Filing Deadline.

In plain English

The filing deadline is the last day to send your federal income tax return without being late. For most people it is April 15 of the year after the tax year, and it shifts to the next business day when the 15th lands on a weekend or holiday. You can request an automatic extension to October 15 by filing Form 4868, but that only extends the time to file the return, not the time to pay. Any tax you owe is still due by the original April deadline, and interest and penalties start adding up after that.

01Why it matters

Missing the deadline can trigger a failure-to-file penalty of 5% of the tax owed per month, far steeper than the failure-to-pay penalty, so even an unfinished return is worth filing or extending on time.

02The math, step by step

You cannot finish your return by April 15, so you file Form 4868 and get until October 15. But you think you owe about $1,200, so you send that payment by April 15 anyway. The extension stops the late-filing penalty, and paying the estimate on time keeps interest and the late-payment penalty from growing.

03What this is NOT

04Receipts

Every figure on this page is sourced to a primary document. Tap to open the original.