The next federal deadline is Thursday, October 15, 2026 — extended 2025 individual return — which is 14 days away. The annual individual return is due 15 April, but that date moves when the 15th falls on a weekend or on Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia.

What happens if I miss the filing deadline?

Two separate penalties run. Failure to file costs 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part month the return is late, capped at 25%. Failure to pay costs 0.5% a month, also capped at 25%. In a month when both apply the filing penalty is reduced by the paying one, so the combined charge is 5%, not 5.5% — which is why filing on time and paying late is far cheaper than the reverse.

Does an extension give me more time to pay?

No, and this is the most expensive misunderstanding on the calendar. Form 4868 moves the filing date six months, to 15 October. The payment was still due in April, and interest plus the 0.5% monthly late-payment penalty accrue from that date whether or not you filed the extension.

Do I have to make quarterly estimated payments?

If you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file and withholding will not cover it. The safe harbour is paying 90% of this year’s tax or 100% of last year’s, whichever is smaller — 110% of last year’s if your adjusted gross income was over $150,000. Meet the safe harbour and the underpayment penalty does not apply however large the final bill.

Why are the quarters not three months apart?

They are not quarters. The 15 April payment covers January to March, 15 June covers April and May, 15 September covers June to August, and the following 15 January covers September to December — two months, two months, three months, then four. The names are a convention; the periods in the statute are not equal.

US tax deadlines, and the ones that move

The next federal deadline is 15 September 2026: the third quarter estimated payment for income earned 1 June to 31 August. Nine dates are tracked here, and the ones that move are the point — a statutory date falling on a weekend or on Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia shifts to the next business day, which is why the April deadline is not always the 15th.

Every remaining federal deadline, with the day it actually falls on rather than the day the statute names. Two of the dates below are not the dates in the law: 31 January 2027 is a Sunday and 15 February 2027 is Presidents’ Day, and a list that hardcodes them is wrong.

dates checked against IRS Publication 509 and the weekend and holiday rule in 26 U.S.C. § 7503 2 September 2026 · How we check

Next federal deadline

Thursday, October 15, 2026

Extended 2025 individual return — 14 days away.

Every deadline from here

Thursday, October 15, 2026

in 14 days

Extended 2025 individual return. The last day for anyone who filed Form 4868 in April. An extension moved the filing date only — tax owed has been accruing interest and a 0.5% monthly late-payment penalty since 15 April.

1040 · Employees and anyone filing a 1040 · Self-employed, freelance and 1099 income

Friday, January 15, 2027

in 106 days

Fourth quarter 2026 estimated tax payment. Covers income earned 1 September to 31 December 2026. Pay this if you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file and your withholding will not cover 90% of this year's tax or 100% of last year's — 110% if your AGI was over $150,000.

1040-ES · Self-employed, freelance and 1099 income · Employees and anyone filing a 1040

Monday, February 1, 2027

in 123 days

W-2 and 1099-NEC to recipients and to the government. One date for both copies, unlike most information returns. The penalty for filing one late runs in three steps — corrected within 30 days, corrected by 1 August, and after that — and is charged per form and per copy, so a single missed contractor is counted twice. The amounts are indexed each year.

Moved from 2027-01-31, which is a Sunday.

W-2, 1099-NEC · Employers and anyone who pays a contractor

Tuesday, February 16, 2027

in 138 days

1099-B, 1099-S and certain 1099-MISC to recipients. Broker statements and real estate proceeds get two extra weeks over the 1099-NEC, which is why a brokerage 1099 arrives after everything else.

Moved from 2027-02-15, which is Presidents' Day.

1099-B, 1099-S · Employers and anyone who pays a contractor

Monday, March 15, 2027

in 165 days

Partnership and S corporation returns. A month before the individual deadline, because the K-1s these produce are what the partners need to file their own returns. The late-filing penalty is charged per partner or shareholder per month, whether or not the entity owes a cent of tax, so a four-partner firm accrues it four times over.

1065, 1120-S · Partnerships, S corporations and C corporations

Thursday, April 15, 2027

in 196 days

Tax Day: 2026 individual return, first 2027 estimated payment, IRA and HSA contributions. Four things fall on one day: the 2026 return, the first estimated payment for 2027, the last day to put money in an IRA or HSA for the 2026 tax year, and the calendar-year C corporation return.

1040, 1040-ES, 1120 · Employees and anyone filing a 1040 · Self-employed, freelance and 1099 income · Partnerships, S corporations and C corporations

Tuesday, June 15, 2027

in 257 days

Second quarter 2027 estimated tax payment. Covers income earned 1 April to 31 May 2027. Pay this if you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file and your withholding will not cover 90% of this year's tax or 100% of last year's — 110% if your AGI was over $150,000.

1040-ES · Self-employed, freelance and 1099 income · Employees and anyone filing a 1040

Friday, October 15, 2027

in 379 days

Extended 2026 individual return. Six months past Tax Day, and the last one. There is no further extension for a domestic filer.

1040 · Employees and anyone filing a 1040 · Self-employed, freelance and 1099 income

Why a deadline is not always the date in the statute

26 U.S.C. § 7503 pushes a due date falling on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday to the next business day. A legal holiday for this purpose includes a holiday in the District of Columbia — which is how Emancipation Day, observed on 16 April and by almost nobody outside DC, decides Tax Day. In 2022 the 16th was a Saturday, so DC observed it on Friday the 15th, and the whole country filed on the 18th instead.

2027-01-31 is a Sunday, so w-2 and 1099-nec to recipients and to the government is due Monday, February 1, 2027.
2027-02-15 is Presidents' Day, so 1099-b, 1099-s and certain 1099-misc to recipients is due Tuesday, February 16, 2027.

The dates on this page are computed from that rule rather than typed, which is why they are still right in a year when the calendar shifts under them.

If you have already missed one

File anyway, today. The failure-to-file penalty is ten times the failure-to-pay penalty — 5% a month against 0.5% — so a return filed without payment stops the expensive clock and leaves the cheap one running.
There is no penalty on a refund. If the IRS owes you money, filing late costs nothing. You have three years from the due date to claim it, after which the refund is gone.
First-time abatement exists. A clean compliance record for the previous three years qualifies for relief from the failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties, once, on request.
A missed estimated payment cannot be undone by paying more later. The underpayment penalty is calculated per period, so catching up in December does not cure a short April payment. Increasing withholding does, because withholding is treated as paid evenly across the year however late it was actually withheld.

Questions people actually ask

When are taxes due?: The next federal deadline is Thursday, October 15, 2026 — extended 2025 individual return — which is 14 days away. The annual individual return is due 15 April, but that date moves when the 15th falls on a weekend or on Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia.
What happens if I miss the filing deadline?: Two separate penalties run. Failure to file costs 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part month the return is late, capped at 25%. Failure to pay costs 0.5% a month, also capped at 25%. In a month when both apply the filing penalty is reduced by the paying one, so the combined charge is 5%, not 5.5% — which is why filing on time and paying late is far cheaper than the reverse.
Does an extension give me more time to pay?: No, and this is the most expensive misunderstanding on the calendar. Form 4868 moves the filing date six months, to 15 October. The payment was still due in April, and interest plus the 0.5% monthly late-payment penalty accrue from that date whether or not you filed the extension.
Do I have to make quarterly estimated payments?: If you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file and withholding will not cover it. The safe harbour is paying 90% of this year’s tax or 100% of last year’s, whichever is smaller — 110% of last year’s if your adjusted gross income was over $150,000. Meet the safe harbour and the underpayment penalty does not apply however large the final bill.
Why are the quarters not three months apart?: They are not quarters. The 15 April payment covers January to March, 15 June covers April and May, 15 September covers June to August, and the following 15 January covers September to December — two months, two months, three months, then four. The names are a convention; the periods in the statute are not equal.

Cite this page

APA: Rule Calculator. (2026). US Tax Deadlines. Rule Calculator. https://rulecalculators.com/tax-deadlines
MLA: "US Tax Deadlines." Rule Calculator, September 2, 2026, https://rulecalculators.com/tax-deadlines.
Chicago: Rule Calculator. "US Tax Deadlines." Rule Calculator. Last reviewed September 2, 2026. https://rulecalculators.com/tax-deadlines.

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Sources

Federal dates only. States set their own, and most but not all follow the federal calendar. Disaster declarations postpone deadlines for affected counties, sometimes by months.

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