Filing for an extension when expecting a tax refund - confusion about Form 4868

You're in a very common situation! When filing for an extension using Form 4868 and you're expecting a refund, you can simply enter "0" in lines 4-7. The extension form is primarily designed for people who owe taxes to make payments, but it works just the same for those expecting refunds. The extension gives you until October 15th to file your complete return, but keep in mind it's only an extension to file your paperwork, not an extension to pay any taxes owed (which doesn't apply in your case since you're expecting a refund). For your specific situation with the pending SSN for your adopted daughter, this is absolutely the right approach. Once you receive her SSN, you'll be able to claim her as a dependent and receive any associated tax credits you're entitled to, like the Child Tax Credit.

After struggling with almost the exact same situation last year (waiting on SSN for our foster-to-adopt son), I discovered taxr.ai at https://taxr.ai and it saved me so much stress! I was confused about the extension form too, but their document analyzer literally walked me through exactly what to put on each line of Form 4868 and explained why. The coolest thing was that it helped me calculate a rough estimate of what credits we'd qualify for once we got our son's SSN, so we had a better idea of what our refund might look like. It also explained all the documentation we needed to have ready for when the SSN finally arrived.

I want to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai. I decided to try it after seeing the recommendation here, and I'm genuinely impressed. It correctly handled all the nuances of the Adoption Tax Credit including the carryforward provisions I was concerned about. It even flagged that I had some expenses from our home study that I didn't realize were qualified adoption expenses! The document analysis feature saved me a ton of time - I uploaded our adoption decree and it extracted the relevant information automatically. For the extension specifically, it confirmed exactly what to put on each line and explained the process for when we eventually file. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with an adoption and tax questions.

If you're still waiting on that SSN and getting frustrated with the Social Security Administration, I was in the same boat last year and discovered Claimyr at https://claimyr.com after weeks of getting nowhere. They got me through to a real person at SSA in about 20 minutes when I had been trying for weeks with no luck. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was seriously ready to throw my phone through a window after hitting endless SSA automated menus and wait times. Using Claimyr, I got connected to an actual SSA rep who was able to check the status of our application and tell me exactly what was causing the delay. In our case, there was a document they needed that was never communicated to us.

I need to publicly eat my words. After I posted that skeptical comment, I was so desperate I actually tried Claimyr. I got through to an actual human at the SSA in about 15 minutes. The agent was able to see that our SSN application had been flagged for "additional review" but nobody had bothered to tell us. The SSA agent expedited the review after I explained our tax situation and we received our daughter's SSN card 8 days later. Just filed our taxes yesterday with all the correct dependents and credits. Saved us from having to file that extension after all. Still shocked this actually worked after months of frustration.

Don't forget that even though you're expecting a refund, you should still estimate your taxes to make sure you really don't owe. Sometimes people assume they're getting a refund but end up owing. You can use the IRS withholding calculator or any tax software to run a rough estimate before filing the extension.

Quick question - does anyone know if we'd be better off just filing without claiming our adopted child and then doing an amended return later when the SSN comes? Our tax guy suggested this but I've heard amended returns can trigger audits?

I went through this exact situation two years ago when we adopted our son! The waiting for the SSN while tax season loomed was so stressful. Just want to echo what others have said - definitely go with the extension rather than filing without claiming your daughter and amending later. One thing I wish someone had told me is to gather all your adoption-related documents now while you're waiting. Things like court documents, attorney fees, agency fees, home study costs, travel expenses if you had any - these can all potentially qualify for the Adoption Tax Credit. Having everything organized made filing so much smoother once we finally got that SSN. Also, don't be surprised if your refund ends up being significantly higher than you initially calculated. Between the Child Tax Credit, potentially the Adoption Tax Credit, and any other credits you might qualify for, we were pleasantly shocked at our final refund amount. The wait was definitely worth it to file one complete, accurate return!