April 10 – Report Tips to Employer
If you are an employee who works for tips and received more than $20 in tips during March, you are required to report them to your employer no later than April 10. You can use IRS Form 4070 or your own statement that includes your signature; name, address and Social Security number; employer’s name (or establishment’s name if different) and address; month or period the report covers, and total of tips received during that month or period.
Your employer is required to withhold FICA taxes and income tax withholding for these tips from your regular wages. If your regular wages are insufficient to cover the FICA and tax withholding, the employer will report the amount of the uncollected withholding in box 8 of your W-2 for the year. You will be required to pay the uncollected withholding when your return for the year is filed.
April 15 – Taxpayers with Foreign Financial Interests
A U.S. citizen or resident, or a person doing business in the United States, who has a financial interest in or signature or other authority over any foreign financial accounts (bank, securities or other types of financial accounts), in a foreign country, is required to file Form FinCEN 114. The form must be filed electronically; paper forms are not allowed. The form must be filed with the Treasury Department (not the IRS) no later than April 15, 2026 for 2025. An extension of time to file of up to 6 months is automatically allowed. This filing requirement applies only if the aggregate value of these financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during 2025. Contact our office for additional information and assistance filing the form.
April 15 – Individual Tax Returns Due
File a 2025 income tax return (Form 1040 or 1040-SR) and pay any tax due. If you want an automatic six-month extension of time to file the return, please call this office.
Caution: The extension gives you until October 15, 2026 to file your 2025 1040 or 1040-SR return without being liable for the late filing penalty.
However, it does not avoid the late payment penalty; thus, if you owe money, the late payment penalty can be severe, so you are encouraged to file as soon as possible to minimize that penalty. Also, you will owe interest, figured from the original due date until the tax is paid. If you have a refund, there is no penalty; however, you are giving the government a free loan, since they will only pay interest starting 45 days after the return is filed.
Please call this office to discuss your individual situation if you are unable to file by the April 15 due date.
April 15 – Household Employer Return Due
If you paid cash wages of $2,800 or more in 2025 to a household employee, you must file Schedule H. If you are required to file a federal income tax return (Form 1040 or 1040-SR), file Schedule H with the return and report any household employment taxes. Report any federal unemployment (FUTA) tax on Schedule H if you paid total cash wages of $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter of 2024 or 2025 to household employees. Also, report any income tax that was withheld for your household employees. For more information, please call this office.
April 15 – Estimated Tax Payment Due (Individuals)
It’s time to make your first quarter estimated tax installment payment for tax year 2026. Our tax system is a “pay-as-you-earn” system. To facilitate that concept, the government has provided several means of assisting taxpayers in meeting the “pay-as-you-earn” requirement. These include:
When a taxpayer fails to prepay a safe harbor (minimum) amount, they can be subject to the underpayment penalty. This penalty is equal to the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points, and the penalty is computed on a quarter-by-quarter basis.
Federal tax law does provide ways to avoid the underpayment penalty. If the underpayment is less than $1,000 (the “de minimis amount”), no penalty is assessed. In addition, the law provides “safe harbor” prepayments. There are two safe harbors:
$150,000 ($75,000 for married taxpayers filing separately), the prior year’s safe harbor is 110%.
Example: Suppose your tax for the year is $10,000 and your prepayments total $5,600. The result is that you owe an additional $4,400 on your tax return. To find out if you owe a penalty, see if you meet the first safe harbor exception. Since 90% of $10,000 is $9,000, your prepayments fell short of the mark. You can’t avoid the penalty under this exception. However, in the above example, the safe harbor may still apply. Assume your prior year’s tax was $5,000. Since you prepaid $5,600, which is greater than 110% of the prior year’s tax (110% = $5,500), you qualify for this safe harbor and can escape the penalty.
This example underscores the importance of making sure your prepayments are adequate, especially if you have a large increase in income. This is common when there is a large gain from the sale of stocks, sale of property, when large bonuses are paid, when a taxpayer retires, etc. Timely payment of each required estimated tax installment is also a requirement to meet the safe harbor exception to the penalty. If you have questions regarding your safe harbor estimates, please call this office as soon as possible.
CAUTION: Some state de minimis amounts, safe harbor estimate rules, and the dates estimate payments are due are different than those for the Federal estimates. Please call this office for particular state safe harbor rules.
April 15 – Last Day to Establish a Keogh Account for 2025
If you are self-employed, April 15, 2026, is the last day to establish a Keogh Retirement Account if you plan to contribute for 2025. However, the last day can be extended until October 15, 2026, with a valid six-month extension of time to file your individual 2025 tax return.
April 15 – Last Day to Make Contributions
Last day to make contributions to Traditional and Roth IRAs for tax year 2025.
Weekends & Holidays:
If a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the due date is automatically extended until the next business day that is not itself a legal holiday
Disaster Area Extensions
Please note that when a geographical area is designated as a disaster area, due dates will be extended. For more information whether an area has been designated a disaster area and the filing extension dates visit the following websites:
FEMA: https://www.fema.gov/disaster/declarations
IRS: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-relief-in-disaster-situations
Copyright 2022. Nathan Wechsler. All Rights Reserved.
