Here’s a quick summary of the 2023 tax deadline, quarterly payment due dates, and tax filing extension dates. And then a quick explanation about how extensions work.
Tax Filing Deadlines
March 15th is the deadline for S-corporations and partnerships.
April 18th is the deadline for your personal income tax return and C corporations. Also, if you’re making estimated payments for next year, April 18th is the deadline for the end of the first quarter, (or Q1 as the fancy business pros like to call it).
June 15th is the second quarter deadline for estimated payments for next year. Again, estimated payments relate to next year, not actual taxes that I owe this year. It’s a prepayment. Not all businesses need to pay quarterly estimated tax prepayments, so talk with your accountant to see if that’s something you’re required to do or not.
September 15th is the third quarter, or Q3, estimated payment deadline. It also happens to be the extension deadline for S corps and partnerships.
October 16th is the extension deadline for your personal tax return and C corps.
January 15th of the following year, if you are making estimated prepayments, is the Q4 deadline.
How Tax Extensions Work
*Okay, here’s an extremely important note about extensions. If I owe taxes, those are due April 18th, regardless if I extend my return or not. I can extend my return and not file until October, but if I owe taxes, those are always due April 18th. So, if you’re not sure, make sure you’re giving as much information to your accountant as possible.
Like if you’re waiting on a K-1, at least estimate what that K-1 might be so your accountant, hopefully us, can help you determine if you should make a payment in April to avoid interest and penalties. Because again, the extension does not extend when you owe the taxes. Those are always due by April 18th. Extending it is just for the filing.
Basically the IRS is happy to put off all the paperwork, but they need your money now. And they’ll add on interest and penalties immediately to try and squeeze more money out of you.
The best advice is to file and pay your taxes early to minimize the stress of taxes as much as possible. But if you can’t for whatever reason, do these two things. First, file an extension to avoid any late filing penalties. Second, pay as much as you’re able to by the deadline, based on your accountant’s estimate. That will at least reduce the fees and penalties because they’re based on how much you currently owe.
As you can see, tax filing deadlines are not as straight forward as you’d think. To hopefully make things a little easier for you, we’ve put together a quick, one-page pdf reference for you to download and put on your desktop so you don’t miss any 2023 tax deadlines.
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