WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service made it a little easier to procrastinate this year. Not only do taxpayers have two or three extra days to file, they also can ask for the first time for an automatic six-month extension.

Nearly 88 million taxpayers have filed their returns, but that leaves millions more working to meet the deadline – Monday for most people.

The IRS expects 9.6 million to miss the mark in April and request an automatic filing extension until Oct. 16. But they have to pay their taxes now.

“Most people do leave it to the end for good reason. It’s not an enjoyable thing to do,” said Eric Tyson, author of “Taxes 2006 for Dummies.”

IRS officials are encouraging people who are worried about the approaching deadline to consider filing for an automatic extension. The extension now is for six months, compared with four months offered in years past.

The deadline for requesting an automatic extension is the same as the tax filing deadline. The IRS this year gave taxpayers an extra weekend to finish their work because April 15 falls on a Saturday. The tax agency pushed the traditional deadline back to April 17 for most taxpayers.

People whose returns go to a processing center in Massachusetts have one additional day because of Patriots Day. That holiday means residents of Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and the District of Columbia have until April 18 to file. For Maine taxpayers, the April 18 deadline also applies to their state returns.

The IRS separately gave individuals and taxpayers in regions most severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina a filing deadline of Aug. 28. Those residents can request an extension until Feb. 28, 2007, if they cannot file by August.