
Much like the late payment penalty, you can avoid the minimum penalty by showing the IRS that you have a reasonable cause for filing after the due date.

Currently, this rate is about 3 percent annually. Note that you might have to pay interest on unpaid taxes. If you believe that you have reasonable cause, attach a form explaining your reasons to your federal tax extension form. If you are going to pay your taxes late, you can avoid a penalty if you can show the IRS that you have a reasonable cause for not paying your taxes on time. The minimum penalty is $135 or 100 percent of the balance due, whichever is smaller.The maximum penalty for paying late is 25 percent of the total.The penalty for paying late is 5 percent for every month that the outstanding tax is not paid.If you might be subject to a penalty, keep the following in mind: Filing a tax extension keeps you square with the IRS and lets them know that you will be filing your complete paperwork later, but it does not grant you more time to pay the taxes you owe. Special tax filers must ensure their federal and state tax returns are in before their extensions expire.Įven if you file an extension, you will have to pay penalties if you do not pay your taxes by the regular tax due date. American servicemen and civilians serving in a combat zone or a qualified hazardous duty areaįor those two groups, the extended deadlines depend on the classification of the taxpayer's situation, but are generally longer than the automatic six-month extension most Americans can request.More detailed, special IRS rules exist for two groups of people that are automatically allowed special IRS tax filing extensions: Be in military or naval service on duty outside the U.S.and Puerto Rico and your main place of business or post of duty must be outside the U.S. citizen or resident alien and on April 18, 2016, you must:

Some tax filers will qualify for an automatic two-month extension to file their federal tax return and pay income tax. You will then receive a confirmation number for your records. You must provide relevant tax information and indicate that the payment is for a tax-filing extension using one of the IRS-approved methods of payment. To do this, pay all or part of your estimated income taxes that are due. You can even get the automatic extension without filing IRS Form 4868.

The tax extension deadline is the regular tax deadline. Whether you file taxes online or file tax return forms via mail, the general process to request an extension on the tax deadline is the same.
