Ok, so perhaps you procrastinated, or perhaps you are waiting on a K-1 from a partnership, S Corporation or trust, but the bottom line is, you are not ready to file your 1040 individual income tax return with the IRS, and you need to file an extension.  An extension is filed with the IRS by filing Form 4868, which must be filed on or before April 15^th.  The filing of Form 4868 will give you another six months, until October 15^th to file your 1040 individual income tax return.  That being said, what information do you need to complete Form 4868?  To complete Form 4868 you will need your name, address, social security number and if married, your spouse’s name and social security number.  In addition, the form will ask for information related to what you estimate on your tax return.  For example, the form will ask what your estimated tax liability or amount of tax due will be, and if you are enclosing payment with the form.  If you think you will owe tax for the year, you should include payment with the form so as to prevent the accrual of failure to pay penalty, which brings up another important point.

Many people think that filing for an extension to file the tax return is an extension to pay the tax due.  This is incorrect.  The filing of an extension is only extension to file the actual 1040 individual income tax return, and is not an extension to pay the taxes that are due.  Yes, that taxes are due on April 15^th regardless of whether you file an extension or not.  Thus, if you file for an extension, and then later file your return on or before October 15^th and you owed tax per the tax return, the IRS can assess you the failure to pay penalty on the amount of tax due from April 15^th moving forward.  Therefore, making a payment with your tax return extension will either prevent the failure to pay penalty from accruing, or lessen the penalty as the failure to pay penalty is based upon the amount of income tax that was due on April 15^th and not paid.

Thus, if you cannot file your individual tax return by the April 15^th deadline, it is best to file Form 4868 with the IRS, and make a payment with the filing of the Form based upon an estimated amount of tax due.

You can contact a Denver tax attorney at The McGuire Law Firm if you have additional tax related questions. 

Schedule a free consultation with a tax attorney in Denver Colorado or Golden Colorado by contacting The McGuire Law Firm.