How to File Form 7004, Step by Step

Before you start

Have these ready:

• The business name exactly as it appears on last year's return.
• The employer identification number (EIN).
• The mailing address. A new address on Form 7004 doesn't update IRS records; use Form 8822-B for that.
• Which return you're extending, and its tax year.
• Your best estimate of the total tax for the year, and what you've already paid.

The steps, in the form's own order

Step 1: Name, identifying number and address

Enter the name from last year's return, even if it changed. If the name or EIN doesn't match IRS records, you won't have a valid extension. Include the suite or room number. Use a P.O. box only if the post office doesn't deliver to the street address. For a foreign address, enter the city, province or state, and country in that order, and don't abbreviate the country.

Step 2: Part I, line 1, the form code

Enter the two-digit code for the return. The most common: 09 for Form 1065, 25 for Form 1120-S, 12 for Form 1120, 05 for a trust and 04 for an estate. All 34 codes.

Step 3: Part II, lines 2 to 4

Most businesses leave these blank.

• Line 2: a foreign corporation with no office or place of business in the United States.
• Line 3: the common parent of a group filing a consolidated return. Attach a list of members with each one's name, address and EIN.
• Line 4: an entity that qualifies under Regulations section 1.6081-5, such as a partnership that keeps its books outside the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Step 4: Line 5, the tax year

Enter the calendar year, or the beginning and ending dates of a fiscal year. If the year is shorter than 12 months, check the reason on line 5b.

Step 5: Lines 6 to 8, the money

Line 6 is the total tax you expect for the year, including nonrefundable credits. Enter -0- if you expect none. Line 7 is your payments and refundable credits. Line 8 is line 6 minus line 7: what you owe by the original due date.

Step 6: File it by the original due date

E-file it through a provider, or mail it to the IRS address for your return, state and assets. Find your address.

Paper or e-file?

Both work. E-filing costs money but gets you an IRS acknowledgment and lets you pay by electronic funds withdrawal at the same time. Paper is free to fill out here, and it's on time if it's postmarked by the due date. Compare the two.

After you file

• Don't wait for an approval. The IRS doesn't send one. It writes only if your request is disallowed.
• Pay any balance by the original due date. Interest runs on unpaid tax even with an extension.
• File the return by the extended due date.
• Keep your proof: the e-file acknowledgment, or your mailing receipt and a copy of the form.

Common mistakes

• A new business name on Form 7004 when last year's return used the old one.
• The wrong code, especially for trusts and estates, which have three.
• One Form 7004 for two returns. File a separate one for each.
• Forgetting the consolidated group list when line 3 is checked.
• Mailing it to the wrong address. The address depends on the return, state and sometimes total assets.