The things people call us to ask.
Deadlines, the numbers that actually changed this year, what to bring, and plain-English answers to the questions that come up every week. Free to use, whether or not you file with us.
Tax Year 2026 Reference Desk
The numbers that matter this year.
Updated whenever the IRS issues new guidance.
The dates that are actually coming.
Not a generic calendar starting in January — the deadlines ahead of you from today. Anything marked in gold is inside the next ninety days.
Q3 estimated tax · extended partnership and S-corp returns
Third-quarter estimate for the 2026 tax year, and the final deadline for 1065 and 1120-S returns that were extended in March.
Partnerships
S-corps
Extended individual returns
Last day for 2025 Form 1040 returns filed on extension. There is no further extension — after this, late-filing penalties start accruing.
Sole proprietors
Year-end moves
Retirement funding, equipment purchases, income and expense timing, charitable gifts, bonuses and distributions. Almost every lever closes at midnight on 31 December.
something to decide
The 2026 tax year closes
Last day for most deductible actions. IRA contributions are the notable exception — those run to the filing deadline.
Q4 estimated tax
Final 2026 estimate. Paying it on time is often what keeps the underpayment penalty off the return.
Investors
W-2 and 1099 furnishing deadline
Employers and payers must get W-2s and most 1099s to recipients and to the agencies. The statutory date is 31 January, which falls on a Sunday, so it moves to the next business day. If you pay contractors, this is your deadline, not theirs.
Anyone issuing 1099s
Partnership and S-corp returns
Forms 1065 and 1120-S, or the extension to 15 September. K-1s flow from here, so a late entity return holds up every owner’s personal return.
S-corps
Individual and C-corp returns · Q1 estimate · IRA deadline
Form 1040 and Form 1120, or an extension. Also the first 2027 estimate, and the last day to make a 2026 IRA or HSA contribution.
C-corps
An extension gives you more time to file, never more time to pay. If you expect to owe, the payment is still due on the original date — otherwise interest and the failure-to-pay penalty run from that day, extension or not. We estimate the payment and file the extension together.
The numbers that matter this year.
Figures for the 2026 tax year — the year you are living in now, and the one your planning decisions still affect. Sourced from the IRS; we update this page when the agency does.
| Single or married filing separately | $16,100 |
|---|---|
| Married filing jointly | $32,200 |
| Head of household | $24,150 |
| Additional deduction, age 65+ Temporary, 2025–2028. Phases out above $75,000 MAGI ($150,000 joint). | $6,000per eligible person |
| 10% Single / married filing jointly | to $12,400to $24,800 |
|---|---|
| 12% | over $12,400over $24,800 |
| 22% | over $50,400over $100,800 |
| 24% | over $105,700over $211,400 |
| 32% | over $201,775over $403,550 |
| 35% | over $256,225over $512,450 |
| 37% | over $640,600over $768,700 |
| HSA contribution — self-only | $4,400 |
|---|---|
| HSA contribution — family | $8,750 |
| HSA catch-up, age 55+ | $1,000 |
| HDHP minimum deductible Self-only / family | $1,700$3,400 |
| HDHP out-of-pocket maximum Self-only / family | $8,500$17,000 |
| Health FSA salary reduction | $3,400 |
| Qualified transportation benefit | $340per month |
| 401(k), 403(b), 457, TSP deferral | $24,500 |
|---|---|
| Catch-up, age 50+ | $8,000 |
| Higher catch-up, ages 60–63 | $11,250 |
| IRA contribution | $7,500 |
| IRA catch-up, age 50+ | $1,100 |
| SIMPLE plan deferral Higher limit for applicable plans: $18,100 | $17,000 |
| SIMPLE catch-up, 50+ / 60–63 | $4,000$5,250 |
| Roth IRA phase-out Single or head of household / joint | $153k–$168k$242k–$252k |
| Traditional IRA deductibility If covered by a workplace plan. Single / joint. | $81k–$91k$129k–$149k |
| Standard mileage — business | 72.5¢per mile |
|---|---|
| Standard mileage — medical or moving | 20.5¢per mile |
| Standard mileage — charitable | 14¢per mile |
| State and local tax cap Phases down above roughly $505,000 MAGI, floor $10,000. | $40,400 |
| Qualified tips Phases out above $150,000 ($300,000 joint). | up to $25,000 |
|---|---|
| Qualified overtime $25,000 joint. Same phase-out. | up to $12,500 |
| Car loan interest Loans originated after 31 Dec 2024. Phases out above $100,000 ($200,000 joint). | up to $10,000 |
| Annual gift tax exclusion | $19,000per recipient |
|---|---|
| Estate tax basic exclusion | $15,000,000 |
| AMT exemption Unmarried / married filing jointly | $90,100$140,200 |
Figures are for tax year 2026 and come from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, IRS Notice IR-2025-111, Revenue Procedure 2025-19 and the 2026 standard mileage rate announcement. Reference only — your situation decides which of these apply, and several phase out with income.
Six things worth understanding.
Written the way we would explain them on the phone, because that is where most of these questions actually get asked.
A CP2000 is not a bill
It is a proposed change — the IRS matched a form it received against your return and found a gap. You normally have 30 days to agree or disagree. A surprising share are wrong, or right about the income and wrong about the basis. Never pay one before someone reads it.
Why you owe every April
Nothing withholds tax from self-employment, investment or rental income. The fix is quarterly estimates. Pay the lesser of 90% of this year’s tax or 100% of last year’s — 110% if last year’s AGI topped $150,000 — and the underpayment penalty goes away.
When an S-corp starts to pay
The saving is on self-employment tax, and it only exists once profit comfortably exceeds a reasonable salary for your role. Below that, the payroll and filing costs eat it. The salary is not optional and not a number you pick — it has to be defensible.
How long to keep things
Three years is the general rule. Six if you omitted more than 25% of your gross income. Employment tax records, four. Property records until three years after you sell it. If you never filed, or filed fraudulently, there is no limit at all.
Where you actually owe
Your resident state taxes everything; other states tax what you earned there, and your home state usually credits you for it. Remote work, a rental elsewhere, or a mid-year move each create a return most people miss — and states are getting better at noticing.
An extension buys time to file
Not time to pay. File one and you avoid the failure-to-file penalty, which is ten times heavier than the failure-to-pay penalty. But interest and the smaller penalty still run from the original date on anything unpaid.
None of this is complicated. It’s just unfamiliar, and it arrives when you’re busy.
What to have ready.
The portal gives you a checklist built for your situation. This is the short version, so you can start gathering before you book anything.
- Last year’s filed return
- Photo ID and Social Security numbers for everyone on the return
- W-2s, and 1099s of every letter — NEC, MISC, INT, DIV, B, R, G, K
- 1095-A if you had marketplace health coverage
- 1098 for mortgage interest, 1098-T for tuition, 1098-E for student loan interest
- Bank routing and account number for the refund or payment
- Any IRS or state letters received since your last filing
- Profit and loss and balance sheet, or the bookkeeping file
- Bank and credit card statements for every business account
- Mileage log, or total business and total miles for the year
- Home office square footage and total home square footage
- Asset purchases over $2,500 with dates and amounts
- Payroll reports and copies of 1099s you issued
- K-1s from any partnership or S-corp you hold
- Estimated tax payments made, with dates
Straight to the source.
Everything here is a government site. We link to them rather than reproducing them, because these are the versions that stay current — and because nobody should take a tax figure from a marketing page without being able to check it.
Refund status, updated daily. Available about 24 hours after an e-filed return is accepted.
irs.gov/refunds IRS Online AccountYour balance, payment history, notices and transcripts in one place. Worth setting up before you need it.
irs.gov/payments/online-account Get TranscriptWage and income transcripts — what the IRS was actually told about you. The first thing we pull on any back-year matter.
irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript IRS Direct PayPay a balance or an estimate straight from a bank account, no fee. Keep the confirmation number.
irs.gov/payments/direct-pay Withholding EstimatorCheck whether your W-4 is set right. Or let us do it — the Withholding Checkup is free.
irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator Identity Protection PINA six-digit code that stops anyone else filing a return under your Social Security number.
irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams Comptroller of MarylandMaryland returns, payments, notices and business tax accounts.
marylandtaxes.gov Virginia Department of TaxationVirginia individual and business filing, payments and correspondence.
tax.virginia.govFiling in another state? We work all fifty — ask and we’ll point you at the right agency, or just handle it.
General information, current as of September 2026, not advice about your situation. Tax figures change every year and most of them phase out with income. Before you act on anything here, let us look at your actual numbers — the consultation is free.