Here we are at the beginning of September. Summer is over. Students are back to school. Tax return extensions have almost expired or run out of time. We all practice some kind of time management. Some of us complete tasks long before they are due. Those people give themselves plenty of lead time. Some of us wait until time is almost up. Both types of people are practicing some kind of time management. If you like to do more than one thing at a time you can call yourself a multi-tasker. If you wait until the last minute you can say you practice “just in time” management. If you are a business owner who extended your tax return, you have a tax return due very soon. Corporate tax returns were due last March. Partnership tax returns were due last April. If you filed for an extension of time to file, both of those types of returns are due September 15th. And since September 15th falls on a Sunday this year, this year you have an extra day to file. You have until the next business day, Monday, September 16th to file those extended returns. Extensions do not give you any extra time to pay the taxes. Extensions just give you extra time to file the paperwork. Regular, or “C” Corporations may have a tax liability to pay. Small or “S” Corporations and Partnerships do not pay taxes. They are called pass-through entities because they pass their tax liability through to their owners, the shareholders or partners of those business entities. We don’t really know how much tax is due until the tax return is completed. When you expect you will owe tax, it is a good idea to estimate, or make an educated guess, of what you expect your tax bill to be. Making estimated tax payments and making a payment with your request for extension of time to file will allow you to pay your taxes before the due date. Making estimated tax payments can save you money in the long run. When you pay your taxes after the date they are due to be paid, you can expect a bill from the Internal Revenue Service (or any other tax agency) for interest and penalties. If you owe taxes on your extended tax return, those taxes will not have been paid on time. And you should not be surprised when you get your bill for what IRS calls “additions to tax.” You may be reporting your business as a sole proprietor. The sole proprietorship income and expenses are reported on a Schedule C Form as part of your 1040 Tax Return. EVERY business owner files a 1040 series tax return for their personal taxes. The 1040 was due April 15th. If you filed an extension to request more time to file your tax form, that extension allows you until October 15th to file the paperwork.  October 15th falls on a Tuesday this year so there is not extra day because of any weekend or holiday.  Like any other tax, if it is not paid by the original due date, you can expect interest and maybe also penalties to be added to your tax bill. Why am I so full of this good news? Because when you know the rules of the game you can play to win. And if you are just now tuning in to these rules, you can play a better game from now on. Always to your lowest legal tax, Nellie T Williams, EA