When Are Taxes Due in 2026?
Tax Day for the 2025 tax year was April 15, 2026. If you're reading this in May wondering are taxes due today, that deadline has already passed.
Where you stand now depends on which situation you're in: filed and paid, filed an extension, or missed the deadline entirely. The next steps and the stakes are different for each. Here's every taxes due date for the rest of 2026.
Key takeaways:
- The due date for taxes on 2025 income was April 15, 2026; if you missed it, filing now stops the largest penalty from growing
- If you filed an extension, your new deadline is October 15, 2026
- The next deadline for most people is June 15, 2026 for Q2 estimated taxes
- An extension gives you more time to file, not more time to pay; interest on unpaid balances has been running since April 16
- California's deadline matched the federal April 15 date; its automatic filing extension runs to October 15
- Taxpayers in certain disaster areas have later deadlines that the IRS granted automatically
2026 Tax Due Dates at a Glance
If You Missed April 15
When are taxes due this year, and what if you missed it? Federal taxes were due April 15, 2026, and two penalties have been running since.
The failure-to-file penalty runs at 5% of unpaid tax per month; the failure-to-pay penalty runs at 0.5%. Both compound until you file.
Filing now, even without paying the full balance, stops the larger penalty immediately. The IRS offers payment plans for filers who can't pay in full, but you have to file first to access them.
If this is your first time filing late with a clean prior compliance record, you may qualify for first-time penalty abatement. It won't erase interest, but it can eliminate the penalties entirely.
If You Filed an Extension
Form 4868 gave you until October 15, 2026 to submit your completed return. That deadline is firm; the IRS doesn't grant a second extension for individual returns except in federally declared disaster areas.
For those asking when are income taxes due, when are federal taxes due, or when are federal income taxes due after extending, October 15 is the deadline. The extension covered your filing deadline, not your payment deadline.
Any tax you owed was due April 15, and interest has been accruing since April 16 at roughly 7–8% annualized. Paying any remaining balance now reduces what you'll owe when you file in October.
Quarterly Estimated Taxes: What's Coming Up
If you're self-employed, a freelancer, a contractor, or earn income without employer withholding, you pay taxes four times a year instead of once. The next payment is June 15, 2026, covering income earned April through May.
If you're wondering when are my taxes due next, the answer is June 15, just eight weeks after Q1, which is why it catches people off guard.
A missed quarterly payment generates its own underpayment penalty even if you pay everything else on time. The IRS calculates each quarter independently.
How much to pay
The simplest approach is the prior-year safe harbor: pay one-quarter of what you owed in total federal tax last year. If your 2025 adjusted gross income exceeded $150,000, that threshold rises to 110% of last year's tax. Meeting the safe harbor means no underpayment penalty, regardless of what you ultimately owe in 2026.
You can pay through IRS Direct Pay, through the EFTPS system, or by check with Form 1040-ES. Select "Estimated Tax" and "2026" when submitting so the payment posts to the right period.
When Are Taxes Due in California?
When are California taxes due? The individual income tax deadline was April 15, 2026, matching the federal date. The state grants an automatic six-month extension to file until October 15, 2026 with no form required, but payment was still due April 15.
California's estimated tax deadline is the same as the federal one: June 15 for Q2. The state's underpayment trigger is $500, lower than the federal $1,000, so some filers who don't owe federal quarterly payments still owe California ones.
Disaster Relief: Some Deadlines Are Later
The IRS automatically extends deadlines for taxpayers in federally declared disaster areas. Several extensions are still active as of May 2026:
If you live or have a business in a declared disaster area, the extension applies automatically. No request is needed. Bizora's breakdown of how IRS disaster relief extensions work covers what qualifies and how the postponement is applied.
The Deadlines Still Ahead
Tax Day passed on April 15. If you filed and paid, your next federal deadline is June 15 for Q2 estimated taxes. If you extended, October 15 is your date, and filing now after a missed April 15 limits the penalty damage regardless of whether you can pay in full.
Tax questions that come up between now and October (what qualifies for abatement, how disaster relief applies, what the safe harbor calculation looks like) are the kind of thing Bizora's AI Assistant answers in seconds with citations you can actually rely on.
Frequently Asked Questions
When are taxes due in 2026?
Federal taxes for 2025 were due April 15, 2026, which is the answer to when are taxes due 2025 for most filers. If you filed an extension, your new deadline is October 15; quarterly estimated taxes are due June 15, September 15, and January 15, 2027.
What happens if I missed the April 15 tax deadline?
The IRS charges a failure-to-file penalty of 5% of unpaid tax per month and a separate failure-to-pay penalty of 0.5%. Filing now, even without paying in full, stops the larger penalty and may qualify you for first-time abatement.
When is the tax extension deadline in 2026?
The tax extension deadline is October 15, 2026, for anyone who filed Form 4868 by April 15. The extension applies to the return only; any tax owed was still due April 15, and interest has been running since then.
When are quarterly taxes due in 2026?
The remaining quarterly estimated tax deadlines for 2026 are June 15, September 15, and January 15, 2027. These apply to self-employed individuals, freelancers, and anyone whose income is not subject to employer withholding.
When are taxes due in California in 2026?
California's individual income tax deadline was April 15, 2026, the same as the federal deadline. The state grants an automatic 6-month extension to file until October 15, but any balance owed was still due April 15.
If I owe taxes when are they due?
If you owe taxes when are they due for 2025, the federal due date was April 15, 2026. When are 2025 taxes due on extension? The deadline to file shifts to October 15, 2026.
What time are taxes due, and are taxes due at midnight?
Federal returns and payments are due by midnight in your local time zone. Submit online with time to spare because IRS systems can lag near deadlines.