Small business owners run into IRS tax deadlines

Small businesses may have been caught unawares by the earlier tax deadline for filing their taxes amid all the upheaval at the Internal Revenue Service this year, but they can still file for an extension. 

“A lot of the time, small business owners are busy running their business, and that deadline sneaks up on them,” said Alison Flores, a manager with The Tax Institute at H&R Block. “The deadline is usually March 15. This year, that’s a Saturday, so you actually get two extra days. You have until March 17 to file that return. This deadline applies to S corporations and partnerships. It does sneak up on people. They may have spring break on their calendar. They may have St Patrick’s Day on their calendar. If you’re running a business, you may be looking at staff needs to cover spring break and just not realize that small business deadline is here. There are a couple things that cause this confusion. One is the regular deadline for individuals is April 15, and this is an entire month early.”

She noted that there are actually two different deadlines for people in this situation. 

“One thing you have to keep in mind is, if you get an extension because it snuck up on you and you can’t file by Monday, if you do request an extension for your S corporation or your partnership, another thing you need to do is go ahead and request an extension for your individual tax filing,” said Flores. “Most of these businesses are actually owned by one or two people. They’re usually very small. You need to look at two extensions, one for the business and one for your personal return.”

Both extensions are for six months. ‘The extension for your business, if you’re an S corporation or partnership, runs until September 15, and the extension for your individual return runs until October 15,” said Flores. “The same situation occurs in the fall. You’ll need to have that business return done first … and then the individual return because an S corporation and a partnership are pass-through businesses. They pass through income and expenses to the individual partners or shareholders. You’ll need to have that business return complete and then file your individual return.”