinach ravioli.
• Caesar mashed chickpea lettuce wraps
• Thai curry chicken rice bowl.
• Gulf shrimp green goddess dressing.
• Ground bison stroganoff.

See the full slate of Hungryroot recipes here.