Extended 2025 Returns Are Due Thursday, October 15

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If you filed Form 4868 this spring, your 2025 federal return is due Thursday, October 15, 2026. The same date covers your Illinois return, calendar-year C corporation returns on extension and the FBAR for foreign bank accounts, so this is the right week to gather your documents and file everything together.

Here is who files by October 15, what to bring to our office, and how to keep interest on any balance as low as possible.

Who files by October 15, 2026

• Individuals on extension. Form 4868 gave you six more months to file your 2025 Form 1040 or 1040-SR. The extended due date is October 15, 2026, and Form 1040-NR filers who had U.S. wages share that date. An electronic payment marked as an extension payment counts as an extension too.
• Illinois individual filers. Illinois grants an automatic six-month extension for Form IL-1040, so calendar-year filers also have until October 15, 2026.
• Calendar-year C corporations. A C corporation that filed Form 7004 for its 2025 Form 1120 has an automatic six-month extension, which moves the due date from April 15 to October 15, 2026.
• FBAR filers. FinCEN Form 114, the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, was due April 15. Every filer receives an automatic extension to October 15, 2026.
• Taxpayers living abroad. If you were out of the country on April 15 and later filed Form 4868 for the extra four months, your extended due date is also October 15, 2026.

FBAR and foreign asset reporting

The FBAR applies to a U.S. person, including citizens, residents, corporations, partnerships, LLCs, trusts and estates, with a financial interest in or signature authority over foreign financial accounts whose combined value exceeded $10,000 at any time during 2025.

• What counts: bank accounts, brokerage accounts and mutual funds held at financial institutions outside the United States. The test looks at the highest value of each account, including accounts that earned little or zero interest.
• How to value it: take the highest balance of each account during 2025 and convert it to U.S. dollars at the Treasury exchange rate for December 31, 2025.
• How it is filed: electronically through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System, separately from your tax return. With your signed FinCEN Form 114a, our office files it for you.
• Records to keep: account name and number, the bank’s name and address, the account type and the highest value, for five years from the FBAR due date.

Two IRS forms travel with the tax return itself and share its October 15 due date:

• Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets, attaches to your Form 1040 when your foreign assets pass the reporting threshold for your filing status and residence.
• Form 5471 attaches to your return when you own or control a qualifying share of a foreign corporation.

We prepare the FBAR, Form 8938 and Form 5471 together with your return, so every report lines up.

Payment: file and pay now to keep interest low

The extension gave you more time to file. The payment date stayed April 15, 2026, so interest on any unpaid federal or Illinois balance runs from that date until it is paid. Filing now and paying any balance with your return keeps that interest to a minimum.

If paying the full amount at once is a stretch, the IRS offers payment plans:

• Short-term payment plan for balances paid in 180 days or less, with a $0 setup fee.
• Long-term payment plan (installment agreement) with monthly payments. Direct debit plans have the lowest setup fee, and individuals can apply online through their IRS Online Account.

We estimate your balance, schedule the payment and request the right plan with your return.

Disaster-area postponements

Taxpayers in federally declared disaster areas may have later dates. The IRS has postponed a number of 2026 deadlines for affected areas, some to February 1, 2027, and FBAR dates can move with them. We check yours when we prepare your return.

What to bring

• W-2s from every employer
• 1099s, including 1099-NEC, 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, 1099-B, 1099-R and 1099-K
• Schedule K-1s from partnerships, S corporations, estates and trusts
• Form 1098 mortgage interest statements, plus 1098-T tuition and 1098-E student loan statements
• Last year’s federal and Illinois returns
• Records of 2025 estimated tax payments and any payment made with your extension
• Statements for every foreign bank, brokerage and investment account, showing the highest 2025 balance, for the FBAR
• Bank routing and account numbers for direct deposit or direct debit
• For a C corporation: year-end books, bank statements and payroll reports

E-file and direct deposit

We e-file your federal and Illinois returns and confirm when each one is accepted. For a refund, choose direct deposit. The IRS calls e-file with direct deposit the fastest and safest way to receive your money.

How Ozfield helps

Ozfield Insurance & Tax Services prepares extended returns for individuals, families and business owners across Chicago and Chicagoland. Our office handles:

• Form 1040 and Form 1040-NR, with every schedule and supporting form
• Illinois Form IL-1040
• Form 1120 for C corporations, plus the Illinois corporate return
• FBAR (FinCEN Form 114), Form 8938 and Form 5471
• Payment planning, including IRS payment plan requests
• Disaster postponement checks for every client

Frequently asked questions

Does the extension cover payment too? The extension covers filing. Payment was due April 15, so paying now keeps interest low.

Do I request an FBAR extension? The FBAR extension to October 15 is automatic.

Do I file a separate Illinois extension? Illinois grants its six-month extension automatically for Form IL-1040.

Book an appointment at https://www.ozfield.com/make-an-appointment/, call 773-536-9272, or email tax@ozfield.com. Bring your documents, and we will prepare, review and e-file your return ahead of October 15.

Let’s get this filed.

Educational and general in nature; not a tax opinion on your specific facts.