If you’re planning to file taxes next year, the deadlines and penalties break down like this: your 2025 federal return is due April 15, 2026, an extension moves the filing date to October 15 but not the payment date, and filing late costs 5% of unpaid tax per month while paying late costs 0.5% per month, with interest running on top.
Do You Even Have to File?
Whether a return is required comes down to your gross income and filing status. For the 2025 tax year, a single filer under 65 must file at $15,750 or more in gross income. Married couples filing jointly hit the requirement at $31,500 (both under 65). Heads of household file at $23,625.1Internal Revenue Service. Check if You Need to File a Tax Return
Age raises the threshold. Single filers 65 or older don’t have to file until $17,750. A married couple filing jointly with both spouses 65 or older can earn up to $34,700 before a return is required.2Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501 (2025), Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
One filing status has almost no floor at all. If you’re married filing separately, you’re required to file with as little as $5 in gross income. The same $5 rule applies to married couples who didn’t live together at the end of the year, regardless of the filing status they choose.
Some situations force a return no matter what your total income looks like:
- Net self-employment earnings of $400 or more, which triggers Social Security and Medicare tax.3Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)
- Advance premium tax credits received for marketplace health insurance, which must be reconciled on the return.
- Cryptocurrency or NFT sales, exchanges, or receipts as payment during the year.4Internal Revenue Service. Digital Assets
- Owing alternative minimum tax, household employment taxes, or early-distribution tax on retirement accounts.
Looking further out, standard deductions rise for the 2026 tax year (returns filed in early 2027): $16,100 single, $32,200 joint, $24,150 head of household.5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill The filing threshold tracks those numbers.
Why You Might Want to File Even If You Don’t Have To
Being below the threshold means you don’t have to file. It doesn’t mean filing is pointless. If federal tax was withheld from your paychecks and your actual liability is zero, the only way to get that money back is by submitting a return. Refunds aren’t automatic.
Refundable credits are the other reason. The Earned Income Tax Credit pays up to $8,231 with three or more qualifying children, and up to $664 for a worker with no children. The Child Tax Credit gives up to $2,200 per child under 17, with as much as $1,700 refundable even when you owe nothing.
The claim window closes fast. You have three years from the original due date to file and collect a refund. After that, the money stays with the Treasury.6Internal Revenue Service. Time You Can Claim a Credit or Refund A 2022 return, for example, has to be filed by the April 2026 deadline.
The April 15, 2026 Deadline and Extensions
The IRS typically opens the filing season in late January. For 2025 returns, the deadline is April 15, 2026.7Internal Revenue Service. When to File When the 15th falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the due date rolls to the next business day. A return counts as timely as long as it’s postmarked by the deadline, even if the IRS processes it later.
Need more time? File Form 4868 for an automatic six-month extension, which pushes your filing date to October 15.8Internal Revenue Service. About Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File You can submit it electronically or on paper.
The catch trips up a lot of people. An extension buys time to file, not time to pay. Any tax you owe is still due April 15. Miss that, and interest and the late-payment penalty start running the next day.
What Late Filing and Late Payment Actually Cost
The IRS charges two separate penalties, and they behave differently.
The failure-to-file penalty is 5% of your unpaid tax for each month or partial month the return is late, capped at 25% total.9Internal Revenue Service. Failure to File Penalty The failure-to-pay penalty is 0.5% per month, also capping at 25%. In any month where both apply, the filing penalty is reduced by the payment penalty amount, so the combined bite is 5%, not 5.5%. After five months the filing penalty maxes out, but the payment penalty keeps going until the balance is cleared or its own cap is reached.
Interest is layered on top. The IRS resets the underpayment rate quarterly at the federal short-term rate plus three points. The individual rate for early 2026 is 7%.10Internal Revenue Service. Quarterly Interest Rates Interest compounds daily and has no cap.
The math points to a clear move if you’re stuck. File something by April 15, even if it’s an extension, and pay whatever you can estimate you owe. That kills the 5% monthly filing penalty. The half-percent payment penalty and 7% interest are far cheaper than letting all three run at once.
Quarterly Deadlines If You Don’t Have Withholding
Freelance income, rental income, and investment gains generally don’t have taxes withheld. The IRS expects you to pay as you go through quarterly estimated payments. For the 2026 tax year:
- First quarter: April 15, 2026
- Second quarter: June 15, 2026
- Third quarter: September 15, 2026
- Fourth quarter: January 15, 2027
You avoid an underpayment penalty if your combined withholding and estimated payments cover at least 90% of the current year’s tax or 100% of the prior year’s tax.11Internal Revenue Service. Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals Penalty If your adjusted gross income was over $150,000 last year ($75,000 married filing separately), the prior-year safe harbor rises to 110%. Owing less than $1,000 at filing time also avoids the penalty.
How to File
If your adjusted gross income is $89,000 or less, IRS Free File gives you guided commercial software at no cost, and Free File partners can’t upsell or charge hidden fees.12Internal Revenue Service. File Your Taxes for Free Above $89,000, Free File Fillable Forms is still available, with less handholding.13Internal Revenue Service. E-file: Do Your Taxes for Free
E-filing, whether through software or a preparer, is the fastest route. The IRS confirms receipt almost immediately, flags basic math errors, and pays refunds faster, especially when combined with direct deposit. Paper returns still work; the postmark date is your filing date, but processing and refunds take six weeks or more.
Consider an Identity Protection PIN before filing. The six-digit number blocks anyone else from filing a return under your Social Security number. Anyone with an SSN or ITIN can request one through an IRS online account. If online verification fails and your AGI is under $84,000 ($168,000 joint), you can apply with Form 15227 or in person at a Taxpayer Assistance Center.14Internal Revenue Service. Get an Identity Protection PIN
Don’t Forget the State Return
Federal rules only cover half of it. Most states run their own income tax with separate thresholds, forms, and deadlines. Nine states have no individual income tax. State deadlines often line up with April 15, but not always, and a few states require a return for any income earned there, even from a single day of work. Check your state’s department of revenue directly.