If you are unable to file your tax return by the due date, you may request an extension of up to six months, The IRS Topic No. 304” says. Filing an extension is a legal option and it will not have any negative impact on your chance of obtaining a green card. You can file an extension using one of the following three methods:

  • Make an payment using IRS Direct Pay.
  • E-file Form 4868 with a payment electronically.
  • File a paper Form 4868 with a check.

Please note that while an extension by itself eliminates the larger “fail to file” penalty of 5% per month on the amount owed, it does not extend the time to pay. The “fail to pay” penalty, at 0.5% per month on the tax owed, will still apply, and interest will accrue on any unpaid amount. Therefore, it is important to make a sufficient payment with the extension to avoid penalties. Any overpayment can be refunded when you file your return - assuming, of course, before the United States files for bankruptcy.

Now, the question is how to determine the amount you owe. If your tax situation has not changed dramatically from last year, you can simply use your prior-year tax liability as a guide (adding a safety buffer amount if you can).

For current-year estimate, I created a Google sheets document, Simply plug in your numbers, and boom, you will get your answer.

This simply app does not consider other tax. Until it is enhanced, you should manually add:

  • 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on Medicare wages (Box 5 of your W-2) above $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for joint filers.
  • 3.8% of Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) on your investment income if your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) exceeds $200,000 (or $250,000 if married filing jointly).

Once you know the amount, you can click the IRS Direct Pay to make an extension payment. The screen looks like the following, please select “Form 1040 - Income Tax”, “Extention”, and type in the current year.

On the next screen, the IRS will ask you to verify your identity using a prior tax year. Choose a recent year for which you have already filed, and have that tax return handy. They will ask you to provide your Social Security Number, date of birth, filing status, and the address exactly as it appeared on the tax return for the year you chose. Once your identity is successfully verified, you will proceed to the payment screen to enter your bank account information.

If you are sure you do not owe taxes, the IRS has this to say in its document:

There is no penalty for failure to file if you are due a refund. However, you cannot obtain a refund without filing a tax return. If you wait too long to file, you may risk losing the refund altogether. In cases where a return is not filed, the law provides most taxpayers with a three-year window of opportunity for claiming a refund.

In other words, an extension to file taxes is not required if you are due a refund and do not owe any additional taxes. Filing your tax return after the regular deadline will not result in penalties or interest if you are owed a refund. However, it is still a good idea to file as soon as possible to avoid delays in receiving your refund.

In some situations, you may still want to file an extension to preserve certain rights - for example, if you need time to apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), or if you plan to make contributions to a retirement account and want those contributions to count for the current tax year. Note, however, that IRA contributions (Traditional or Roth) must be made by the original tax deadline - typically April 15 - and not the extended deadline. Only certain plans, such as SEP IRAs or Solo 401(k)s, may allow contributions up to the extended deadline if the plan was established on time and an extension was filed.

While many states automatically grant you a filing extension when you file a federal extension (or offer them completely automatically, like CA and VA), this is not a universal rule. Places like New York and the District of Columbia strictly require you to file their own state-specific extension forms to avoid penalties. Because the rules vary so widely, you must always verify the extension requirements with your specific state’s Department of Revenue.

If you do owe state taxes, estimating your balance is similar to the federal process. Because I do not have a spreadsheet calculator tailored to every individual state, a safe, conservative approach is to calculate a “worst-case scenario.” You can do this by multiplying your estimated state taxable income by the highest marginal tax rate in your state, and then subtracting any state income tax you have already had withheld or paid during the year.

For your convenience, the table below lists the highest tax rate and payment URL for each state, as well as the District of Columbia and the United States (federal government).

Tax authority Highest Rate Payment URL
United States 37% https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay
Alabama 5% https://www.revenue.alabama.gov/payments/
Alaska 0% https://online-tax.alaska.gov/
Arizona 4.5% https://www.aztaxes.gov/Home/PaymentOptions
Arkansas 6.6% https://atap.arkansas.gov/pay-and-file/individual/
California 13.3% https://www.ftb.ca.gov/pay/index.html
Colorado 4.55% https://www.colorado.gov/revenueonline/_/
Connecticut 6.99% https://portal.ct.gov/DRS/Payments-and-Credits/
Delaware 6.6% https://revenue.delaware.gov/individuals/
District of Columbia 8.95% https://otr.cfo.dc.gov/page/payments
Florida 0% https://floridarevenue.com/Pages/default.aspx
Georgia 5.75% https://dor.georgia.gov/pay-individual-income-tax
Hawaii 11% https://www.hawaii.gov/tax/
Idaho 6.925% https://tax.idaho.gov/i-1143.cfm
Illinois 4.95% https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/Pages/Payments.aspx
Indiana 3.23% https://www.in.gov/dor/3852.htm
Iowa 8.53% https://tax.iowa.gov/individual/income-tax-payment-options
Kansas 5.7% https://www.kdor.ks.gov/Apps/kcsc/login.aspx
Kentucky 5% https://revenue.ky.gov/Pages/Individual.aspx
Louisiana 6% https://esweb.revenue.louisiana.gov/OnlineTaxPayments/
Maine 7.15% https://www.maine.gov/revenue/netfile/gateway2.htm
Maryland 5.75% https://taxes.marylandtaxes.gov/Individual_Taxes/
Massachusetts 5% https://www.mass.gov/how-to/pay-your-personal-income-tax
Michigan 4.25% https://www.michigan.gov/taxes/0,4676,7-238-43519—,00.html
Minnesota 9.85% https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/payments
Mississippi 5% https://www.dor.ms.gov/Pages/Individual.aspx
Missouri 5.4% https://dor.mo.gov/individual/individual/payments.php
Montana 6.9% https://app.mt.gov/epayments/individual
Nebraska 6.84% https://www.revenue.nebraska.gov/Payment.html
Nevada 0% https://www.nevadatax.nv.gov/Payment/PaymentHome.aspx
New Hampshire 5% https://www.revenue.nh.gov/payments/index.htm
New Jersey 10.75% https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/payments/
New Mexico 5.9% https://www.tax.newmexico.gov/pay-taxes/
New York 8.82% https://www.tax.ny.gov/pay/all/payments.htm
North Carolina 5.25% https://www.ncdor.gov/taxes-forms/payments
North Dakota 2.9% https://www.nd.gov/tax/user/businesses/formslinks
Ohio 4.797% https://tax.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/tax/home
Oklahoma 5% https://www.ok.gov/tax/Individuals/Pay_Online.html
Oregon 9.9% https://www.oregon.gov/DOR/Pages/payments.aspx
Pennsylvania 3.07% https://www.revenue.pa.gov/OnlineServices/Padirect/
Rhode Island 5.99% https://www.ri.gov/taxation/Business/
South Carolina 7% https://dor.sc.gov/tax/pay-taxes
South Dakota No state tax N/A
Tennessee 6% https://www.tn.gov/revenue/taxes/pay-online.html
Texas No state tax N/A
Utah 4.95% https://tap.utah.gov/TaxExpress/_/
Vermont 8.75% https://tax.vermont.gov/payments
Virginia 5.75% https://www.tax.virginia.gov/payment-options
Washington No state tax N/A
West Virginia 6.5% https://tax.wv.gov/Pages/OnlineServices.aspx
Wisconsin 7.65% https://www.revenue.wi.gov/Pages/OnlineServices/home.aspx
Wyoming No state tax N/A