Tax Extension Center continues its series of The Top 100 Reasons to File a Tax Extension. This series is intended to show taxpayers that a tax extension is valuable because it saves individuals and/or their businesses time, stress, and even money.
Here’s reason #20: e-File is free!
In case you still do things the old fashion way (paper and snail mail), e-file is the IRS’ program that allows taxpayers to file tax forms like income tax extensions Form 4868 and Form 7004 electronically (or paper free) directly to the IRS.
The best part of e-file is that it’s free!
The follow-up question that a lot of people ask me goes something like this, “If e-file is free, why do tax preparers and tax websites charge for filing my forms?”.
Great question. The answer is that they are not charging for the actual e-file, but for their product that makes filing easy to do (some companies are better than others at that). And, a company like FileLater, for example, provides outstanding customer support. Between removing all of the tax jargon out of a tax extension and having people available on the phone and via chat, they provide a great service. And that, in short, is why they charge for their service.
The alternative is to fill the form out on your own and mail it to the IRS. The risks you take by doing that are A) filling out the form correctly and B) the IRS receiving and accepting your extension.
And speaking of free and tax extensions, FileLater is offering free tax extensions for both individuals and businesses for a limited time. That’s an awesome deal.
Whether you are new to tax extensions or file one every year, remember that a tax extension does not give you more time to pay what you owe the IRS. You still need to make your payment by midnight on April 15. An IRS extension gives you more time to file the necessary tax forms you’re supposed to file. Failing to make a payment could make you subject to penalties and interest.
Have you ever filed an extension to file taxes for yourself or your business? Thinking about filing one this year? Drop me a note in the comment section below.
