Deadlines & Briefings

Owners of small firms and solo practices · A SIMPLE IRA plan must be in place by October 1 to cover the 2026 calendar year. A solo 401(k) can still be adopted later, up to the business return deadline.

Anyone who gave more than the 2025 annual exclusion to one person · Form 709 follows the individual extension. A gift above the annual exclusion must be reported even when no tax is due.

Taxpayers who filed Form 4868 by April 15, 2026 · Final deadline for 2025 Form 1040; also the last day to fund a SEP IRA for 2025 on an extended return and to recharacterize 2025 IRA contributions.

Anyone whose foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point in 2025 · FinCEN Form 114 carries an automatic extension from April 15 to October 15; no request is needed.

Self-employed, early retirees and others buying individual health coverage · Enroll by December 15 for coverage starting January 1; open enrollment ends January 15, 2027.

Anyone on Medicare, including high earners paying IRMAA surcharges · Plan changes take effect January 1. Income-related surcharges for 2027 are set from the 2025 return you filed this year.

Individual-market health plan buyers · Choose an HSA-eligible plan now if you want to make 2027 HSA contributions; check your employer's open-enrollment window for FSA elections (2026 health FSA limit $3,400).

Donors using the $19,000 per-recipient annual gift exclusion ($194,000 to a non-citizen spouse) · Exclusion does not carry over; checks should clear by year-end.

Donors; IRA owners age 70.5+ using QCDs (limit $111,000 for 2026) · From 2026, itemizers can deduct only charitable gifts above 0.5% of AGI, and non-itemizers can deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 MFJ) of cash gifts.

Workers and retirees planning bracket management · Conversions count in the year completed. 2026 401(k) limit $24,500 plus $8,000 catch-up (50+) or $11,250 (60-63), made through payroll by year-end.

Donors planning to bunch deductions into this year · The gift must be irrevocable by December 31 to count for 2026, even if grants are made later.

Anyone realising capital gains this year · The trade must settle in the 2026 tax year. Buying the same or a substantially identical security within 30 days before or after triggers the wash-sale rule.

IRA owners and plan participants age 73+ (except first-year RMDs), and inherited-account beneficiaries · Missed RMDs face a 25% excise tax, reduced to 10% if corrected within two years.

Individuals making estimated payments · Not required if you file your 2026 return by February 1, 2027 and pay the full balance.

Individual-market health plan buyers

Employees, contractors and anyone paid non-employee compensation · January 31 falls on a Sunday, so the deadline moves to February 1, 2027.

Anyone who sold securities or real estate in 2026 · Brokers often issue corrected forms into March; filing before a correction arrives is the most common cause of an amended return.

Owners of pass-through businesses and holders of fund interests · Forms 1065 and 1120-S, with Schedule K-1 to each partner or shareholder. An extension to September 15 is automatic on Form 7004, and late K-1s are the usual reason an individual return goes on extension.

IRA owners who reached age 73 during 2026 · Delaying the first RMD means two taxable distributions in 2027 (the second due December 31, 2027).

Anyone who gave more than the annual exclusion to one person in 2026 · Form 709. Filing also starts the clock on the three-year assessment period for the value you reported.

All individual filers · File Form 4868 by this date for an automatic extension to October 15, 2027; the extension does not extend time to pay.

IRA and HSA owners · 2026 IRA limit $7,500 ($8,600 age 50+); HSA $4,400 self-only / $8,750 family, plus $1,000 at 55+. Due-date rule is the return due date without extensions.

Individuals making estimated payments · Date follows the 15th-day-of-4th-month rule stated in the 2026 Form 1040-ES instructions; confirm against the 2027 Form 1040-ES when released.

Self-employed and owner-operators · Extends to October 15, 2027 if the return is extended. Employee deferral elections had to be made by December 31, 2026.

Anyone paying estimated tax; also the filing date for citizens living abroad · US citizens and residents living outside the country get an automatic two-month extension to file, though interest still runs from April 15.

Anyone paying estimated tax; also extended partnership and S corporation returns · Extended Forms 1065 and 1120-S and their K-1s are due the same day.

Anyone who filed Form 4868 in April · Final deadline for the 2026 Form 1040, for funding a SEP on an extended return, and for the FBAR.