We’ve written about tax filings extensively, and one of the aspects of tax filings that is important for everyone to know is that you can give yourself a six-month extension for filing your taxes. Through Form 4868, you can be approved to send in your tax filing on Oct. 15 instead of April 15. Millions of people file for this extension every year, and it can prove to be a tremendous benefit for those filers who need extra time to complete their filing and gather the information they need.
However, Oct. 15 is fact approaching. In fact, it’s a little more than two weeks away. For those who filed a Form 4868 this year and are now staring at a tax filing due in a couple of weeks, here are some tips:
- Itemizing and choosing sales tax over income tax: This is an option now after it was phased out at the end of 2013. If you itemize, you can choose to deduct state and local taxes or state and local income taxes (not both). This is a big deal for people in states that don’t have income taxes.
- Get organized and retain records: If you do deduct charitable donations on your taxes, make sure you have documented everything and have proper records in case the IRS comes calling.
- Mistakes happen, so amend them: If you make a mistake on your tax filing, there is always the options to submit an amended tax filing to help avoid potential action by the IRS.
Source: Wall Street Journal, “Tips for Taxpayers Who Received Filing Extensions,” Tom Herman, Sept. 20, 2015
