Do i need to file a extension if i do not owe any money?
I always thought not. And for the federal it may be true, but I've come to doubt it.
I recently had a mistake on my 2012 federal form found by the IRS. My tax was recalculated and I sent it all in. Then I put the new amount into TurboTax and recalculated the NYS form and sent it in with a cover letter. I got a 'late filing charge', besides the taxes and interest due. It seems that since I never filed an extension, I was now being fined for this late payment, even though I got a refund originally. (I called and they gave me a one-time waver of the fee.) So this year I filed an extension - on the NYS tax website. And by snail mail to the IRS.