Tax extensions
How Form 4868 and Form 7004 work, who should file one, and the one rule everyone gets wrong: an extension does not extend the payment.
An extension is the cheapest tax decision you will make all year and the most misunderstood. It gives you six more months to file. It gives you zero more days to pay. Everything below follows from that.
Ready to file it?
You can file a personal extension (Form 4868) or a business extension (Form 7004) online in a few minutes with TaxExtension.com, an IRS-authorized e-file provider operated by our publisher. The extension is automatic; the payment is still due on the original date.
Extensions for C corporations
Form 7004 code 12 for Form 1120, the April deadline for calendar-year filers, and the fiscal-year exceptions.
Does an extension trigger an audit?
No. What the IRS actually selects for examination, and why a well-prepared late return is safer than a rushed one.
An extension does not extend your payment
The most expensive misunderstanding in tax. Filing an extension gives you six months to file. The money is still due in April.
Extension mistakes
Wrong form, wrong year, no payment, wrong entity, filed late. Each one, what it costs, and the fix.
Form 4868
What each line of Form 4868 asks for, how to estimate your tax when you do not have your documents, and the errors that cause rejections.
Form 7004
Which form code matches which return, when the deadline falls for your entity, and how long the extension actually is.
How to file a tax extension
The three ways to request more time to file, what you need before you start, and how to confirm the IRS accepted it.
Extensions for individuals
Form 4868 for anyone who files a Form 1040, including sole proprietors and single-member LLC owners.
Military and overseas extensions
The automatic two-month extension for taxpayers abroad, combat zone rules, and how they stack with Form 4868.
Extensions for nonprofits
Form 990 filers use Form 8868, not 7004. The May 15 deadline, the six-month extension, and the automatic revocation risk.
Extensions for partnerships
Form 7004 code 09 for Form 1065. Why the penalty applies even when no tax is due, and why partners need the extension too.
Paying what you owe
How to estimate a payment without a finished return, how much to send, and how to pay it so it counts.
Extensions for S corporations
Form 7004 code 25 for Form 1120-S, the March deadline, the per-shareholder late penalty, and what the K-1 timing means for owners.
Extensions for the self-employed
Schedule C filers use Form 4868. What is different: estimated payments, self-employment tax, and the retirement contribution deadline that an extension does move.
State tax extensions
Some states accept your federal extension. Some want their own form. Some only extend if you pay. How to tell which one you are in.
When to file an extension
Missing documents, a life event, a preparer who is out of time. The situations where an extension is the right call, and the ones where it is not.