Don’t Miss Monday’s Tax Extension Deadline

This year, the IRS received about 19 million requests for tax extensions.^[0]

A tax extension gives you more time to file your tax return — until Oct. 17 for the 2021 tax year. It's not an extension of time to pay your taxes — those were still due in April. Here’s more about how the tax extension deadline works.

Does the tax extension deadline apply to me?

• If you filed IRS Form 4868 on or before the tax deadline, the tax extension deadline gives you until Oct. 17, 2022, to file your tax return. Even with an extension, you're supposed to pay at least 90% of your tax liability by the regular filing deadline. If you don’t, the IRS could hit you with interest and penalties.

• If you didn't file IRS Form 4868 on or before the April 18 deadline, and you didn't file your tax return either, your taxes are likely going to be very, very late in the eyes of the IRS. The IRS can assess interest on your outstanding tax bill, as well as failure-to-file penalties and failure-to-pay penalties.

• Some people automatically get more time to file. This often includes military personnel or persons affected by a qualifying disaster.

» MORE: How to make an IRS payment

What happens if I miss the October tax extension deadline?

If you filed for an extension and miss the deadline:

• You’ll owe more interest. A tax extension gives you more time to file your return, not more time to pay.

• You may owe a higher late-payment penalty if you didn’t pay 90% of your tax liability by the April deadline. The IRS's late-payment penalty normally is 0.5% per month of the outstanding tax not paid by the filing deadline. The maximum penalty is 25%.

• You may owe a late-filing penalty. The IRS can also sock you with a late-filing penalty of 5% of the amount due for every month or partial month your tax return is late. The maximum penalty is 25% of the amount due.

» MORE: You might be able to get out of a first-time IRS penalty.

How can I get an extension for my next tax return?

If you already know you’ll need more time to do your taxes in 2023, be sure to file IRS Form 4868 on or before next year's tax-filing deadline.

• Again, getting an extension does not give you more time to pay the taxes you owe — it only gives you more time to file your tax return. When you file for an extension, you can estimate what you owe and send some or all of that with your extension request. If the estimated payment ends up being less than what you actually owe, you’ll likely need to pay interest on the difference. The longer that’s outstanding, the more interest you may rack up.

• Don’t neglect filing just because you can’t pay the bill. The IRS offers installment plans if you can’t pay your taxes.