Every US tax deadline, and what it costs you to miss it
The tax year is the calendar year, and the return for it is filed the following spring. Here is every date, the form it belongs to, who it applies to and the official IRS page that publishes it.
Tax year runs
1 January to 31 December
Filed the following spring
Dates on this page
17
All linked to the IRS
File and pay by
15 April
15 October with Form 4868
The tax year
The new tax year starts
1 January
New brackets, a new standard deduction and fresh contribution limits for your 401(k), IRA and HSA. Anything you do from today counts towards next spring's return, not the one you are about to file.
Who: Everyone
If you are late: Nothing to pay, but a whole year of planning is easiest to use at the start of it.
IRS federal rates and bracketsThe last day anything can change your bill
31 December
Reported on next year's Form 1040
Charitable gifts, 401(k) contributions through payroll, selling losing investments to offset gains, taking a required minimum distribution, buying business equipment. After midnight the year is closed and only an IRA or HSA contribution can still move the number.
Who: Everyone, and especially investors, business owners and retirees
If you are late: A missed required minimum distribution carries a 25 per cent penalty, reduced to 10 per cent if corrected quickly.
IRS required minimum distributions
Filing your return
The IRS opens electronic filing
Late January
Form 1040
The date the IRS starts accepting returns, usually the last full week of January. Filing early is the single best defence against someone else filing a fraudulent return in your name.
Who: Everyone filing a federal return
If you are late: No penalty for waiting, but refunds arrive in the order returns are accepted.
IRS when to fileForm 1040 is due, and so is any tax you owe
15 April
Form 1040 with Schedule 1, Schedule 2, Schedule C, Schedule E and Schedule SE
The main filing day. Wages land on line 1a, business profit reaches line 8 through Schedule 1, self employment tax reaches line 23 through Schedule 2. Paying is a separate act from filing, so do both.
Who: Almost every individual taxpayer
If you are late: Five per cent of the unpaid tax a month for filing late, up to 25 per cent, plus 0.5 per cent a month for paying late.
IRS about Form 1040Ask for six more months to file
15 April
Form 4868
An automatic extension to 15 October. It moves the filing date, never the paying date, so send an estimated payment with it or interest starts running.
Who: Anyone not ready to file
If you are late: Miss this and the late filing penalty applies from 16 April.
IRS about Form 4868Last day to fund an IRA or HSA for last year
15 April
Form 5498 reports it
This is the one deadline that still lets you cut a tax bill you have already run up. A traditional IRA or HSA contribution made now can be claimed on the return you are filing today, through Schedule 1.
Who: Anyone with earned income, and anyone on a high deductible health plan
If you are late: The chance is gone. The contribution can only count towards the current year instead.
IRS IRA contribution limitsMost state returns are due with the federal one
15 April
Your state income tax return
Forty one states and the District of Columbia tax income, each with their own form, bands or flat rate and standard deduction. A few states run different dates, and nine tax no wage income at all.
Who: Anyone living or earning in a state with an income tax
If you are late: State penalties are separate from federal ones and often steeper as a percentage.
IRS state tax agency listThe extended filing deadline
15 October
Form 1040 and FinCEN Form 114
The final date for anyone who filed Form 4868, and the extended FBAR date. There is nothing after this, and interest has been running since 15 April on anything unpaid.
Who: Anyone who extended
If you are late: Full late filing penalty back to April, calculated as if no extension had been requested.
IRS when to file
Estimated tax
Fourth quarter estimated tax payment
15 January
Form 1040-ES
The last payment for the year that has just ended. If you are self employed, a landlord or living on investment income, this is the payment that stops an underpayment penalty landing with your return.
Who: Anyone whose tax is not fully withheld from wages
If you are late: Interest style penalty on the shortfall, worked out quarter by quarter on Form 2210.
IRS about Form 1040-ESFirst quarter estimated tax payment
15 April
Form 1040-ES
The first payment for the year you are in now, due the same day as last year's return. Easy to miss precisely because the other deadline is louder.
Who: The self employed, landlords and investors
If you are late: Underpayment penalty worked out from this date on Form 2210.
IRS estimated taxSecond quarter estimated tax payment
15 June
Form 1040-ES
Covers April and May earnings. The quarters are not equal lengths, which is why this one comes only two months after the last.
Who: The self employed, landlords and investors
If you are late: Underpayment penalty on the shortfall.
IRS about Form 1040-ES
Business and payroll
Your W-2 and 1099 forms must reach you
31 January
Form W-2 and the 1099 family
Employers send Form W-2, platforms and clients send 1099-NEC or 1099-K, banks send 1099-INT and brokers send 1099-B. These are the figures the IRS already holds, so your return should match them.
Who: Everyone who earned wages, contract income or investment income
If you are late: Chase the payer first, then call the IRS. Filing from memory is how amendments happen.
IRS about Form W-2S corporation and partnership returns
15 March
Form 1120-S and Form 1065
Pass-through businesses file a month before individuals, because their Schedule K-1 figures have to reach the owners in time for the personal return.
Who: S corporation shareholders and partnership or multi member LLC partners
If you are late: Around 245 dollars per partner or shareholder per month late, even when the business made nothing.
IRS about Form 1120-SThird quarter estimated tax payment, and extended business returns
15 September
Form 1040-ES, Form 1120-S and Form 1065
Two things share this date: the third estimated payment, and the extended deadline for S corporation and partnership returns.
Who: The self employed, and pass-through business owners who extended
If you are late: Underpayment penalty, plus the per owner monthly penalty on a late business return.
IRS business tax deadlines
Leaving or arriving
Report foreign bank accounts
15 April
FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR), and Form 8938 with the return
Required once your foreign accounts together passed 10,000 dollars at any moment in the year. It is a report, not a tax, and it is filed separately from your return with an automatic extension to 15 October.
Who: Anyone with accounts held outside the United States
If you are late: Non willful penalties start in the thousands of dollars per account, per year.
FinCEN report foreign accountsAutomatic extension for citizens living abroad
15 June
Form 1040 with Form 2555 or Form 1116
Living outside the United States on 15 April gives you two extra months automatically. Form 2555 claims the foreign earned income exclusion, Form 1116 claims credit for tax you already paid abroad.
Who: US citizens and green card holders living overseas
If you are late: Late filing penalties apply from 16 June, and the exclusion can be lost if a return is never filed.
IRS citizens and residents abroadGiving up citizenship or a green card
With your final return
Form 8854, with Form 1040 and Form 1040-NR for a dual status year
Expatriation is treated as if you sold everything you own the day before you left, above an exclusion. Form 8854 is what proves you were tax compliant for the previous five years, and without it the exit tax rules apply regardless of your wealth.
Who: Anyone renouncing citizenship or handing back a long held green card
If you are late: A 10,000 dollar penalty for a missing Form 8854, and automatic covered expatriate treatment.
IRS about Form 8854
The forms, at a glance
Every named form on this page, with the date it is tied to.
| Form | What it does | When | Official page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form 1040-ES | The last payment for the year that has just ended | 15 January | Open |
| Form W-2 and the 1099 family | Employers send Form W-2, platforms and clients send 1099-NEC or 1099-K, banks send 1099-INT and brokers send 1099-B | 31 January | Open |
| Form 1040 | The date the IRS starts accepting returns, usually the last full week of January | Late January | Open |
| Form 1120-S and Form 1065 | Pass-through businesses file a month before individuals, because their Schedule K-1 figures have to reach the owners in time for the personal return. | 15 March | Open |
| Form 1040 with Schedule 1, Schedule 2, Schedule C, Schedule E and Schedule SE | The main filing day | 15 April | Open |
| Form 4868 | An automatic extension to 15 October | 15 April | Open |
| Form 5498 reports it | This is the one deadline that still lets you cut a tax bill you have already run up | 15 April | Open |
| FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR), and Form 8938 with the return | Required once your foreign accounts together passed 10,000 dollars at any moment in the year | 15 April | Open |
| Your state income tax return | Forty one states and the District of Columbia tax income, each with their own form, bands or flat rate and standard deduction | 15 April | Open |
| Form 1040 with Form 2555 or Form 1116 | Living outside the United States on 15 April gives you two extra months automatically | 15 June | Open |
| Form 1040-ES, Form 1120-S and Form 1065 | Two things share this date: the third estimated payment, and the extended deadline for S corporation and partnership returns. | 15 September | Open |
| Form 1040 and FinCEN Form 114 | The final date for anyone who filed Form 4868, and the extended FBAR date | 15 October | Open |
| Form 8854, with Form 1040 and Form 1040-NR for a dual status year | Expatriation is treated as if you sold everything you own the day before you left, above an exclusion | With your final return | Open |
| Reported on next year's Form 1040 | Charitable gifts, 401(k) contributions through payroll, selling losing investments to offset gains, taking a required minimum distribution, buying business equipment | 31 December | Open |
Moving to or from the United States?
Citizens and green card holders file wherever they live, and giving up either one is treated as selling everything you own the day before you leave. The moving country planner works out which forms and dates apply to your own move.