As a general rule, federal estate taxes are payable within nine months of the estate owner's death. Payment is filed with a completed federal estate tax return (Form 706). A federal estate tax return is required if the value of the gross estate exceeds the applicable exclusion amount for the year in question.
Certain extensions for payment of the tax are available for reasonable cause. Extensions for reasonable cause are different from the tax deferral of IRC Section 6166. (See next screen.) Reasonable causes include:
- The estate is illiquid because a farm or closely held business makes up the bulk of the estate.
- Legal problems.
- Assets would have to be disposed of at a forced sale.
- The estate contains assets that were not collected by the due date.
