Tax Guru-Ker$tetter Letter

Sunday, April 22, 2001

More Time

Although the extension (Form 4868) many of you just filed with IRS moves the due date of your 2000 1040 to August 15, you may need or want even more time. To get an additional two months, until October 15, you need to send IRS Form 2688 by midnight on August 15. In case anyone wants to get a head start on that process, I have posted Form 2688 here on my site.

Besides the very real reason of needing more time to get all of your information together for your tax prep, some people file the 2688 in order to give them more time to fund their 2000 Keoghs and SEP-IRAs. Some also extend the due date because of the fact that later filed tax returns are less likely to be selected by IRS for audit.

Unlike the 4868, which required no signature and was automatic, the 2688 has to be signed by either you or your tax rep and a reason has to be included. The standard reason that has always been accepted by IRS is still useful. "We have been unable to assemble all of the information we require to prepare a complete & accurate tax return by August 15."

KMK
- posted by Kerry M. Kerstetter, MBA~CPA~ATP~ATA @ 4/22/2001 04:32:00 PM Send this post: