As you all know, tax day is approaching, and you now have less than a week to file by the April 15th deadline. But, some of you may have very complicated taxes and you haven’t had any time to put together all of your documents and records. Filing for an extension might be in your best interest so you don’t get fined for being late. Here’s the step-by-step for filing for an extension.

1. Click Here to download and print a copy of Form 4868.
2. Fill in Lines 1 through 3 which is your name, address, and social security number.
3. Estimate your total tax liability for 2007. H&R block has a pretty good tax estimator on their website.
4. Fill in the estimated tax liability on Line 4.
5. Fill in lines 5 through 9, indicating how much tax you’ve already paid through withholdings, what you ultimately owe the government, and whether or not you are out of the country.
6. Attach a check or money order with the form for the amount indicated on Line 7.
7. Make a copy of the form for your records.
8. Make sure you send the form by April 15th and send it with some kind of tracking, preferably Certified Mail.

You’ll get a six month extension, so you have until October 15th so to get your taxes in order. Don’t procrastinate over the summer.

You’ll still have a penalty for paying late.

The penalty will be 0.5% of the tax still owed, but this is MUCH better than paying the 5% penalty fee for being late without filing for an extension.

Remember, you only get one extension per year!