Preliminary Work and Taxpayer Data · Preliminary work to prepare tax returns

Special filing requirements

The rule

Most individual returns run on one timetable. A handful of situations move it, and the preparer’s task at intake is to spot which of them applies — because each has a different mechanism and two of them operate without anyone asking.

Nonresident aliens have their own due date. A return made by a nonresident alien individual — other than one whose wages are subject to chapter 24 withholding — is due the 15th day of June following the close of the calendar year, or the 15th day of the sixth month following a fiscal year, for a nonresident alien individual whose wages are not subject to chapter 24 withholding^TY2026Verified 2026-08-19IRC § 6072(c) — https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6072 (IRC § 6072(c)). So the answer depends on a fact about the client’s income, not merely on their status: a nonresident alien employee with wages subject to withholding files on the ordinary April date, and one without such wages files in June.

Combat zone service disregards a long period. Under IRC § 7508(a), for an individual serving in the Armed Forces or in support of them in a designated combat zone, or deployed outside the United States away from their permanent duty station in a designated contingency operation, or hospitalised as a result of an injury received while so serving, the disregarded period is the period of service in the combat zone or contingency operation, plus any period of continuous qualified hospitalization attributable to an injury received there, plus the next 180 days^TY2026Verified 2026-08-19IRC § 7508(a) — https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7508. What is disregarded is not merely the filing date: § 7508(a)(1) reaches whether a long list of acts was performed in time, and the postponement extends to interest, penalties, additional amounts and additions to tax.

Disaster relief comes in two forms. Section 7508A gives the Secretary discretionary authority to specify a period — the Secretary may specify a period of up to 1 year to be disregarded for a taxpayer affected by a federally declared disaster, a significant fire, or a terroristic or military action — and, on the written request of a Governor, for a qualified State declared disaster^TY2026Verified 2026-08-18IRC § 7508A(a), (c) — https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7508A — to be disregarded for a taxpayer affected by a federally declared disaster. Separately there is a mandatory postponement of 120 days, running from the earliest incident date in the declaration to 120 days after the later of that date or the date the declaration was issued, disregarded automatically for a qualified taxpayer — in addition to or concurrent with any period the Secretary specifies^TY2026Verified 2026-08-18IRC § 7508A(e), as amended by Pub. L. 119-29 § 2 (2025), which substituted 120 days for 60 — https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7508A. The discretionary relief is what the IRS announces in a disaster notice; the mandatory period runs whether or not anything is announced.

A taxpayer abroad gets two months without asking. Regulation § 1.6081-5(a)(5) and (6) grant an extension to the fifteenth day of the sixth month following the close of the taxable year, of the time both to file and to pay the tax shown on the return, to a United States citizen or resident whose tax home and abode are in a real and substantial sense outside the United States and Puerto Rico, and to one in military or naval service on duty outside them. No application is required, and the ordinary six-month extension runs concurrently with it rather than after it.

The injured spouseinjured spouseA spouse on a joint return whose share of a refund is being taken to pay the other spouse's separate debt. They can ask the IRS to return their portion of the refund. is a refund allocation, not a filing extension. Where a joint refund is applied against one spouse’s separate obligation, the other spouse may claim their share. The offset priority matters: under IRC § 6402(c), past-due support certified by a State is applied first, before any other reduction allowed by law^TY2026Verified 2026-08-19IRC § 6402(c) — https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6402.

Current figures

How it works in practice

Ask the question that identifies the category, not the category itself. Clients do not announce that they are nonresident aliens without wages subject to withholding, or that their county was in a declaration. The useful intake questions are concrete: where did you live and work this year, were you or your spouse deployed, was your area affected by a declared disaster, and did last year’s refund arrive in the amount expected.

Combat zone relief is broader than the filing date. Because § 7508(a) disregards the period for determining whether an act was performed in time, it reaches the filing of returns, the payment of tax, the filing of a claim for refundclaim for refundA formal request to the IRS for money back, whether made through an amended return or a separate form, that must be filed within a set window to be considered at all., and the assessmentassessmentThe formal, recorded determination that a taxpayer owes a specific amount of tax. It's what actually allows the IRS to begin collecting that amount. and collection periods — and it suspends interest and additions to tax for the same span. A client returning from a deployment does not need an extension request; the time simply did not run.

Disaster relief is postponement, not forgiveness. The deadline moves and the interest and additions do not accrue during the postponement, but the liability remains and the new date is real. The two mechanisms should be checked separately: whether the IRS has issued a notice specifying a discretionary period, and whether the mandatory period applies on the declaration’s own dates.

The abroad extension covers payment, which is unusual. Almost every other extension in the Code and regulations extends time to file and not time to pay. Regulation § 1.6081-5 extends both. That makes it worth identifying early for a client who will owe, because the alternative — a Form 4868 extension — leaves the failure-to-pay addition running from April.

An injured spouse claim and innocent spouse relief are different things. The injured spouse claim allocates a joint refund where it has been or will be applied to the other spouse’s separate debt — past-due support, a federal non-tax debt, a state obligation. Innocent spouse relief addresses liability for an understatement on a joint return. Clients use the terms interchangeably and the remedies are not interchangeable.

Check the offset before assuming an error. A refund that arrives short is usually an offset rather than a mistake, and § 6402 sets the order in which reductions are applied, with State-certified past-due support taking priority over other reductions allowed by law. The client will have received a notice from the offsetting agency, which is the document to ask for.

How this has changed

Two of these provisions have moved recently and one has been stable for decades.

Section 7508A has been amended twice in quick succession. Public Law 119-29, enacted in 2025, substituted 120 days for 60 throughout § 7508A(e) and added a new subsection addressing State-declared disasters. Public Law 119-64 added a further subsection concerning the credit-or-refund limitation. The result is that the mandatory postponement period is longer than most published material states, and that the section’s subsection lettering in secondary sources is unreliable — the statute should be read directly rather than summarised from a guide.

Section 7508 has been broadened over time from combat zones alone to include designated contingency operations, and to reach those serving in support of the Armed Forces as well as members. The 180-day tail and the hospitalisation component have been constant.

Section 6072(c) is unchanged in substance and dates to the 1954 Code. Its drafting shows its age — it still refers to a former FSC as defined in a section repealed in 2000 — but the June date for a nonresident alien without withheld wages is current law.

Exam focus

Know that a nonresident alien individual whose wages are not subject to withholding files by 15 June, and that one with withheld wages is on the ordinary date. Know the three components of the combat zone disregarded period — service, qualified hospitalisation, then 180 days — and that no request is required. Know that the abroad extension under Reg. § 1.6081-5 is automatic, covers payment as well as filing, and runs concurrently with the ordinary extension. Distinguish an injured spouse refund allocation from innocent spouse relief.

Check yourself

1. A nonresident alien individual has no wages subject to withholding. When is the return due for a calendar year?

A. 15 April B. 15 June C. 15 October D. The 15th day of the fourth month

Answer: B. A nonresident alien whose wages are subject to chapter 24 withholding files on the ordinary April date.

2. What period does IRC § 7508 disregard for a member serving in a combat zone?

A. The period of service only B. The period of service plus 90 days C. The period of service, plus continuous qualified hospitalisation for an injury received there, plus 180 days D. One year from the end of service

Answer: C — and the disregard reaches interest, penalties, additional amounts and additions to tax as well as the filing date.

3. Which extension covers the time to pay as well as the time to file?

A. The automatic six-month extension on Form 4868 B. The extension for a citizen or resident whose tax home and abode are outside the United States C. Any extension requested before the due date D. None; extensions never cover payment

Answer: B. Regulation § 1.6081-5 extends both, and runs concurrently with the six-month extension.

4. A joint refund is reduced to satisfy one spouse’s past-due child support. What is the other spouse’s remedy?

A. Innocent spouse relief B. An injured spouse claim allocating the joint refund C. A collection due process hearing D. Nothing; a joint refund is jointly owned

Answer: B. Innocent spouse relief addresses liability for an understatement, which is a different question.

5. Which statement about disaster relief under IRC § 7508A is correct?

A. Relief is available only where the Secretary issues a notice B. There is both a discretionary period the Secretary may specify and a mandatory period C. The liability is forgiven, not postponed D. Relief applies only to the filing date, not to payment

Answer: B. The mandatory period operates on the declaration’s own dates whether or not a notice issues.