good

For most Americans, the due date for filing your 2021 tax return is April 18, which means you don’t have much time to file your return before the deadline expires. (Some people have more time to file their tax return.) But what if, for whatever reason, you just can’t file your return on time? Don’t worry – it’s easy to get a tax extension so that you don’t have to file your return until October 17. And you don’t even need to have a good excuse or explain why you need more time. All you have to do is follow a few simple steps.

• SEE MORE 2022 Tax Calendar: Important Tax Due Dates and Deadlines

But make sure you understand that an extension to file doesn’t extend the time to pay any tax due. If you don’t pay your estimated tax due by the April 18 tax return filing deadline, the IRS will charge you interest on the unpaid balance (even if you had a good reason for not paying on time). They can also tack on additional penalties for filing and paying late. Don’t get caught in that trap!

File Form 4868 or Pay Your Tax Electronically

There are two ways to request an automatic six-month extension: File Form 4868 or make an electronic tax payment. Either way, you need to act by your tax return filing deadline.

You can file Form 4868 by mail or electronically. If you mail a paper version of the form to the IRS, it must be postmarked by the regular due date of your return. If you’re mailing a payment, you must use the U.S. Postal Service to mail the form, since it must be delivered to a P.O. box (private delivery services can’t deliver items to IRS P.O. boxes). If you’re not making a payment, you can use certain private delivery services to mail the form. If you submit the form electronically – either on your own computer or through a tax professional – have a copy of your 2020 tax return handy, since you’ll be asked to provide information from that return to verify your identity. If you want to save a few bucks, use the IRS Free File or Free File Fillable Forms to prepare and e-file the form at no cost. Both are available on the IRS website.

• SEE MORE 2021 Tax Returns: What’s New on the 1040 Form This Year

The other way to get an automatic tax filing extension is by making an electronic tax payment by your regular tax return filing deadline. Simply pay all or part of your estimated income tax due using the IRS Direct Pay service (payment directly from a bank account), the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, a credit or debit card (processing fees may apply), or a digital wallet such a PayPal and Click to Pay. You’ll also need to indicate that the payment is for a tax extension. Make sure you keep the confirmation number for your payment, too. Start at the IRS’s “Paying Your Taxes” website to make an electronic federal tax payment. You don’t have to file a separate Form 4868 when making an electronic payment and indicating it’s for an extension – the IRS will automatically treat it as an extension request.

With either of these two methods, you won’t receive any notice of approval from the IRS. But the IRS will let you know if your request for a filing extension is denied because it was too late.

When you eventually file your extended tax return, enter the amount you paid with your extension request on Line 10 of Schedule 3 (Form 1040). That way you’ll get credit for the payment and can subtract it from the tax due as shown on the return.

Taxpayers Living Abroad Have More Tax Extension Options

There are several special rules for U.S. citizens living outside the country. First, you’re allowed an automatic extension to June 15 to file your return and pay your taxes if you’re a U.S. citizen or resident alien and, on the regular due date of your return, you’re (1) living out of the country and your main place of business or duty post is also outside the U.S. and Puerto Rico, or (2) serving in the military on duty outside the U.S. and Puerto Rico. You don’t need to file Form 4868 to get this tax extension, but you must attach a statement explaining which of the two situations described above applies to you when you eventually file your return. If you’re married and filing a joint return, either you or your spouse can qualify for this extension. However, if you and your spouse file separate returns, this extension only applies only to the spouse who qualifies for it. (Caution: Even though taxpayers living abroad can get an extra two months to pay any tax due without incurring a penalty, interest still applies to payments received after your regular filing due date.)

Taxpayers living abroad who can’t file their return by June 15 can still get an additional four months to file their return like everyone else. That will extend this year’s filing date to October 17, 2022. You have to request this tax filing extension no later than June 15 by filing Form 4868. (Make sure you check the box on line 8 of the form.) This filing extension does not extend the time to pay your tax.

• SEE MORE How to Get Your Tax Refund Faster

Taxpayers who are out of the country can also request an additional, discretionary two-month filing extension. This will take you to December 15, 2022. To get this tax extension for a 2021 tax return, you must send the IRS a letter by October 17, 2022, explaining the reasons why you need the additional two months. Send the letter to:

   Department of the Treasury
   Internal Revenue Service
   Austin, TX 73301-0045

The IRS will let you know if the request is denied. If you don’t hear back from them, you’re good to go.

And there’s more! If you’re outside the U.S., you can also request a tax filing extension beyond October 17 if you need time to meet certain tests to qualify for an exclusion or deduction for foreign earned income or housing. This extension will generally be for 30 days beyond the date that you reasonably expect to qualify for the exclusion or deduction. To request this tax extension, file Form 2350 with the IRS by the due date for filing your return. Generally, if both your tax home and your abode are outside the U.S. and Puerto Rico on the regular due date of your return, the due date for filing your return for purposes of this extension is June 15. If you’re granted this tax filing extension, you can’t also get the discretionary two-month additional extension mentioned above.

Tax Extensions for People Serving in a Combat Zone

The deadline for filing your tax return and paying your tax is automatically extended if you serve in a combat zone or contingency operation. There’s a two-step process for figuring the length of this type of tax extension. First, your deadline is extended for 180 days after (1) the last day you’re in a combat zone, have qualifying service outside of the combat zone, or serve in a contingency operation; or (2) the last day of any continuous hospitalization for an injury from service in the combat zone or contingency operation, or while performing qualifying service outside of the combat zone. Use whichever of these two dates is the latest.

• SEE MORE 10 Best Financial Benefits for Military Families

Second, your deadline also is extended beyond 180 days by the number of days you had left to take action with the IRS when you entered the combat zone. For example, you have roughly 3½ months (January 1 to April 18) to file your tax return. Any days left in this period when you entered the combat zone (or the entire 3½ months if you entered it before the beginning of the year) are added to the 180 days.

Spouses of military personnel who served in a combat zone or contingency operation are generally entitled to this extension, too. However, the extension doesn’t apply to a spouse for any tax year beginning more than two years after the area in question ceases to be a combat zone or an operation ceases to be a contingency operation. It also doesn’t apply to a spouse for any period the service member is hospitalized in the U.S. for injuries incurred in a combat zone or contingency operation.

This tax extension isn’t just for military personnel, either. It can be claimed by merchant marines on ships under the Department of Defense’s control, Red Cross personnel, war correspondents and civilians supporting the military.

State Tax Return Extensions

Your state may have different rules and due dates for extending state income tax returns. So, be sure to check with your state’s tax agency to see how tax return filing and payment extensions work where you live.

• SEE MORE Where’s My Refund? How to Track Your Tax Refund Status