IRS website hit with tax filing extension downloads on deadline

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website was filled with traffic Monday, as hundreds of thousands of individuals waited until the deadline to download documents asking for an extension to file their tax returns.  

{mosads}On Monday, more than 253,000 people downloaded files from the IRS page, “Extension of time to file your tax return.” More than 110,000 others downloaded similar extension documents on the deadline from the IRS website, according to data from Analytics.usa.gov provided by the Digital Analytics Program. 

In fact, the 10 most popular downloads on any government website all came from the IRS on Monday. Already a popular government website, IRS.gov received 80 million visits over the last 30 days. 

Tax filing extensions are not uncommon, with millions every year. The IRS was expecting 13 to 15 million extensions to be filed this time around. And it has already received 130 million returns, according to Commissioner John Koskinen. 

Though individuals do not have to list the reason for an extension, the IRS says the most common reasons for an extension are first-time filers, missing paperwork, death in the family, new marriage or new house ownership. 

— This post was updated to include the correct web address.