IRS Oct. 15 deadline is approaching for taxpayers who filed an extension

Taxpayers who requested an automatic extension to file their 2025 federal income tax return are approaching an important deadline: Oct. 15, 2026.

The Internal Revenue Service says individuals who timely requested an extension using Form 4868 generally have until Oct. 15 to file their return.

One distinction matters: an extension gives taxpayers more time to file, not more time to pay.

What is due Oct. 15?

For taxpayers who properly requested a Form 4868 extension by the April filing deadline, Oct. 15 is the usual deadline to file the 2025 individual federal return within the extension period.

The IRS electronic-filing calendar also lists Oct. 15, 2026 as the last date for transmitting returns on extension from Form 4868.

The payment deadline was not extended

The IRS says taxes owed for the 2025 return were still generally due in April 2026.

That means a taxpayer may have had until October to finish and file the return, while an unpaid balance that was due in April may already be subject to interest or penalties depending on the circumstances.

What if you still have not filed?

Taxpayers should not confuse the IRS’s ability to accept electronic returns later in the year with the deadline for an extended return to be considered timely.

The IRS says taxpayers who timely filed Form 4868 have until Oct. 15 to timely file their return.

Anyone still gathering records should review the information needed for the return and file by the deadline that applies to their situation. IRS.gov and IRS online-account tools provide official filing and payment information.

Important: special circumstances can affect tax deadlines. This is general information, not individual tax advice.

Sources: IRS, IR-2026-52: If you need more time to file, request an extension; IRS, Tax year 2025 Form 1040 MeF due dates.