Today is Tax Day. The IRS expects ‘tens of millions’ of returns to be filed at the last minute

It’s Tax Day in the United States for most Americans, and there are still plenty racing to file their 2023 income tax returns up until the clock strikes midnight.

It’s Tax Day in the United States for most Americans, and there are still plenty of people racing to file their 2023 income tax returns up until the clock strikes midnight. “With the April deadline upon us, we’re seeing a flurry of tax returns coming in during the final hours. We’ve already received more than 100 million [returns] and tens of millions more returns are being filed in the final days,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told reporters on Friday. So if you’re a last-minute filer, you’re in good company — and even more so if you expect a refund. Werfel noted that the agency has already paid out more than $200 billion in refunds through early April. Overall, two in three filers are owed money back, he said. Here are some last-minute notes and tips to help you in your down-to-the-wire quest to file your federal return or to get an extension to file without incurring financial penalties. (Check your state’s tax revenue department site to see what to be mindful of when doing the same for your state return.) Today may not be your actual filing deadline: Yes, April 15 is the big kahuna of tax-filing deadlines for most people. But millions of Americans don’t have to file today because they have been granted automatic extensions if, for instance, they live or do business in a federally declared disaster area or were affected by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Or if they live in Massachusetts and Maine, which observe Patriots Day on April 15, or Washington, DC, which marks Emancipation Day on April 16. Americans living abroad automatically get an additional two months to file, until June 15. However, they must pay whatever they still owe the IRS for tax year 2023 by April 15. Members of the US military stationed abroad also get that two-month extension, plus they may qualify for other extensions – including extensions to pay – if they are in a combat zone. File for an automatic extension: Can’t get your act together in time to file your form 1040 by 11:59 pm tonight? Then request an automatic six-month extension by filling out this form, which will push your filing deadline to October 15, 2024. Werfel estimates 19 million last-minute filers will be doing so.