IRS Federal Income Tax Extensions
An Extension is a way to ask the IRS for more time to file your tax return. The deadline to file your return is April 15. Form 4868 will extend the deadline by six months to October 15.
An extension does not extend your time to pay. If you don't pay at least 90% of the tax by April 15, a late-payment penalty will apply, 5% per month up to a maximum penalty of 25% of the balance due.
Need an even easier way to file your extension and pay your taxes?
Pay your taxes using your credit card and file your Form 4868 all at the same time. There are two IRS-approved credit card services.
- IRS Direct Pay: Pay Online Directly from Your Bank Account
- Pay By Card: Pay with Your Taxes with a Debit or Credit Card
Or use this full service to conveniently prepare tax extension form 4868 and
file it with the IRS along with any payment you may owe.
You can also file your extension using tax preparation software such as H&R Block, TaxAct, and TurboTax.
The Form 4868 provides an automatic 6-month extension but, you can get an automatic 2-month extension if you reside outside the U.S. during filing time.
Why Should I File An IRS Tax Extension?
The combined penalties for late-filing and late-payment
can be as much as 47.5%. If you don't file your return on time, both the late-filing and late-payment
penalties apply.
If both penalties apply, a penalty of up to 25% of the balance due will be charged in the first 5 months. The 0.5% failure to pay penalty will continue to apply for up to 45 more months. Interest on the unpaid balance and accrued penalty will continue to be charged until the balance due is paid.
Should I file an extension on time if I don't have all the information I need to file a tax
return?
If you do not have all your tax information, or all your tax records to
prepare and file a tax return by April 15, you should file an IRS tax extension by that date.
However, to avoid interest charges, you will need to
find out how much you are expected to owe the IRS in taxes and submit a
payment (for at least 90% of your balance due) by April 15 in order to avoid IRS penalty and interest charges.
You can estimate your tax liability (or tax refund) with a Free Federal IRS income Tax Calculator in just minutes.
