With the tax season officially ending on April 15, 2025, many Americans will be relieved not to have to worry about filing their IRS taxes for another year. However, some people may have until October 15 to file their taxes. For a number of reasons, some people prefer to seek for an extension. This could be because you encounter unexpected tax issues when filing, or the IRS may apply it to you automatically if you are affected by a natural disaster.

Can you still apply for an extension?

It is worth noting that the general deadline for taxpayers to pay and file their taxes has passed. This implies you cannot ask for an extension retroactively if you missed the deadline. When seeking for an extension, you must submit your request before the yearly filing date. It’s also worth noting that if you’re given an extension, it’s simply for tax purposes. Taxes are still payable by the deadline, which for this year is April 15.

Historically, the IRS has highlighted that a considerable percentage of taxpayers pay their taxes on time and within the tax deadlines. The IRS believes that throughout the last 30 years, the tax gap has ranged between 15% and 18% of overall tax liabilities. This gap is the difference between the true tax liability owed to the IRS and the actual amount of taxes paid on time. In other words, approximately 15%-18% of taxpayers each year fail to pay their taxes by the annual deadline.

Who qualifies for an extension this year?

The IRS policy on tax filing extensions specifies three procedures you can use to request an extension to file your taxes:

• Pay your taxes online and specify that you are requesting an extension to file.
• To apply for an automatic tax filing extension, use the IRS Free File service. Form 4868 can be filed online or by mail. If you prefer to mail the form, the IRS will recognise that you applied for the extension on time, as long as they can establish that the form was mailed before the deadline.

If you are a US resident with tax responsibilities who lives outside of the United States, your filing date is automatically extended by two months. Furthermore, if your region has been hit by a natural disaster, the IRS will usually grant you and your community a blanket extension to submit your taxes.

What happens if you are harmed by the Southern California wildfires?

If you live in California and were affected by the Southern California wildfires earlier this year, you are automatically granted an extension to submit your taxes by October 15. You also have an extension to settle any tax liability that was not paid on time by the April 15 deadline. The deadline also applies to state taxes. If you are filing your state taxes late, the state tax agency requires you to write “Los Angeles Fire” on your tax form to explain why you are filing late.

If you are unable to pay your taxes by the deadline, the IRS recommends that you pay what you can and file for a payment plan rather than paying nothing at all. Paying your taxes is a federal mandate, and failure to do so may result in increased penalties and interest. Instead, always call the IRS and explain that you need help working out a payment plan for your debt.