is now 
The April 15th tax deadline to file your 2013 federal and state individual income tax returns is here. The IRS reports as of April 9th it had already received 100 million federal income tax returns and expects another 35 million before the filing deadline.
If you need more time to file your tax return, you may request an extension through Form 4868. You’ll need to complete and file this form no later than April 15th to avoid a late-filing penalty.
You will also need to calculate the estimated taxes that you owe and pay those taxes no later than the 15th to avoid additional penalties and interest charges. The interest charges are currently 3% per year, compounded daily, and the late-payment penalty is typically 0.5% per month.
For more information here is the recent IRS release:
WASHINGTON — The IRS has received almost 100 million tax returns so far this year and expects to receive about 35 million more by the April 15 filing deadline. However, about 12 million taxpayers will have requested extensions by the filing deadline, giving them an extra 6 months to file.
The fastest and easiest way to get the extra time is through the Free File link on IRS.gov. In a matter of minutes, anyone, regardless of income, can use this free service to electronically request an automatic tax-filing extension on Form 4868.
Filing this form gives taxpayers until Oct. 15 to file a return. To get the extension, taxpayers must estimate their tax liability on this form and should also pay any amount due.
By properly filing this form, a taxpayer will avoid the late-filing penalty, normally five percent per month based on the unpaid balance, that applies to returns filed after the deadline. In addition, any payment made with an extension request will reduce or eliminate interest and late-payment penalties that apply to payments made after April 15.
Besides Free File, taxpayers can choose to request an extension through a paid tax preparer, using tax-preparation software or by filing a paper Form 4868, available on IRS.gov. Of the more than 12 million extension forms received by the IRS last year, over 7 million were filed electronically.
