If you were living outside of the US on April 15, 2009, you get an automatic two-month extension of time to file your 2008 US federal taxes (to June 15, 2009). If you take advantage of the automatic extension you need to attach a statement to your 2008 tax return explaining that you have done this. The automatic extension does not extend the time to pay your tax - interest is charged as of April 15.
If you cannot file your 2008 tax return by June 15, you need to request an extension using Form 4868 (or sometimes Form 2350 if it is your first year living abroad).
June 15 is also the due date for the second quarter 2009 Estimated Tax Payment, which can be done online at www.officialpayments.com, or by mail using Form 1040-ES.
David Colvin is the US Tax Partner for TaXpat BV in Amsterdam and an advisor to Maxim Global Wealth Advisors in Amsterdam and Portland. For more tax and investment issues for expats check out TaXpat's US Tax Blog and Maxim's Knowledge Library.
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