
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 14, 1993                   TAG: 9308140056
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DEADLINE COULD BE TAXING FOR PROCRASTINATORS

If it's true that misery loves company, Monday could be a good day for a party - it's the deadline for the 5.5 million Americans who were granted a four-month extension to file their federal tax returns.

If you have yet to RSVP, you could file Form 2688 to request another extension that would carry you until Oct. 15. This year, the IRS expects more than 1.7 million people to do so, up from 1.4 million last year.

But unlike in April, the Internal Revenue Service won't hand out extensions automatically. You'll need to demonstrate you're a hardship case, which generally means proving you've been unable to collect vital documents to calculate your tax bill.

"We had a total of 30 clients with extensions and we'll get their returns out today," Roanoke accountant Mike Brooks said Friday. "It's usually the same people every year, those who just have problems getting their tax information together."

Even with a four-month extension, most still wait until the last minute to file, said Brooks, with Kennett & Kennett. However, the portion of clients needing extensions, of the 500 individual returns the firm files, is the smallest in its 55 years, Brooks said.

In past years, the IRS rejected extensions automatically if you couldn't pay your tax bill. This year, in an attempt to keep recession-stressed taxpayers from ducking out of the system, the government is being more lenient. The agency will not assess a late-payment penalty if you paid 90 percent of your tax bill by April 15 and pay the rest by Oct. 15.

by CNB