Remember when you got your W-2s back in January, and you thought to yourself “this is going to be the year that I get my taxes done early!” Then a few days passed, followed by a few weeks. Then you peeled the month of February down from your calendar, and soon it was March. Then you clicked over to this blog and thought “uh oh, I should probably do my taxes.”
First off, don’t worry. Lots of people procrastinate, and most people turn their procrastination to full power when it comes to their taxes. It’s not fun to think about or to do your taxes, so it’s perfectly understandable that with the final weekend before Tax Day, you’re still waiting to put pen to paper.
However, now you really have to do it. So you look around for your paperwork and… um, where’s that paperwork? What happened to my W-2s? Where are my 1099s? Oh no, how am I going to file my taxes on time now?
Every year, this happens to millions of people. Procrastination sets in, paperwork is lost or complicated tax situations make it impossible to get your taxes in the mail prior to the April 15 deadline. You still have five days as of this post to get your taxes in, but let’s say you know you won’t be able to meet the deadline. What can you do?
It just so happens that April 15 is also the deadline to submit Form 4868, which gives the filer an added six months to complete your tax filing. October 15 becomes your new tax deadline, and you don’t even need to list a reason why you are requesting an extension.
Source: New York Times, “Running Late? Push Federal Tax Day Back to October,” Ann Carrns, April 1, 2014