Tax Refunds & Advice

Tax Extensions – Extend Your Tax Deadline Today
What is a tax extension?

If you don’t think you’ll meet the April 16th tax filing deadline, you can request a tax extension for more time to prepare your tax return.

Why should I get a tax extension?

If you fail to file your tax return by April 16th, the IRS can impose a hefty Failure to File penalty. By filing for a tax extension before April 16th, you’ll get four more months to prepare your taxes (usually taxes are not due until August 15), and you will avoid the late filing penalties.

Remember, however, that a tax extension is only an extension of time to file your taxes — it is not an extension of the April 16th deadline to pay estimated federal taxes you owe to the IRS. You will owe interest and possibly a Late Payment penalty of 0.5% per month on any income taxes not paid by the regular due date of your tax return.

Note: Special rules regarding IRS tax extensions apply to U.S. citizens or residents who are outside the country. Also, those serving in a combat zone may not need to file an IRS extension by April 16th.
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How do I file for a tax extension?

To ensure you prepare your request for an income tax extension accurately and on time, we recommend using an Online Tax Extension program . The program efiles your tax extension directly to the IRS and automatically sends you an acknowledgment when it is received.

The deadline to file your 2007 tax return is April 15, 2008. Does this leave you enough time to take care of all the details? If so, you should move forward right away and put your taxes behind you for the time being. But on the other side of things, if you need more time you may want to file an extension. This is not going to make things easier on you for long, but at the very least it will give you some additional time to take care of any details that have been eluding you.

By filing Form 4868 the IRS will give you another six months to file your return. By doing this, your new deadline would be October 15, 2008. But guess what? Just because you file an extension does not mean that you have more time to pay if you owe the IRS any money. To avoid penalties, you must still pay up by April 15, 2008.

Here are a few steps to follow if you are interested in filing an extension:

1. Go over your tax return as to get an idea of how much you owe, if anything. As mentioned above, you need to send this payment by April 15 even if you file an extension for your return.

2. You can ask your tax professional for Form 4868, or print it out online. Once you have the form in front of you, fill it out, including the amount of money you owe, and return it to the IRS with a check for the appropriate amount.

3. Make sure that your form and payment is postmarked by April 15.

As you can see, filing a tax extension is not a difficult process. But with that being said, this is not a habit that you want to get into. Remember, you are only buying yourself six more months. Sooner or later you are going to have to sit down and complete the entire return process.