{"id":9589,"date":"2025-02-04T19:14:11","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T19:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=9589"},"modified":"2025-02-04T19:14:11","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T19:14:11","slug":"filing-for-a-tax-extension-dont-fall-for-these-5-myths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=9589","title":{"rendered":"Filing for a Tax Extension? Don\u2019t Fall for These 5 Myths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload clicker_number\" style=\"position: absolute; height: 1px; width: 100%\" alt=\"ScoreCard Research\" data-count=\"104.245.38.58,104.245.38.58, 172.68.174.88\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\"><\/p>\n<p>Doing your taxes is never fun. So if you\u2019re a procrastinator, you may be tempted to file for an extension to buy yourself an extra six months. It\u2019s true that if you file for an extension, you won\u2019t have to file your 2022 return until Oct. 16, 2023. But there are a few things you should know first.\n<\/p>\n<h2>5 Myths About Filing for a Tax Extension<\/h2>\n<p>Filing for a tax extension is pretty easy, but there are a lot of misconceptions about the topic. Here are five myths you shouldn\u2019t believe.<\/p>\n<h3>Myth #1: If I File for an Extension, I Don\u2019t Need to Pay Until Oct. 16<\/h3>\n<p><b>The truth: <\/b>Getting a tax extension gives you more time to submit a return, but you don\u2019t get extra time to pay. You\u2019re still required to estimate the taxes you owe and pay them by Tax Day, which is April 18, 2023. Otherwise, you\u2019ll pay late fees and interest.<\/p>\n<p>You can generally avoid penalties for the 2022 tax year if you do one of the following by April 18:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Pay at least 90% of what you owe for 2022.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Pay 100% of your tax liability for 2021 if your adjusted gross income (AGI) was less than $150,000.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Pay 110% of your tax liability for 2021 if your AGI was over $150,000.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">You owe less than $1,000 after subtracting withholdings and credits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you can\u2019t afford to pay, it\u2019s still essential that you either file a tax return or request an extension. The penalty for not filing a return on time is 5% of your unpaid tax bill per month, up to 25% of what you owe. But if you file and don\u2019t pay, it\u2019s only 0.5% per month of the unpaid amount, up to 25%.<\/p>\n<p>You can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/payments\/payment-plans-installment-agreements\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">set up a payment plan online<\/a> in most cases if you can\u2019t afford the entire amount due.<\/p>\n<div class=\"thepe-top-of-post\" id=\"thepe-985298848\">\n<div class=\"adBorder\" id=\"thepe-1507119884\">\n<h3>50 Effortless Methods to Boost Your Income This Week<\/h3>\n<p>If you needed extra money, like, yesterday, you\u2019ve come to the right spot.<\/p>\n<p>Our team has compiled a <a href=\"https:\/\/partners.thepennyhoarder.com\/50-ways-sdyn-prt\/?aff_id=384\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">list of creative ways<\/a> you can fatten your bank account this week.<\/p>\n<p>This is a long list, so don\u2019t get overwhelmed. Go ahead and start now, but be sure to bookmark this post so you can easily return later. We\u2019ll keep it updated as offers changes or expire.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/partners.thepennyhoarder.com\/50-ways-sdyn-prt\/?aff_id=384\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Check it out!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Myth #2: You Need a Reason to Ask for an Extension<\/h3>\n<p><b>The truth: <\/b>The IRS doesn\u2019t ask for a reason when you request a tax extension. The IRS will automatically approve your request as long as you\u2019ve filled out the form correctly and on time.<\/p>\n<h3>Myth #3: An Extension Gives Me More Time to Fund My IRA and HSA<\/h3>\n<p><b>The truth: <\/b>The deadline for funding your individual retirement account or health savings account (HSA) is Tax Day, regardless of whether you file for an extension. That means that April 18 is the last day you can contribute to your Roth IRA, traditional IRA or HSA and have the contribution count for 2022 instead of 2023.<\/p>\n<h3>Myth #4: You Need Professional Help to Request an Extension<\/h3>\n<p><b>The truth: <\/b>You can file easily using whatever tax filing software you normally use. If you have trouble estimating your taxes, as you\u2019re required to do when you request an extension, that\u2019s a pretty good sign that you need to call a pro for tax help, regardless of whether you\u2019re filing for an extension.<\/p>\n<div class=\"call-out-box\" data-post-id=\"134875\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"call-out-box-description\"> If you are worried about making mistakes when filing, we recommend using tax software like <a href=\"http:\/\/t.thepennyhoarder.com\/aff_c?offer_id=3267&amp;aff_id=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TurboTax<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/t.thepennyhoarder.com\/aff_c?offer_id=4878&amp;aff_id=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">H&amp;R Block<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/t.thepennyhoarder.com\/aff_c?offer_id=7096&amp;aff_id=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TaxAct<\/a>.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/div>\n<h3>Myth #5: An Extension Increases Your Odds of Being Audited<\/h3>\n<p><b>The truth: <\/b>The IRS doesn\u2019t view a request for an extension with suspicion; asking for one won\u2019t increase your chances of an audit. In fact, if extra time is what you need to make sure your return is error-free, an extension could actually help you avoid an audit.<\/p>\n<p>Some things that <i>are <\/i>known to trigger audits: having a high income, reporting very little income, home office deductions, being self-employed (especially if you deduct lots of business expenses) and numerous charitable deductions.<\/p>\n<p><i>Robin Hartill is a certified financial planner and a senior editor at The SS. She writes the Dear Penny personal finance advice column. Send your tricky money questions to [email\u00a0protected].<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"thepe-bottom-of-post\" id=\"thepe-203459109\">\n<div class=\"adBorder\" id=\"thepe-27028746\">\n<h3>The 5 Dumbest Things We Keep Spending Too Much Money On<\/h3>\n<p>You\u2019ve done what you can to cut back your spending.You brew coffee at home, you don\u2019t walk into Target and you refuse to order avocado toast. (Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)<\/p>\n<p>But no matter how cognizant you are of your spending habits, you\u2019re still stuck with those inescapable monthly bills.<\/p>\n<p>You know which ones we\u2019re talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Ready to stop paying them? <a href=\"https:\/\/partners.thepennyhoarder.com\/spending-too-much-sdyn-prt\/?aff_id=384\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Follow these moves\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>        <!-- ACF Financial Disclaimer --><\/p>\n<p>        <!-- End ACF Financial Disclaimer --><\/p>\n<p>        <!-- Newsletter Signup Form --><\/p>\n<hr>\n<hr>\n<div class=\"newsletter-signup-wrapper-for-digioh\">\n<div class=\"col-xs-12 newsletter-wrap flex-row\">\n<div class=\"container flex-container\">\n<div class=\"col-xs-12 new-newsletter-form\">\n<p class=\"text-subheading\">Ready to stop worrying about money?<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-get-daily\">Get the SS Daily<\/p>\n<p class=\"email-privacy-policy-blurb-white\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>        <!-- End Newsletter Signup Form --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" id=\"wp-fcapi-js-before\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\nif(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\nn.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\ns.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', '263664193816679');\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepennyhoarder.com\/taxes\/filing-for-a-tax-extension\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Doing your taxes is never fun. So if you\u2019re a procrastinator, you may be tempted to file for an extension to buy yourself an extra six months. It\u2019s true that if you file for an extension, you won\u2019t have to file your 2022 return until Oct. 16, 2023. But there are a few things you<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[188],"tags":[475,3721,944,314,3184,97],"class_list":{"0":"post-9589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-taxes","8":"tag-dont","9":"tag-extension","10":"tag-fall","11":"tag-filing","12":"tag-myths","13":"tag-tax"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}