April 15 aka Tax Day is a dreadful day for all taxpayers in some way or the other! While payment bugs a few people, what bothers most people is the tedious amount of time and energy they have to invest to file the tax returns. Tax return form 1040 is certainly not an easy one to fill and to be done within minutes. You would need all the necessary documents related to your finances and accounts, go through these documents and file a tax return that can help you maintain a good tax history and also get good tax refunds.
It takes time to do these things and without a tax preparer to help you with, the task gets much more difficult. In addition, the financial year of a few people wouldn’t end by March and they would require more time to gather all the necessary documents, which aren’t complete yet as a matter of fact. Considering all these situations, the IRS allows for a provision called IRS Tax Extension that allows taxpayers to extend the deadline for filing tax returns from April 15 to October 15 i.e. for a duration of full 6 months. To avail the provision of tax extension, individuals must fill out the form 4868 and businesses have to go with the form 7004. This article is a summary about IRS form 4868 and here’s what you need to know about it.
• IRS form 4868 is only for individuals and if you are a business entity, you would need the form 7004 and form 1138 if you are a corporation expecting a net operating loss carryback.
• IRS form 4868 is readily available for download in the IRS website and can be availed from many e-filing provider websites as well. You can also request the form by post from the IRS.
• Filing the form can be done in two ways- by post and online. The latter wouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to complete and only those taxpayers who e-filed will get a confirmation mail on their form’s approval from the IRS.
• Another advantage of e-filing the IRS from 4868 is that it won’t be displaced as in the case of postage and you can track the status of your form from anyplace, anytime.
• By filing IRS form 4868 you are only extending the deadline on your tax returns and not the deadline for your tax payments. April 15 will remain the last date to make tax payments, whether or not you file for an IRS tax extension.
This Article was written by Marcus Cherep. Visit our site at survivingtaxes.com for more details.
