For some taxpayers in military service and on duty outside the United States, the time for taking care of certain tax matters can be postponed. The deadline for filing tax returns, paying taxes, and taking other actions with the IRS is automatically extended if either of the following is true:

• You serve in the Armed Forces in a combat zone or you have qualifying service outside of a combat zone.
• You serve in the Armed Forces on deployment outside the United States away from your permanent duty station while participating in a contingency operation. A contingency operation is a military operation that is designated by the Secretary of Defense or results in calling members of the uniformed services to active duty (or retains them on active duty) during a war or a national emergency declared by the President or Congress.

If you qualify, your deadline for taking actions with the IRS is extended for 180 days after the later of:

• The last day you are in a combat zone, have qualifying service outside of the combat zone, or serve in a contingency operation (or the last day the area qualifies as a combat zone or the operation qualifies as a contingency operation).
• The last day of any continuous qualified hospitalization (defined later) for injury from service in the combat zone or contingency operation or while performing qualifying service outside of the combat zone.

In addition to the 180 days, your deadline is extended by the number of days that were left for you to take the action with the IRS when you entered a combat zone (or began performing qualifying service outside the combat zone) or began serving in a contingency operation.

Go to IRS Publication 3 Armed Forces' Tax Guide for complete guidelines regarding the filing extension deadline.

Note that any link in the information above is updated each year automatically and will take you to the most recent version of the webpage or document at the time it is accessed.