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Posted on April 13, 2021 by The Weekly Commentary

Tax Q&A RE: Filing for Extension
When do I need to get my information to (VNFA) to file in time for the new May 17 deadline?
April 15 is our estimate based on current turnaround times. For return information received after that date, our team will be assessing the best course of action, including the option of filing for an extension to file by October 15.

How do you determine when filing an extension is appropriate?
There are several reasons and benefits to filing for an extension. Most often the recommendation comes due to late arrival of information. Sometimes that is because they are not available or there are corrections – Schedule K-1s and Form 1099s are frequent culprits. Tax filing season is a finite amount of time and tax preparers get busy. So, taxpayers who are out of town for a period during tax season or clients who simply got their information together too close to that deadline can often take advantage of an extension to relieve the stress that often accompanies trying to pull everything together by tax time. Finally, and especially notable this year, an extension will allow you to take advantage of retroactive changes to the tax law that might be made after the filing deadline, without the added time and expense of filing an amendment.

Does an extension mean there is something wrong with my return or flag me for auditing?
No and no. Filing an extension is very simply allowing more time to complete an accurate return. In fact, sometimes, filing an extension can help avoid penalties or errors because of the extra time to evaluate everything. As for the myth that extensions somehow flag taxpayers as an audit risk, some tax professionals theorize that filing an extension will decrease your odds of being audited, since IRS auditors must meet quotas and try to do so early in the year. While the IRS does not disclose its process for selecting returns for audit, the earlier a return is filed, the longer it is in the system and thus subject to a review.

READ MORE from our Tax Q&A at valleynationalgroup.com/tax

Valley National Financial Advisors, and its family of companies, has been in the Lehigh Valley since 1985. The company is independent and locally owned. As a respected and trusted organization, our relationships with many clients and their families transcend generations. We have the expertise to provide clients with financial strategies to effectively manage their existing assets and to provide for the eventual transfer of their wealth.

Our one-stop service model includes: Financial Planning – Investment Management – Estate Planning – Retirement Planning – Education Planning – Tax Planning & Preparation – Insurance Planning – Trust Services, offered as a Trust Representative Office of National Advisors Trust Company, FSB – ExecutiveEdgeTM, Personal Financial Planning for Corporate Leaders. Our services are provided by a team of objective professionals and managed by one contact person – your personal financial advisor.

Valley National Financial Advisors is proud home of the Lehigh Valley’s most CFP® – Certified Financial Planner Professionals^TM. Among other honors, Valley National has been voted Best Financial Planner in the Lehigh Valley seven times by the readers of Lehigh Valley Magazine, and ranked among FA Magazine’s Top RIAs and AdvisorOne’s Top Wealth Managers.

For more than years, our firm has been devoted to helping our clients to achieve their hopes, dreams and aspirations. This requires a delicate balance between the science of financial planning and the art of understanding the feelings and emotions of our clients and their families.

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