What Is IRS Tax Form 4868?
IRS Form 4868 is the Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File U.S. Income Tax Return.
If you are unable to file your federal individual income tax return (IRS Form 1040) by the due date, you can apply for an automatic 6-month extension of time to file. To do so, you must file Tax Form 4868 by the original due date for filing your tax return (generally April 15).
Form 4868 is a tax extension for individuals reporting their income to the IRS. This includes all taxpayers who file 1040s, contractors who file 1099s, as well as single-member LLCs and Schedule C Sole Proprietors. Filing an individual tax extension will extend your tax deadline to October 15 for the following income tax returns:
- Tax Form 1040
- Tax Form 1040NR
- Tax Form 1040NR-EZ
- Tax Form 1040-PR
- Tax Form 1040-SS
It’s important to note that submitting Form 4868 does not extend the time for payment of tax, which is still owed by the original due date of your return (April 15). You will need to give an estimate of your tax due when filing for a tax extension ― and you can pay none, all, or part of your estimated Federal income tax due using Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) directly from your bank account.
Be aware that when you file IRS Form 4868 by mail, you are never notified that your extension has been approved. The IRS will only notify you if your tax extension has been rejected. Unfortunately that notification will also come via U.S. Mail and it will almost certainly come after it's too late to correct your extension submission. When you eFile your tax extension, you'll be notified in a just a few minutes as to whether your extension was accepted or rejected. In the event your extension is rejected, the IRS will accept corrections to tax extension requests for up to 5 days after the April 15th deadline. If you chose to eFile Form 4868 through the FileLater and it is rejected for any reason, you can correct and resubmit it at no extra charge.
FileLater supports taxpayers who are out of the country and have foreign addresses. However, there are exceptions pertaining to foreign corporations with no office or place of business within the United States, as well as certain domestic corporations and certain partnerships.
