Don't Mess With Taxes

Winter will just not let go this year. The Northeast has been pummeled by three northeasters in 11 days.

The consecutive blizzards make everything difficult, including doing taxes. That's why the Internal Revenue Service is giving businesses affected by the storms some extra time.

Business returns are due Thursday, March 15. If, however, those filers cannot get their tax year 2017 taxes done by then, the IRS says they can request an automatic extension by filing Form 7004, on or before Tuesday, March 20.

Form 7004,  available on IRS.gov, provides a six-month extension to complete the Forms 1065 and 1065-B that are filed by partnerships and S corporation filings on Form 1120S.

The last two storms, named Quinn and Skylar by the Weather Channel, are the ones for which that the IRS is granting the delayed business filing extension requests.

The agency says eligible taxpayers taking advantage of this relief should write "Winter Storm Quinn" or "Winter Storm Skylar" on their extension requests if filing via paper forms.

Of course, the IRS recommends that affected business filers get the extension by filing Form 7004 electronically.

Remember that for all taxpayers, business as well as individual, a filing extension is just that, more time to get your paperwork done. You still must pay what you expect to owe or a good estimate of the amount to avoid major penalty and interest changes for late filing.

And if Mother Nature is insistent on keeping an icy grip on that part of the United States, don't worry, at least not about your taxes. The IRS says it will continue to monitor conditions and provide additional relief if circumstances warrant.

You also might find these items of interest:

• New tax deadlines for businesses start in 2017
• The importance of good, and separate, business records
• Buffett's Berkshire gets $29 billion boost from GOP tax bill