Why You Should Ask for a Tax Extension A tax extension does more than buy you time. It could be smart business.

It's tax season again. No matter how organized I am, each year I find myself scrambling to meet the deadline. I always thought this last-minute crunch was normal—sure, I'd procrastinate, but high achiever that I am, I'd forfeit sleep before asking the Internal Revenue Service for more time.

However, given the complexity of the 73,000-plus page U.S. Income Tax Code, I've come to realize that not all of the 11 million Americans who file extensions are procrastinating. In fact, many are making a wise financial decision.

Tamara Sipos, a CPA and partner at Gallina LLC, a San Francisco-based accounting firm, says there are two key reasons it can pay to ask Uncle Sam for an extra six months to file your tax returns.