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A collection of work by Sydney Hill

Automated Extension Filing Feature (IRS Form 4868) @ ComplYant Cover Image

Case Study

How we automated tax extension filing for our users

TLDR

I led frontend development for ComplYant’s IRS Form 4868 filing feature, which automated the process of requesting a federal tax extension. We launched in under three months, enabling users to e-file directly from their dashboard—with pre-filled data, PDF receipts, and real-time status tracking.

In Depth

The Challenge

ComplYant helps small business owners stay informed and prepared for their business taxes. Our team set out to build a seamless, in-app flow for IRS Form 4868 that allowed users to file with confidence and clarity—without leaving the platform.

The Task

Our pod was tasked with building an end-to-end tax extension filing flow for IRS Form 4868, allowing users to e-file directly through the ComplYant dashboard. This included: <ol> <li> Translating Form 4868 into a dynamic, user-friendly web form accessible from the user dashboard </li> <li> Pre-filling the form with historical tax and business data to streamline the filing process </li> <li> Automating the e-file workflow — including validation, submission, and retrieval of IRS acknowledgement statuses </li> <li>Generating and storing a PDF copy of the submitted extension for user records</li> <li> Displaying real-time submission status directly on the user dashboard, supported by in-app alerts and push notifications throughout the filing process </li> </ol>

My Contribution

I served as the frontend lead on this project, responsible for implementing the tax extension filing interface based on Figma designs. I built dynamic, reusable components and screens that handled user interactions and real-time data updates, working closely with our design and backend teams to ensure accuracy and usability. Given the tight timeline, our team often worked asynchronously across the stack. I helped accelerate development by shaping API schemas from the frontend perspective and identifying edge cases early, reducing back-and-forth during implementation. Since I had previously designed and built our internal design system—including the form infrastructure used in this feature—I was able to apply that domain knowledge to streamline implementation, maintain UI consistency, and reduce redundant work across the team.

Result

This was a high-priority release timed for tax season and served as both a critical user feature and a proof of concept for future tax form automation. Our team successfully launched the IRS Form 4868 filing flow in under three months, with two weeks to spare before the federal deadline. Twelve customers used it to file directly through our platform. The project’s complexity—balancing user experience, compliance, and backend automation—helped lay the foundation for ComplYant’s broader tax automation roadmap. My contributions helped us move quickly without sacrificing polish, delivering a feature that reduced user stress and boosted product credibility.

Tools and Tech Stack

Design
Figma
Frontend
Vue 3,Inertia.js,Tailwind,Vite,Webpack,Laravel Mix,Filament Forms,PostCSS
Backend
Laravel (PHP 8),MySQL
Build Tools
Git,NPM,Node,Composer,Docker (Laravel Sail),Laravel Vapor
Testing
PHPStan,PHPUnit,Laravel Dusk,Codesniffer,BrowserStack
Workflow
GitTower,PHPStorm,Tinkerwell,Ray,TablePlus,Fish

Process Images

Coming soon.

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