Deadline Near For Taxpayers with an Extension to File

For the almost 8.5 million taxpayers who opted in April to get an automatic extension of time to file their 2003 federal income tax return, the deadline to file those tax returns is August 16, 2004.

(PRWEB) August 12, 2004 -- For the almost 8.5 million taxpayers who opted in April to get an automatic extension of time to file their 2003 federal income tax return, the deadline to file those tax returns is August 16, 2004.

Those who cannot meet the August 16th deadline can apply for an additional two-month extension, which would give them until October 15th. However, there's no guarantee that the IRS will grant them an additional extension.

If an application for an additional extension is not approved, an individual must file his or her tax return by August 16, or face paying a late filing penalty of 5 percent per month on the unpaid tax.

Individuals who own a business have until their tax filing deadline to save on 2003 taxes by contributing to a SEP-IRA retirement plan, says Daniel Lamaute, retirement specialist at Lamaute Capital InvestSafe.com. The SEP IRA contribution limit for 2003 is $40,000 or 25% of compensation, whichever is less. A free application kit to set up a SEP-IRA can be gotten at www.InvestSafe.com.

IRS Form 2688 (Application for Additional Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return) is available on the IRS website at www.irs.gov and can be filed electronically.

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