A Last-Minute Tax Guide for Procrastinators

Gathering your paperwork

With the clock ticking, make sure you have everything you need to file your return. For most taxpayers, the following documents are required:

• Form W-2 to report wages if you worked as an employee.
• Schedule C to report income and business expenses if you were self-employed.
• Form 1099-G if you collected unemployment.
• Form 1099-R if you received distributions from pensions, annuities, workplace retirement plans or IRAs.
• Form SSA-1099 if you received Social Security benefits.
• Form 1099-INT if you need to report interest income on investments.
• Form 1099-DIV if you received dividends earned on investments.
• Form 1099-B if you sold investments. (Many brokerage firms provide a combined 1099 statement covering interest, dividends and capital gains.)
• Form 1098 if you paid $600 or more of mortgage interest.
• Documentation for any charitable donations you intend to deduct.
• Form 1095-A if you obtained health insurance through the government’s marketplace.
• Form 1099-SA if you received a distribution from a health savings account (HSA), Medicare Advantage Medical Savings Account (MSA) or Archer MSA.

If you’re missing a bank statement, go to your financial institution’s website to download it, as you likely won’t have time to request and receive it by mail at this point, says Lauren Landolfi, a shareholder at WilkinGuttenplan and head of the firm’s tax department in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

Don’t go too fast

With the tax filing deadline around the corner, you may feel pressure to race through the process of preparing your tax return. That can lead to mistakes, tax professionals warn.

“Any time you are rushing, you’re more likely to miss something,” says Melody Thornton, tax manager at Fitzgerald & Company in San Diego. “That is really the biggest pitfall.”

Forgetting to sign a paper return, for example, will result in the IRS sending it back for you to sign and resubmit. This is another reason many tax preparers recommend filing electronically, as an electronic return cannot be submitted until you’ve provided a digital signature.

Some tax return mistakes can be costly. A typo or math error — an extra zero on your AGI, for instance — could cause you to pay significantly more taxes than you owe or could substantially reduce your refund. If you’ve elected direct deposit for your refund, entering the wrong bank account information can delay getting it, Landolfi says.

Last-minute ways to lower your taxes

You still can take advantage of some eleventh-hour deductions. Every year, you have until the tax filing deadline to contribute to an HSA for the previous calendar year. That means you can make tax-deductible HSA contributions for 2025 until April 15, 2026. (To qualify for HSA contribution deductions, you must have had a health insurance plan with a deductible of at least $1,650 for self-only coverage, or $3,300 for family coverage, in 2025.)

You can also still make tax-deductible contributions to an IRA until April 15.

In your haste, make sure you don’t miss out on the new deduction for older adults. People who are 65 and older as of Dec. 31, 2025, can claim a deduction of up to $6,000 for single filers, depending on their income, or $12,000 for married couples filing jointly where both spouses qualify.   

The new deduction, part of the 2025 legislation known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” is in addition to the standard deduction for adults 65 and older (which is higher than for younger taxpayers), and it will be in effect through the 2028 tax year.

The amount you can deduct depends on your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) — your adjusted gross income, plus certain tax-exempt interest and deductions. If your MAGI is greater than $75,000 (or $150,000 for joint filers), the deduction is gradually reduced by 6 cents for every dollar over those amounts up to $175,000 for single filers and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly, at which levels you no longer qualify.

Mark Gallegos, tax partner at accounting firm Porte Brown in Chicago, says some older taxpayers mistakenly think they don’t have to pay tax on Social Security under this new measure. “The reality is, you still report and pay tax on your Social Security, just like you’ve done every other year, he says. 

How to get a tax filing extension

If you determine you won’t be able to file by April 15 — say, because you need more time to gather required documents — you can get an extension until Oct. 15 to submit your return. By doing so, you’ll avoid penalties for filing late, which amount to 5 percent of the taxes due each month. (The penalty maxes out at 25 percent.)

You’ll still get hit with a monthly 0.5 percent penalty (up to 25 percent), plus interest, until you pay your taxes, but the sting won’t be as bad.

“The reality is that the extension is an extension of time to file, not an extension of time to pay. So when your CPA is asking that you make a payment with the extension, they’ve done an estimated calculation of what tax is due,” Landolfi says. Any surplus can be put toward estimated tax payments for your 2026 tax return.  

The quickest way to get a filing extension is to submit a request electronically or have your tax preparer do it for you. If you’d rather request an extension in writing, print Form 4868 and mail it to the address listed on the form — and make sure it’s postmarked by April 15.

If you live outside the U.S., you’re allowed an extra two months to file your return and pay any amount due without requesting an extension. This brings your filing deadline to June 15. The same is true for those in military or naval service outside the country.

Don’t forget about your state tax return. While most states have an April 15 deadline to file, a handful have a later deadline — Louisiana’s is the latest: May 15. The process to get an extension varies by state, Landolfi says. Check your state tax agency’s website for instructions.