Extensions of Time To File: Federal Income Tax (2025 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “Extensions of Time To File” within federal income tax. The following material presents the IRS treatment of this topic, including the qualifications, exceptions, and examples in the source section. Read the rules alongside the facts of your own situation before deciding what to report, deduct, or document.

Adapted from Publication 17 (2025), Your Federal Income Tax, published by the Internal Revenue Service. This guide retains the source edition’s years, amounts, deadlines, and examples. It is guidance for that edition, not a statement that the same figures apply to every tax year.

Context for these rules

April 15, 2026, is the due date for filing your 2025 income tax return if you use the calendar year. For a quick view of due dates for filing a return with or without an extension of time to file (discussed later), see Table 1-5.

Extensions of Time To File

You may be able to get an extension of time to file your return. There are three types of situations where you may qualify for an extension.

• Automatic extensions.

• You are outside the United States.

• You are serving in a combat zone.

Automatic Extension

If you can’t file your 2025 return by the due date, you may be able to get an automatic 6-month extension of time to file.

Example.

If your return is due on April 15, 2026, you will have until October 15, 2026, to file.

.If you don’t pay the tax due by the regular due date (April 15 for most taxpayers), you will owe interest. You may also be charged penalties, discussed later..

How to get the automatic extension.

You can get the automatic extension by:

1. Using IRS e-file (electronic filing), or

2. Filing a paper form.

E-file options.

There are two ways you can use e-file to get an extension of time to file. Complete Form 4868 to use as a worksheet. If you think you may owe tax when you file your return, use Part II of the form to estimate your balance due. If you e-file Form 4868 to the IRS, don’t send a paper Form 4868.

E-file using your personal computer or a tax professional.

You can use a tax software package with your personal computer or a tax professional to file Form 4868 electronically. Free File and Free File Fillable Forms, both available at IRS.gov, allow you to prepare and e-file Form 4868 for free. You will need to provide certain information from your 2024 tax return. If you wish to make a payment by direct transfer from your bank account, see Pay online under How To Pay, later, in this chapter.

E-file and pay by credit or debit card or by direct transfer from your bank account.

You can get an extension by paying part or all of your estimate of tax due by using a credit or debit card or by direct transfer from your bank account. You can do this by phone or over the Internet. You don’t file Form 4868. See Pay online under How To Pay, later, in this chapter.

Filing a paper Form 4868.

You can get an extension of time to file by filing a paper Form 4868. If you are a fiscal year taxpayer, you must file a paper Form 4868. Mail it to the address shown in the form instructions. For more information, see Form 4868.

When to file.

You must request the automatic extension by the due date for your return. You can file your return any time before the 6-month extension period ends.

When you file your return.

Enter any payment you made related to the extension of time to file on Schedule 3 (Form 1040), line 10.

Individuals Outside the United States

You are allowed an automatic 2-month extension, without filing Form 4868 (until June 15, 2026, if you use the calendar year), to file your 2025 return and pay any federal income tax due if:

1. You are a U.S. citizen or resident; and

2. On the due date of your return:

   1. You are living outside the United States and Puerto Rico, and your main place of business or post of duty is outside the United States and Puerto Rico; or

   2. You are in military or naval service on duty outside the United States and
      Puerto Rico.

However, if you pay the tax due after the regular due date (April 15 for most taxpayers), interest will be charged from that date until the date the tax is paid.

If you served in a combat zone or qualified hazardous duty area, you may be eligible for a longer extension of time to file. See Individuals Serving in Combat Zone, later, for special rules that apply to you.

Married taxpayers.

If you file a joint return, only one spouse has to qualify for this automatic extension. If you and your spouse file separate returns, the automatic extension applies only to the spouse who qualifies.

How to get the extension.

To use this automatic extension, you must attach a statement to your return explaining what situation qualified you for the extension. (See the situations listed under (2), earlier.)

Extensions beyond 2 months.

If you can’t file your return within the automatic 2-month extension period, you may be able to get an additional 4-month extension, for a total of 6 months. File Form 4868 and check the box on line 8.

No further extension.

An extension of more than 6 months will generally not be granted. However, if you are outside the United States and meet certain tests, you may be granted a longer extension. For more information, see Filing and Payment Due Dates in Pub. 54.

Individuals Serving in Combat Zone

The deadline for filing your tax return, paying any tax you may owe, and filing a claim for refund is automatically extended if you serve in a combat zone. This applies to members of the Armed Forces, as well as merchant marines serving aboard vessels under the operational control of the Department of Defense, Red Cross personnel, accredited correspondents, and civilians under the direction of the Armed Forces in support of the Armed Forces.

Combat zone.

A combat zone is any area the President of the United States designates by executive order as an area in which the U.S. Armed Forces are engaging or have engaged in combat. An area usually becomes a combat zone and ceases to be a combat zone on the dates the President designates by executive order. For purposes of the automatic extension, the term “combat zone” includes the following areas.

1. The Arabian peninsula area, effective January 17, 1991.

2. The Kosovo area, effective March 24, 1999.

3. The Afghanistan area, effective September 19, 2001.

See Pub. 3 for more detailed information on the locations comprising each combat zone. Pub. 3 also has information about other tax benefits available to military personnel serving in a combat zone.

Extension period.

The deadline for filing your return, paying any tax due, filing a claim for refund, and taking other actions with the IRS is extended in two steps. First, your deadline is extended for 180 days after the later of:

1. The last day you are in a combat zone or the last day the area qualifies as a combat zone, or

2. The last day of any continuous qualified hospitalization (defined later) for injury from service in the combat zone.

Second, in addition to the 180 days, your deadline is also extended by the number of days you had left to take action with the IRS when you entered the combat zone. For example, you have 3½ months (January 1–April 15) to file your tax return. Any days left in this period when you entered the combat zone (or the entire 3½ months if you entered it before the beginning of the year) are added to the 180 days. See How Much Extra Time Do These Extensions Give Me? in Pub. 3 for more information.

The rules on the extension for filing your return also apply when you are deployed outside the United States (away from your permanent duty station) while participating in a designated contingency operation.

Qualified hospitalization.

The hospitalization must be the result of an injury received while serving in a combat zone or a contingency operation. Qualified hospitalization means:

• Any hospitalization outside the United States, and

• Up to 5 years of hospitalization in the United States.

See Pub. 3 for more information on qualified hospitalizations.

Using the guidance

Keep the documents that establish the dates, amounts, and circumstances described above. References to other chapters, forms, worksheets, or earlier and later sections refer to the linked IRS publication. Check the full publication and its updates before relying on a rule for a different tax year or a situation not addressed here.

Sources and further reading

• Publication 17 (2025), Your Federal Income Tax: Filing Information — When Do I Have To File? — Extensions of Time To File — Internal Revenue Service; 2025 edition.

The cited U.S. government text is in the public domain. Source accessed October 28, 2026. Fynoptic has organized this material for educational use and is independent of, and not endorsed by, the IRS.