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. The interest rate is currently three percent per year, compounded daily, and the late-payment penalty is normally 0.5 percent per month.

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.

[The filing season statistics table follows.]

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The Affordable Care Act calls for individuals to have qualifying health insurance coverage for each month of the year, have an exemption, or make a shared responsibility payment when filing their federal income tax return next year.

Qualifying health insurance coverage, called minimum essential coverage, includes coverage under various, but not all, types of health care coverage plans. The majority of coverage that people have today counts as minimum essential coverage.

Examples of minimum essential coverage include:

• Health insurance coverage provided by your employer,
• Health insurance purchased through the Health Insurance Marketplace in the area where you live, where you may qualify for financial assistance,
• Coverage provided under a government-sponsored program for which you are eligible (including Medicare, Medicaid, and health care programs for veterans),
• Health insurance purchased directly from an insurance company, and
• Other health insurance coverage that is recognized by the Department of Health & Human Services as minimum essential coverage.

Minimum essential coverage does not include coverage providing only limited benefits, such as:

• Coverage consisting solely of excepted benefits, such as:
  • Stand-alone vision and dental insurance
  • Workers’ compensation
  • Accident or disability income insurance
  • Medicaid plans that provide limited coverage such as only family planning services or only treatment of emergency medical conditions.

More information about the types of coverage that qualify and don’t qualify as minimum essential coverage can be found on the IRS Individual Shared Responsibility page and answers to specific questions can be found on the question and answer page.

More Information

Find out more about the tax-related provisions of the health care law at IRS.gov/aca.

Find out more about the health care law at HealthCare.gov.