Happy New Year! When Can I efile a Tax Extension for 2009?

The super-talented FileLater Support Team let me know that they are back at work after a short Holiday break and that they’ve been getting a lot of questions in the last 72 hours like this:

When can I efile a tax extension for tax year 2009? Can I do it today?

First let me applaud all of you who are thinking so far ahead! Good for you. April 15 will be here before you know it.

Here’s the short answer: the earliest you can efile a tax extension is January 15.

Here’s the longer answer: if you want to efile a tax extension for yourself (Form 4868) or your business (Form 7004), the soonest you’ll be able to do so is January 15. That’s the day the IRS turns on its efile engine, if you will, to allow authorized efile providers to start sending them tax extension requests.

On the other side, the deadlines to file extension are as follows:

• You have until midnight on March 15 to file your business tax extension.
• You have until midnight on April 15 to file a personal tax extension.

Are you planning to file a tax extension this year? Have you filed one before? Share your tax extension experience with me in the comment section below.