The tax-filing clock is ticking. You can't turn it back, but there is a way to change your filing deadline to months instead of days and hours.

Just ask the Internal Revenue Service for more time to file your return. You should have plenty of company. The agency says it expects to receive 10.3 million extension requests this year, slightly more than the 10 million pleas for more filing time it got during 2007. Watch "Tax changes for 2008"

Regardless of how many filers seek extensions, they'll all find that the IRS has streamlined the process, making it easy to get extra filing time. All you have to do is file Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File and you've automatically got six more months, until Oct. 15, to fulfill your tax-filing duties.

Even better, dillydallying taxpayers don't have to give Uncle Sam a reason for wanting more tax-filing time. They just have to ask.

But keep in mind that an extension to file is not an extension to pay. If you are going to owe taxes when you finally get your return done, you need to come up with the money, or a close estimate of it, when you ask for the filing extension by April 15.

One form, six more months
Long-time taxpayers might remember when the extension process was a bit more complicated. A few years ago, Form 4858 would have given you only four months, until Aug. 15, to file. To get the additional extension into October, you then had to file Form 2688 and justify the need for two more months. Watch "Free tax help"

But the IRS decided that the dual process was cumbersome and costly to taxpayers and the federal government. The agency also streamlined the extension mechanism for business filers. The one-step extension procedure for individual and business taxpayers, says the IRS, saves between $73 million and $94 million.

So now procrastinators simply have to mail Form 4868 by the April tax deadline. This half-page form asks for your name, address and Social Security number. It's that simple, although taxpayers who must file gift tax returns have a few more questions to answer. You don't even need an excuse to ask for more time.

One thing hasn't changed though. Remember, if you owe, you do still need to pay the amount of taxes you owe or a close approximation of it when you file Form 4868. Don't just make up an amount here. The IRS warns that if it finds your estimate "not reasonable," it could invalidate your extension request, subjecting you to nonfiling penalties.