The Internal Revenue Service headquarters building appeared to be mostly empty April 27, 2020 in the Federal Triangle section of Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Time is running out for the millions of Americans who requested a tax deadline extension earlier this year to file their 2021 income returns without a financial penalty.
The roughly 19 million taxpayers who asked for an extension earlier this year now face an Oct. 17 deadline to submit their returns.
The IRS has repeatedly urged individuals to "avoid a last-minute rush to file" by submitting their returns electronically ahead of the October deadline.
Filing your taxes electronically is the fastest way to get a refund, according to the IRS, especially as the agency works its way through a backlog of paper returns.