35.5 Tax Deadlines Extended for Combat Zone or Contingency Operation Service

You are allowed an extension of at least 180 days (see below) to take care of tax matters if you are a member of the Armed Forces who served in a combat zone or in a contingency operation. The extension applies to filing tax returns, paying taxes, filing a Tax Court petition, filing refund claims, and making an IRA contribution. The time allowed for the IRS to begin an audit or take collection actions is also extended. See IRS Publication 3 for details on the extension rules.

Filing Tip

Spouses of Combat Zone Personnel

If your spouse serves in a combat zone or contingency operation, you are generally entitled to the same deadline extension as he or she is. However, any extra extension for your spouse’s hospitalization within the United States is not available to you. Further, a spouse’s extension does not apply to any year beginning more than two years after the area ceases to be a combat zone or the operation ceases to be a contingency operation.

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Support personnel.

The deadline extension also applies if you are serving in a combat zone or contingency operation in support of the Armed Forces. This includes Red Cross personnel, accredited correspondents, and civilian personnel acting under the direction of the Armed Forces in support of those forces.

Extension is a minimum of 180 days.

Your deadline for taking actions with the IRS is extended for at least 180 days after the later of: (1) the last day you are in a combat zone or serving in a contingency operation (or the last day the area qualifies as a combat zone or the operation qualifies as a contingency operation), or (2) the last day of any continuous qualified hospitalization for injury from service in the combat zone or contingency operation. Hospitalization may be outside the United States, or up to five years of hospitalization in the United States.

Time in a missing status (missing in action or prisoner of war) counts as time in a combat zone or contingency operation.

In addition to the 180 days, a filing deadline is also extended by the number of days you had left to file with the IRS when you entered a combat zone or began serving in a contingency operation. If you entered the combat zone or began contingency operation service before the time to file began, the deadline is extended by the entire filing time.