Form 4868: Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File

Use Form 4868 if you file Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-NR or 1040-SS and need more time to finish your return. It gives you 6 more months to file, or 4 more if you're a U.S. citizen or resident who is out of the country on the due date. You don't have to explain why you need the time, and the IRS contacts you only if it denies the request.

Don't use it if you want the IRS to figure your tax, or if a court has ordered you to file by the due date. If you're abroad and expect to meet the bona fide residence or physical presence test, the IRS points you to Form 2350 instead. Businesses, estates and exempt organizations use other extension forms.

You have three routes. You can pay all or part of the tax you expect to owe electronically and indicate that the payment is for an extension; then you don't file Form 4868 at all. You can file Form 4868 electronically through IRS Free File, your tax software or a tax professional who uses e-file. Or you can mail a paper Form 4868. Fiscal year taxpayers must use the paper form.

If you e-file, don't also mail the form unless you're paying by check or money order. If you mail it, the address depends on where you live and whether you're enclosing a payment: see Where To File a Paper Form 4868 in the form's instructions.

Any money you send with Form 4868 is treated as a payment of your tax, and IRS Free File has no income limit for extensions. But the extension doesn't extend the time to pay. Tax not paid by the regular due date accrues interest until you pay it, even if you have a good reason for paying late.

The late payment penalty is usually ½ of 1% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month, up to 25%. If you file after the extended due date, the late filing penalty is usually 5% of the amount due per month, also up to 25%. The instructions explain when reasonable cause excuses either penalty.

File Form 4868, or make your extension payment, by the regular due date of your return, usually April 15 for calendar year taxpayers. Fiscal year taxpayers file by the due date of their fiscal year return. If you were affected by a disaster, you may have more time.

The extension generally runs 6 months from the regular due date, to October 15 for most calendar year taxpayers. You can file your return any time before then. U.S. citizens and residents who are out of the country on the due date get 2 extra months automatically, and can file Form 4868 with the line 8 box checked for 4 more.

• Treating the extension as more time to pay. Interest and penalties run on any tax unpaid after the regular due date.
• Making a careless estimate on line 4. If the IRS later finds the estimate wasn't reasonable, the extension is null and void.
• Including the payment you're sending with Form 4868 in your line 5 total. Line 5 is for payments you've already made or expect to report.
• Mailing a paper Form 4868 after you've already e-filed one, unless you're sending a check or money order with it.
• Expecting a new address on Form 4868 to update IRS records. Use Form 8822 to report a change of address.
• Attaching a copy of Form 4868 to your return. The instructions say not to; report the payment on your return instead.

• About Form 4868
• Get an extension to file your tax return
• IRS Free File
• IRS payment options