Ever wondered what a tax extension actually means for your business? Here’s the scoop.

Welcome to another episode of Empowering Entrepreneurs, where Glenn Harper and Julie Smith talk about one of the most common questions during tax season—what does it really mean to file a tax extension?

You'll learn about the essentials of tax extensions for individuals and businesses alike, clearing up common misconceptions about what an extension covers (hint: it’s not extra time to pay your taxes!).

You'll learn why you might need an extension, the importance of proactive planning, how penalties and interest work, and what you need to know if you live in a state with additional filing requirements.

Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just navigating your first tax filing, Glenn Harper and Julie Smith make complex rules easy to understand and share practical tips to help you stay ahead—while sharing a few lighthearted moments about wardrobe changes and coffee breaks!

This episode is brought to you by PureTax, LLC. Tax preparation services without the pressure. When all you need is to get your tax return done, take the stress out of tax season by working with a firm that has simplified the process and the pricing. Find out more about how we started.

Here are 3 key takeaways for entrepreneurs and individuals navigating tax season:

1. An extension gives you more time to file, not more time to pay. If you owe taxes, the payment is still due by April 15th. Paying late leads to penalties and interest.
2. Extensions also apply to states and local taxes. While a federal extension often covers your state or city, sometimes a separate extension is needed. Check your specific requirements to avoid surprises.
3. Proactive planning makes all the difference. Working with a tax professional throughout the year can help you estimate taxes due and prevent last-minute shocks from missing forms or unexpected income.

Running a business doesn’t have to run your life.

Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.

Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for success

Our clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.

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Glenn Harper, CPA, is the Owner and Managing Partner of Harper & Company CPAs Plus, a top 10 Managing Partner in the country (Accounting Today's 2022 MP Elite). His firm won the 2021 Luca Award for Firm of the Year. 

An entrepreneur and speaker, Glenn transformed his firm into an advisory-focused practice, doubling revenue and profit in two years. He teaches entrepreneurs to build financial and operational excellence, speaks nationwide to CPA firm owners about running their businesses like entrepreneurs, and consults with firms across the country. Glenn enjoys golfing, fishing, hiking, cooking, and spending time with his family.

Julie Smith, MBA, is a serial entrepreneur in the public accounting space. She is the Founder of EmpowerCPA™, Founder of PureTax, LLC, COO for Harper & Company CPAs Plus, and Co-host of the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast. 

Named CPA.com's 2021 Innovative Practitioner of Year, Julie led Harper & Company's transition to an advisory-focused firm, doubling revenue and profit in two years. She now empowers other CPA firm owners nationwide through consulting and speaking, teaching them how to run their businesses like entrepreneurs. Julie lives in Columbus, OH with her family and enjoys travel, coaching basketball, sporting events, and the occasional shopping spree.

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Copyright 2026 Glenn Harper

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Brought to you by Harper & Company CPAs Plus

Running a business takes vision, grit… and the right financial partner. At Harper & Company CPAs Plus, we don’t just crunch numbers—we empower entrepreneurs. From proactive tax strategy and accounting to business advisory services, our team helps you keep more of what you earn and scale with confidence. Whether you’re launching, growing, or preparing for exit, Harper & Company is in your corner with expert guidance built for business owners like you. Visit www.harpercpaplus.com to book a complimentary discovery call today - or call us at 614-456-7222.

Brought to you by Harper & Company CPAs Plus

Hello, everyone. Welcome to another edition of the Empowering Entrepreneurs Podcast. I'm Glenn Harper.

Julie Smith.

What are you doing?

Well, you know, I thought we'd have a wardrobe change for you, but I guess we.

No, no.

Funds are tight around here because it's tax season.

My favorite uniform. Got to look the part.

Yeah. So I think the topic that we get asked a lot or have to deal with a lot is someone like me just wants to avoid filing my taxes.

So I just want an extension. Or maybe you aren't getting a certain piece of a document in time because who knows what happens and you need an extension.

What does an extension actually mean?

An extension basically just says that you have the ability to say your tax return is technically due on April 15 as an individual, but you can just extend automatically for six months. And that form just says, hey, we're going to give you.

IRS is going to give you another six months to put your things together to ultimately fine it for file an accurate, correct tax return that you have all your information on and you can stand by what you file. However, it doesn't mean that you have an extension to pay.

So the hard part is if you don't have all your information and you haven't put it together and you end up owing, you can still file an extension to file. But if you owed money and you didn't pay it on April 15, you're going to get a penalty from that day until the day you finally do pay your money.

So we try to encourage people that will do an extension to file. But. But you should pay what you think you're going to owe.

Pay a little extra just in case something moves around a little bit so that you can avoid a penalty.

You mentioned a penalty. What about interest?

Yeah, they charge penalty interest on the unpaid tax due from the date it was due, which is April 15th.

So you're talking very federal. But as we know, we have 50 states. So what does that look like for extensions for states, for locals, for the boroughs, for the townships?

All those things.

Same thing. Most of the time, the federal extension will cover the state and the city. Other cities and states, you have to do an extension just for them.

But it does. It's the same concept. Extension to file but not an extension to pay.

And don't forget, if you're a quarterly tax paying type of individual, you not only have to file your extension to pay and pay your tax, you think you're going to owe in April for last year and you have time to file your return, but you also got to start paying your quarterly estimates for the next year, they're due on April 15th. So you got to not only pay your extension payment plus Q1, so it's really hard to try to guess that number.

So it's really important to work all year long the prior year till you kind of know what that number is going to be. And you might still be waiting on some rogue form, but we already know what the amount is.

So you can make those estimated payments and the extension payment and have confidence that it's probably an accurate number, as close as can be expected. And then, whew, you can relax for the next six months till you get your forms in before you can file your return.

And my guess is if you're working with someone proactively, you probably can just file the extension because you've already paid and done the planning up until then.

Correct. And again, a lot of people do get surprises. And really, whoa, where'd that account come from? Whoa.

All these long term capital gain distributions, what that happened there?

And so it's really important to get your information to your tax people as soon as you can so we can identify if there's any surprises that you didn't even know what was going to happen. Because if that document comes later and we didn't know about it, you, you're going to be mad at me.

And I'm like, well, I didn't know you're going to have that income because that wasn't in the plan. We got a surprise.

So try to get everything you can to your preparer as soon as possible so we can at least get the extension, get you an accurate amount that you're going to pay with your extension payment. And then we can relax and get you some coffee.

Right?

Everybody wants some coffee.

And do those calculations, right?

Run the 10 key. Getting a cramp on my arm every year for that.

Yeah.

All right. Well, hopefully that was helpful for all of you. And another edition of the Empowering Entrepreneurs Podcast. I'm Glenn Harper.

Julie Smith.