The Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers who have filing extensions that they can e-file their tax returns until October 15. The IRS offers a gentle reminder to the more than 10 million taxpayers who requested an automatic six-month extension on their tax returns, but have even to file, that their extra time runs out on October 15 for personal tax extension and September 15 for business tax extension

To file for an extension with the IRS you will need to file IRS form 4868, which is the automatic extension form. If you owe taxes, you will also need to get a good estimate of what you owe. The IRS will still tack on interest for unpaid taxes if they are not paid by the 15th.

Even if you owe taxes and cannot pay, one good thing to know is that the failure to pay penalty is only .5% per month, while the failure to file penalty is up to 5% of the amount owed per month. Filing for an extension will also allow you to get around that unfilled penalty until October 15th.

Whenever possible, it is always better to try and get your taxes filed on time. When you get an extension and it takes you until mid October to get all your tax issues settled, it is not any time at all until you have to start the whole process all over again. Avoid the headache of filing an extension because you waited until the last minute and try to make a habit of keeping your receipts and other tax related information in proper order all year long. It is so much easier to do it this way and even though it requires a little work to do this each month, it is still better than having to go through that last minute headache on April 15th every year.