IRS Form 4868 – Means I Am Going Skiing

March 12, 2012

Whose bright idea was it to choose April 15th (this year April 17th) as the tax filing deadline?  Well, I know that you can certainly file earlier, which I used to do but that was before I moved to Utah, where they have “the greatest snow on earth.”  Truth be told, I’d rather be skiing.

I moved to Park City, Utah last fall and am learning to ski this season.  In fact, I just recently took some lessons and can finally execute a turn on a steep hill without falling and for the first time in my 50 years on this earth, I am skiing intermediate runs.  If you watch me closely, you’ll see something that resembles a “hockey stop.”  I say “resembles” because I just learned it last week and hope to perfect it this season so when I take my sons skiing next fall, I can ski right at them, turn on a dime, and cover them completely with a light spray of snow as I stop.  In order to accomplish that, I need to be on the slopes in March and April not inside finishing my taxes.

What would you rather do for the last few weeks of winter, especially in this unusually warm weather?  Would you rather be fly fishing, hiking, biking, or walking on the beach?  If so, there is hope for you.  That hope comes as IRS Form 4868 – an automatic six month extension.  Filing an extension allows you to enjoy your March and April and then on the first cold or rainy weekend, pull out your box full of tax information and get to work.

There is a catch – well two actually.  The first one is that October 15th is a hard deadline; don’t pass it by mistake!  You can’t extend your extension.  Also, you can’t get away with not paying the taxes you owe; the IRS asks you to pay an estimate of how much you owe when you file the extension.  You can delay FILING but you can’t delay PAYING if you owe.

Here are some resources for filing an extension:

IRS.gov Filing an Extension

Article – What if I Need to File an Extension?

Don’t forget to double check your state income tax return.  Many states simply follow the federal returns and allow an automatic extension.  For California, no paperwork is needed but there may be some paperwork depending where you live.

Then get out and enjoy your weekend.