JohnH

you might be able to put it off until Apr 19 if you live in the area affected by the Apr 16 storms. Of course, if you are affected you probably aren't reading this since you're either snowbound or without power. http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=169523,00.html

--> OK - does this guy think that I went "Ohhhhh, I see. Their stuff will now go in the stack for people whose returns need to come out with refunds. Also, note to self: Don't charge them; after all, they could have done it themselves. <--- I like that. I think in the future if someone says they don't want to pay I'll tell them I'll just put their return into the "refund" stack. As for how to charge those who could have done the return themselves, I think you should tell them you decided to forego being a brain surgeon and chose to go into tax preparation. So since you "couild have" been a brain surgeon, you'll charge them brain surgeon rates for preparing their return.

If you obtain an extension, they will avoid the 5% per month Failure To File penalty. However, the client will owe interest on the unpaid balance at about 9% APR and a Failure to Pay penalty of .5% per month, which works out to about 1.25% per month (rounded) on the unpaid balance. I don't believe there would be an estimated tax penalty if the balance due is under $1,000.

Marge: I agree with Cathy. One never knows what unknowns are lurking out there. Even if you know there are refunds due on the return, one never knows what might turn up if the client is audited, and if the IRS subsequently finds tax due the return will be considered late-filed even if there was a refund showing on the original filing. A precautionary extension just removes all those potential headaches.

I want to offer my thanks as well to your taking the time to set up this community. That was very thoughtful of you. I'll gladly help out with the cost. Personally I'd prefer to help pay for it rather than put up with any advertising, no matter how unobtrusive.