While most people should file a tax return by April 17, you have the option of delaying your filing date until Oct. 15 with a tax extension.
When to file an extension
- Missing or incorrect information. If one of the forms you need to file your return has an error on it, it is often better to receive a corrected form before filing.
- Recharacterizing Roth IRA rollover amounts. If you’ve rolled funds from a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA, you may want to reverse it later if the investments lose value. This so-called recharacterization process can be done up to the extended tax-filing date of Oct. 15, and in many cases it makes sense to wait until then. Note that 2017 is the last tax year you can use the recharacterization process, which was eliminated for future years by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
- For self-employed retirement donations. The self-employed can use an extension to buy time to fund an SEP IRA. This extended time frame does not apply to traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs.
- Avoid late filing penalty. If you fail to file a tax return, two tax penalties come into play: a late filing penalty and a late payment penalty. By filing an extension, you can push out the potential late-filing penalty for another six months even if you cannot yet pay the tax.
