Form 7004 for the Uncommon Returns: Due Dates and Rules

Quick Answer

Beyond the familiar 1120/1065/1041 family, Form 7004 extends more than a dozen specialty returns — REMIC returns (1066), excise returns on undistributed income (8612, 8613), event-driven filings due 90 days after a transaction (8725, 8876, 8924), and the new Form 708 for covered-expatriate gifts. All get the standard automatic 6-month extension, none get extra time to pay, and six of them — 8612, 8613, 8725, 8831, 8876, and 706-GS(D) — cannot extend electronically: their Forms 7004 must be filed on paper.

The Form 7004 code table runs to 35 entries, and the bottom half covers returns most preparers meet once a career: generation-skipping transfer distributions, greenmail excise tax, structured settlement factoring. When one lands on your desk, the two questions are always the same — when is it due, and how do I extend it?

Here are the answers, form by form, from each return’s current IRS instructions. (For the full code table itself, see our Form 7004 codes page.)

The calendar-date group

These returns key off fixed calendar dates:

  • Form 706-GS(D) (code 01) — GST tax on distributions: due on or after January 1 but not later than April 15 of the year following the distributions
  • Form 706-GS(T) (code 02) — GST tax on terminations: due April 15 of the year following the termination
  • Form 1041-QFT (code 07) — qualified funeral trusts: April 15
  • Form 1041-N (code 06) — Alaska Native settlement trusts: 15th day of the 4th month after year end
  • Form 1066 (code 11) — REMIC income tax return: 15th day of the 3rd month after year end (March 15 for calendar years)
  • Form 8612 (code 28) — excise tax on a REIT’s undistributed income: March 15 following the calendar year
  • Form 8613 (code 29) — excise tax on a RIC’s undistributed income: March 15 following the calendar year

The event-driven group: 90 days from the transaction

Three returns are due 90 days after the taxable event rather than on a season: Form 8725 (code 30), the greenmail excise return, due by the 90th day following receipt of any portion of the greenmail; Form 8876 (code 33), structured settlement factoring, due by the 90th day following receipt of the settlement payment rights; and Form 8924 (code 35), the Alaska natural gas pipeline excise return, due by the 90th day after the taxable transfer.

Form 8928 (code 36), the group health plan excise return, instead tracks the filer: it is due by the due date of the filer’s own federal income tax return. And the newest entry, Form 708 (code 37, added on the December 2025 revision), covers section 2801 tax on gifts and bequests from covered expatriates — due by the 15th day of the eighteenth month following the close of the calendar year of receipt.

The rules they all share

Every form above takes the general automatic 6-month extension — "The automatic extension period for time to file is generally 6 months" — requested by filing Form 7004 with the right code on or before the return’s own due date. No signature, no approval letter; the IRS responds only if the request is disallowed. And none of them buys payment time: Form 7004 does not extend the time to pay any tax due, so interest runs from the original deadline on any balance.

The paper-only six, verbatim from the instructions: "Form 7004 cannot be filed electronically for Forms 8612, 8613, 8725, 8831, 8876, or 706-GS(D)." For those, mail the 7004 — an e-file attempt isn’t an option.

Form 8831: a special caution

Form 8831 (code 32) covers REMIC-related excise taxes, and for the section 860E(e)(1) tax on transferring a residual interest to a disqualified organization, the form and tax are due April 15 of the following year. The form’s posted instructions date to April 2018 and describe additional timing rules for other 8831 tax types — anyone facing one should read the current form directly rather than rely on summaries, ours included.

Frequently asked questions

Can all of these extensions be e-filed?⌄
No — six are paper-only by IRS rule: Forms 7004 for 8612, 8613, 8725, 8831, 8876, and 706-GS(D) cannot be filed electronically. The rest, including 1066, 1041-N, 1041-QFT, 8924, 8928, and 706-GS(T), extend electronically like mainstream returns.
How long is the extension for these forms?⌄
Six months, automatic, for all of them — the Form 7004 general rule. The special longer and shorter periods (5½ months for 1041 estates and trusts, 7 months for certain June-30 C corporations) don’t apply to this group.
What is Form 708 and when is it due?⌄
Form 708 reports the section 2801 tax on covered gifts and bequests received from covered expatriates — added to the Form 7004 code table as code 37 in the December 2025 revision. It is due by the 15th day of the eighteenth month after the close of the calendar year in which the gift or bequest was received.
Do the 90-day forms really extend from their own due date?⌄
Yes — the Form 7004 goes in by the return’s own due date (the 90th day after the event, for 8725/8876/8924), and the 6-month extension runs from there. The tax itself is still due at the original date.

Related guides

More in Business Tax Extensions (Form 7004)

Official sources

Tax rules, rates and deadlines change — verify current requirements against the IRS sources above before acting. This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice.

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