Attention, business taxpayers: The amount of time you have in which to file an extension on your tax returns may soon be getting shorter.

The IRS is proposing to reduce the extension period from six months to five for businesses that file the following Schedule K-1 information:

• Form 1065, U.S. Return of Partnership Income
• Form 1041, U.S. Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts
• Form 8804, Annual Return for Partnership Withholding Tax (Section 1446)

Under the proposal, businesses that file these forms would be required to file their extensions by Sept. 15 rather than the normal Oct. 15.

The reason, according to the IRS, is to give individual taxpayers who need this information more time to compile the Schedule K-1 data for their individual tax returns. The extension deadline for individual taxpayers will remain Oct. 15.

"The regulation does not change the process for requesting an extension of time to file," reports the IRS, "nor does it affect extensions of time to file other types of business returns, such as those used by S corporations."

Those interested in commenting on the proposal may do so on the Federal eRulemaking Portal.