Perhaps you’re experiencing problems with your paperwork and you can’t submit your taxes by the traditional April 15th tax filing deadline.
In this case, you’ll need to request a formal extension from the IRS. You’ll need IRS Form 4868 to do this. Once submitted, your new tax filing deadline will be October 15th, 2020. What surprises many is that you don’t need to supply a reason. All extension requests are granted automatically.
Another aspect of the extension that catches taxpayers by surprise is that the filing extension is not an extension on when you need to pay your tax bill, if you owe anything. You still need to pay any outstanding taxes by April 15th. It’s only an extension on filing your 1040 tax forms.
If you find yourself in this situation, it may be wise to consult a professional. Since you’re already expecting a tax refund, you likely won’t have anything outstanding with the IRS, unless you owe back taxes.
Thankfully, both professionals and tax preparation software are more than capable of handling this situation.