What time exactly is the tax extension deadline in the Mountain Time Zone?
Just realized I have a last-minute question that's stressing me out! I filed for an extension and I'm planning to finish my taxes tomorrow evening (Tuesday 10/15) after I get off work. I'm currently living in Colorado (Mountain Time), but most of my income last year was from my job in Illinois (Central Time). What's the exact cutoff time that my return needs to be e-filed by? Is it 11:59 PM Mountain Time or would it be Central Time since that's where most of my income came from? I don't want to miss the deadline by an hour because of time zone confusion! Anyone know the official IRS rule on this? Really appreciate any help!
19 comments
Join the conversation
Carmen Vega
The IRS uses your current legal residence to determine which time zone applies for filing deadlines, not where your income was earned. Since you live in the Mountain Time zone, your deadline is 11:59 PM Mountain Time on October 15th, 2025. The IRS system actually gives you until midnight in your local time zone, so you technically have until 11:59:59 PM Mountain Time. Just be careful about leaving it to the absolute last minute - sometimes the e-filing systems get overloaded on deadline day, and technical issues aren't considered a valid excuse for filing late.
0 coins
QuantumQuester
•What about if you're traveling on deadline day? Like if I normally live in California but I'm in New York on Oct 15th, which time zone counts?
0 coins
Carmen Vega
•For tax filing deadlines, what matters is your legal residence, not your physical location on the filing day. So if your legal residence is California, even if you're physically in New York on October 15th, your deadline would be 11:59 PM Pacific Time. The determining factor is your official place of residence as indicated on your tax return, not where you happen to be when you submit it. This is why it's important to make sure your correct legal address is on your tax return.
0 coins
Andre Moreau
After struggling with the same time zone issue last year (I was in Arizona which doesn't do daylight saving so it was extra confusing), I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai that saved me so much stress! I was freaking out about deadlines and it actually analyzed my tax documents and gave me a personalized filing timeline with the exact deadline in my time zone. I found it at https://taxr.ai and it showed me all the time-sensitive items I needed to handle.
0 coins
Zoe Stavros
•Does it work for people who have businesses in multiple states? I have income from three different states and I'm always confused about which deadlines apply to me.
0 coins
Jamal Harris
•I've seen ads for this but skeptical. Does it actually connect to the IRS systems to confirm your deadline or is it just giving generic info you could Google?
0 coins
Andre Moreau
•It absolutely works for multi-state situations - I have rental income in two states besides my home state, and it correctly identified all my filing requirements and deadlines for each. It gives state-specific guidance that was super helpful. For the second question, it doesn't directly connect to IRS systems, but it's way more than generic info. It analyzes your specific situation including residence, income sources, and filing status to give you personalized deadlines and requirements. Much more precise than random Google searches that often give conflicting info.
0 coins
Jamal Harris
Ok so I tried that taxr.ai thing mentioned above and I'm honestly impressed. Had some complicated foreign income issues and it gave me the exact filing deadlines for both federal and state returns, including the FBAR deadline which I always mess up. It even flagged that I need to file in a state I worked in temporarily last year that I completely forgot about! Definitely more helpful than trying to decode the IRS website.
0 coins
Mei Chen
Just wanted to add that if you're struggling to get clarification directly from the IRS (which I always am this time of year), I used a service called Claimyr that actually got me through to a real person at the IRS in about 20 minutes when I had deadline questions. Before finding https://claimyr.com I spent DAYS trying to get through the regular IRS phone line. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - it was literally the only way I could get a definitive answer about my filing deadline situation.
0 coins
Liam Sullivan
•How does this actually work? Is it just autodialing the IRS for you or something? I'm confused how a third party service can get you through faster than calling directly.
0 coins
Amara Okafor
•Yeah right. No way this actually works. I've been trying to reach the IRS for 3 weeks about my refund. If there was a magic way to get through, the IRS would shut it down immediately. Sounds like a scam to me.
0 coins
Mei Chen
•It uses an advanced system that navigates the IRS phone tree and holds your place in line while you do other things. When it gets a real person, it calls you and connects you directly. It's not some magic backdoor - it's just technology that deals with the hold times so you don't have to. For the skeptics, I felt exactly the same way until I tried it. The IRS doesn't block it because it's not doing anything against their rules - it's just efficiently waiting in the same phone queue everyone else uses. I was connected to an actual IRS agent who answered my questions about filing deadlines across time zones.
0 coins
Amara Okafor
I have to apologize for my skeptical comment earlier. I actually broke down and tried Claimyr yesterday after getting desperate about my refund issue. No joke - I got through to the IRS in about 15 minutes when I'd been trying for weeks. The agent confirmed my refund was delayed because of a verification issue and helped me resolve it right there. I would have waited another month without knowing what was happening if I hadn't gotten through.
0 coins
CosmicCommander
BTW - one thing to watch out for with the October deadline is if you owe money. The extension is only for filing the paperwork, not for paying what you owe. If you didn't pay your estimated taxes by the original April deadline, you've been accruing interest and penalties since then, even with an extension.
0 coins
Yuki Kobayashi
•Wait seriously? I thought the extension covered both filing AND payment until October. I haven't paid anything yet because I was waiting to figure out the exact amount when I file. Am I going to get hit with huge penalties?
0 coins
CosmicCommander
•Unfortunately the extension only gives you more time to file the paperwork, not to pay. Any tax you owed should have been paid by the April deadline, and you've been accruing both interest and potentially a failure-to-pay penalty since then. How much this will cost depends on how much you owe. The failure-to-pay penalty is usually 0.5% of the unpaid taxes per month, up to 25% of the unpaid amount. Plus interest on the unpaid balance. I'd recommend filing ASAP and paying whatever you can to stop further penalties from accumulating.
0 coins
Giovanni Colombo
If anyone else is confused about timezones like me, I found that most tax software automatically adjusts for your timezone based on your location. I used TurboTax last year and it showed a countdown timer with my local deadline. Just make sure your address info is correct in the software!
0 coins
Fatima Al-Qasimi
•Just be extra careful with this. I used TaxAct last year and their system crashed around 10pm on deadline day. I ended up having to use FreeTaxUSA at the last minute and barely made it.
0 coins
Amina Bah
Great question about time zones! As someone who's dealt with this exact situation before, I can confirm that Carmen is absolutely right - it's based on your current legal residence, not where your income was earned. Since you're living in Colorado, your deadline is 11:59 PM Mountain Time on October 15th. One thing I'd add is to double-check that your current address is correctly listed on your tax return, since that's what the IRS uses to determine your time zone. Also, given that you're cutting it close, I'd strongly recommend not waiting until the very last minute on Tuesday evening. The e-filing systems can get overwhelmed on deadline day, and if there are any technical issues or if your return gets rejected for any reason, you might not have time to fix it and resubmit. Maybe consider trying to wrap it up during your lunch break or earlier in the evening if possible? Better safe than sorry with the IRS!
0 coins