In April, 2006 the IRS website stated that if you are due a refund, you can file a 3 year extension.?

I filed a extension, but now i read that the extension is good for only 6 months.

Public Comments

1. i'm not a tax expert, but i think what you can do is file a 3 yr average.
2. Extensions are different from the rule you're referring to. When you file for an extension, you're asking for an extension of time to file the return... and that's an automatic 6 months. If you're due a refund on your tax return, the IRS has ruled (probably in tax court, somewhere) that a person can wait up to three years to file for and claim their tax refund. Of course, that's because they want to be able to draw an extra few years' interest on that money.
3. I think you're mistaken about remembering that the website said you could file for a three-year extension, of misunderstood what it said.
4. You have a couple things confused. The extension is filed to extend the due date of a Tax Return. The 3-year rule is for going back and ammending a Tax Return already filed. You can go back 3 years from the date a Return was filed - or it's due date (because you may have filed late, in which case you look to the due-date for the 3 year window) and file what is called an Ammended Return which is a form that allows you to change/add something you may have forgotten or done incorrectly. For example, if you find that you didn't deduct your Mortgage Interest last year, this would give you the opportunity to go back and "add this deduction" to the figures that were on your original Return so you can claim the additional refund you may have had if you had used this itemization on your Tax Return, etc.
5. The 3 years you heard about wasn't an extension. The 3 years refers to the IRS's statue of limitations on refunds. You have 3 years from the due date of your tax return to file your return and claim your refund. If you go over 3 years you lose your dough.