The Internal Revenue Service opened the door for the 2026 tax season on 26 January 2026 and began accepting the return. With the new tax season underway, taxpayers must be aware of the tax day, the deadline for filing individual tax returns, to avoid any consequences.
What will be the IRS Tax Day 2026?
The 2026 IRS Tax Day means the deadline for filing the 2025 income tax year returns and paying the taxes you owe. The IRS commenced the 2026 tax season four days ago, marking the official start of reporting income.
If you have a tax liability, you should know the 2026 tax season will officially end on the tax day, 15 April 2026 (Wednesday). It’s important to file your tax return on time and complete your tax responsibilities, otherwise it could lead to penalties and severe consequences.
The new season has brought a lot of changes for the taxpayers, providing tax reliefs and changes in refund processing. Hence, it may take time for some taxpayers to file their taxes, but remember to pay and file before the deadline. If you think you can’t file before the deadline, you can also apply for a tax extension.
| IRS Accepting tax returns | 26 January 2026 |
| IRS Tax Day | 15 April 2026 |
| Deadline to apply for tax extension | 15 April 2026 |
| Tax Extension deadline | 15 October 2026 |
What happens if you miss the tax day deadline in 2026?
If you missed the IRS tax day deadline, it could lead to consequences depending on your situation, such as:
- Failure to file penalty: If you failed to file taxes before the tax deadline, you may have to pay a penalty. The penalty is 5% of the taxes due for each month, and it can reach up to 25%, that is, for five months. If the return is not filed for more than 60 days, the penalty would be the listed amount or the 100% of the underpayment.
- Failure to pay penalty: If you failed to pay the taxes before the deadline, you might have to pay a penalty of 0.5% of the unpaid taxes for each day, until it reaches up to 25% of the unpaid taxes.
- Interest: The IRS also applies interest on underpayment, which is accrued daily after the tax deadline until you make the payment.
- Both penalties: If you failed to pay and file taxes, both penalties will be applied, but the failure to file penalty will be reduced by 4.5%, making the combined penalty to be 5% for the month.
- Substitute Return: If time passes without tax filing or paying, the IRS will send you notices, and if you ignore them, the agency will file a substitute return on your behalf. It is not good because it will be based on your income, and it may not include deductions or credits, so you will owe more taxes. After the substitute return, you will have 90 days to file your tax return; if not, it can lead to serious consequences, such as:
- Bank accounts
- Seizing assets
- Placing a lien on your property and many others.
Who does not pay any penalty?
Some US citizens may not have to pay a tax penalty or file their tax returns. If you are someone who doesn’t owe taxes, has no tax liability, but you have a refund due to refundable credits or tax reliefs, you will not face any penalty for filing your taxes late.
But you should file the taxes within three years of the timeline to receive the refund; otherwise, it would go to the government treasury. For instance, you can file your 2022 tax year return in this tax season and claim your tax refund.
What can you do to avoid the consequences of the tax day deadline?
If you missed the deadline by mistake, you should immediately file it and avoid any more penalty, however, if you are unable to pay your taxes this time, you can take action to avoid the consequences of missing the tax deadline, such as:
- Request for extension: You can file for the tax extension before the tax day, which will give you another six months to file your tax returns, but you must pay your taxes before the deadline; otherwise, you might have to pay the penalty for not paying the taxes.
- Set up an installment plan or a payment plan: You can set the payment plan if you can’t pay taxes in one lump sum. The IRS allows you to pay in installments through both short-term and long-term plans.
- Request for penalty relief: If you have a reasonable reason for not paying taxes, such as a natural disaster, financial hardships, etc., and need penalty relief, you can request for the penalty relief.
- CNC Status: If you are facing financial hardships, you can apply for the CNC status (Currently Not Collectible). You need to prove your financial hardships, and the IRS will temporarily stop the tax collection, but remember, it will not stop the penalties and interest.
- Offer In Compromise: If you can prove to the IRS that you cannot pay the full amount of taxes or that doing so would lead to financial hardships, you can go for an OIC agreement with the IRS, where you can pay less than the full amount.
The IRS has made the tax system easy for all taxpayers and tries to support individuals who can’t pay and file taxes on time with many solutions, so if you face any problem, try to find the solutions to reduce your penalties and fulfill your responsibility.