Filing Deadlines for Americans Abroad: June 15, October 15, December 15, and the Interest Clock

Americans abroad file the same Form 1040 as everyone else, with the same April 15 due date for calendar-year taxpayers. But the rules give them extra filing time, in layers. Understanding the layers, and what they do not cover, avoids most deadline problems.

Layer one: the automatic two-month extension to June 15

Treasury Regulation 26 CFR 1.6081-5 grants an extension to the fifteenth day of the sixth month following the close of the taxable year for U.S. citizens and residents whose tax home and abode, in the sense of section 911, are outside the United States and Puerto Rico. It also covers those in military or naval service on duty outside the United States and Puerto Rico. For calendar-year taxpayers, that is June 15.

Publication 54 phrases the qualification this way: on the regular due date of your return, you are living outside the United States and Puerto Rico and your main place of business or post of duty is outside the United States and Puerto Rico, or you are in military or naval service on duty outside the United States and Puerto Rico.

You do not file a form to get it. Under the regulation and Publication 54, you attach a statement to your return explaining which situation qualifies you. The regulation also allows requesting it on Form 4868 by the extended date.

For married couples, Publication 54 says that on a joint return, either spouse can qualify for the automatic extension. On separate returns, the extension applies only to the spouse who qualifies.

The catch: interest runs from April 15

Here is the part most people miss. The June 15 extension is an extension of time to file. Publication 54 states that you will have to pay interest on any tax not paid by the regular due date of your return. If you owe, the interest clock starts April 15 even if your return is not due until June 15.

If you expect to owe, pay an estimate by April 15. If you are owed a refund, or the foreign earned income exclusion and foreign tax credit reduce your tax to zero, the interest issue disappears.

Layer two: Form 4868 to October 15

If June 15 is not enough, Publication 54 says you can get an additional four months, for a total of six months, to October 15 for calendar-year taxpayers, by filing Form 4868 and checking the box indicating you are out of the country. Like the June extension, this extends the time to file, not the time to pay.

Layer three: the discretionary December 15 extension

Publication 54 describes one more layer for taxpayers out of the country: a discretionary two-month additional extension to December 15 for calendar-year taxpayers. You request it by sending the IRS a letter explaining why you need the additional two months, and the letter must be sent by the October 15 extended due date. Because it is discretionary, do not plan your year around it.

Form 2350: waiting to qualify for the exclusion

A special problem arises in the year you move abroad. You may not yet know whether you will meet the bona fide residence test or the physical presence test, because the qualifying period extends past the normal deadline.

Publication 54 describes Form 2350, Application for Extension of Time To File U.S. Income Tax Return, for U.S. citizens and resident aliens abroad who expect to qualify for special tax treatment. It must be filed by the due date for filing your return. Publication 54 says it can be given to an IRS employee, e-filed or mailed. The point is to give you time to meet the test, so you can file once with the exclusion rather than filing without it and amending later.

The FBAR runs on its own clock

None of these income tax extensions affect the FBAR. The FBAR is due April 15 with an automatic extension to October 15, granted by FinCEN, and it is filed separately through the BSA E-Filing System. A December 15 income tax extension does not extend the FBAR past October 15. See the FBAR deadline guide.

Form 8938, by contrast, travels with your income tax return, so it is due whenever the return is due, including extensions.

Other forms with their own dates

• Form 3520, for foreign gifts, inheritances and foreign trust transactions, is due by the 15th day of the fourth month after the end of your tax year, generally April 15, subject to applicable extensions. See Form 3520.
• Form 3520-A, filed by a foreign trust with a U.S. owner, is due by the 15th day of the third month after the end of the trust's tax year. Its instructions note that an extension of time to file an income tax return does not extend Form 3520-A. A separate Form 7004 is required.
• Forms 5471, 8621 and 8865 generally attach to the income tax return and share its due date, including extensions.

A sample calendar for a calendar-year taxpayer abroad

• April 15: Pay any expected tax to stop interest. Form 3520 due unless extended. FBAR due, with automatic extension.
• June 15: Form 1040 due under the automatic extension for taxpayers abroad, with a statement attached. File Form 4868 by this date if you need more time.
• October 15: Extended Form 1040 due. Absolute FBAR deadline. Deadline to mail a letter requesting the discretionary December 15 extension.
• December 15: Discretionary extended due date, if the IRS granted the letter request.

When a due date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, it generally moves to the next business day.

Three quick examples

Owes nothing. A teacher in Japan expects the exclusion to reduce her U.S. tax to zero. She attaches the statement and files by June 15. No interest issue, because no tax is due. Her FBAR still needs to be filed by October 15.

Owes a little. A consultant in Spain will owe U.S. tax on income above the exclusion. He estimates and pays by April 15, then files by June 15. Because he paid by April 15, there is no interest on the amount he paid.

Just moved. A couple moved to Singapore in August and will not meet the physical presence test until the following summer. They file Form 2350 by the due date to extend the time to file until they can claim the exclusion.

In each case, the income tax return, the FBAR and any other international forms run on separate tracks. Put every one of them on the calendar, not just the Form 1040. The people who get hurt are rarely the ones who missed April 15. They are the ones who forgot that a different form had a different date.

If you have missed deadlines for years

Finally, keep proof of timely filing and payment. If you mail from abroad, use a method that gives you a dated receipt. If you e-file, save the acceptance confirmation. If you pay from a foreign account, save the bank confirmation showing the date and the amount in both currencies. These small habits are what make a reasonable cause argument possible if something goes wrong later, and they cost almost nothing to maintain.

Extensions only help if you use them. If you have years of unfiled returns, the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures let qualifying non-willful taxpayers file the most recent three years of returns and six years of FBARs with no penalties. Filing late before the IRS discovers it also matters for claiming the exclusion, under the election rules in 26 CFR 1.911-7.

Deadlines are the easiest part of this area of law to get right. Put them on a calendar now. If you are already behind, let's talk.