For Washington taxpayers, the clock to the federal April 15 filing deadline is already ticking. Now is the time to double-check your withholding and your filing plan. If you live in a county hit by the Dec. 9 storms, you may already have extra time to file and pay. Below are practical steps, backed by IRS rules, that can cut or remove penalties if you owe or you are running behind.
Who actually gets the May 1 break?
According to the IRS, individuals and businesses in counties affected by the Dec. 9, 2025, severe storms, including King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Yakima, have until May 1, 2026 to file certain returns and make payments that were originally due during the postponement period. The agency says it will automatically identify taxpayers in the covered disaster area, and those outside an affected county who believe they qualify can call the IRS disaster line for help.
File on time, even if you cannot pay
“File your tax return, even if you can’t pay anything,” IRS spokesperson Stacey Engle told Indiana Public Radio, urging filers not to gamble on penalties. If you will not make April 15, request a six month extension (Form 4868), which avoids the larger failure to file penalty, but remember an extension only delays filing, not the date your taxes are due, per TurboTax.
When underpayment penalties apply
If your withholding plus timely estimated payments do not equal at least 90 percent of your 2025 tax (or the safe harbor 100 percent of last year’s tax in most cases), you could owe an underpayment penalty and should use Form 2210 to check the math, according to guidance at eFile.com. The annualized income method and other exceptions can reduce or eliminate a penalty for people whose income is uneven through the year.
How big can penalties get?
Penalties add up quickly: the failure to file penalty is generally 5 percent of unpaid tax for each month (or part of a month) your return is late, while the failure to pay penalty is typically 0.5 percent per month; interest also accrues on any unpaid balance, per the IRS. Over several months those charges can approach the 25 percent caps on each penalty, so filing and paying as much as you can immediately will limit extra costs.
Relief options and what to document
The IRS offers first time penalty abatement and reasonable cause relief for taxpayers who can document events such as serious illness, a house fire or disaster damage, and many filers succeed by filing Form 843 or calling the number on their IRS notice, as explained by H&R Block. If you are in a federally declared disaster area the IRS often applies relief automatically, but keep receipts, repair estimates, medical records and correspondence with preparers to support any abatement request.
Quick checklist before filing day
Before the deadline hits, file your return or submit Form 4868, pay as much as you can by April 15, consider an installment agreement if needed, and, if you were hit by the December storms, check whether the May 1 postponement applies to you. For the local primer that prompted this roundup, see the reporting by Tacoma News Tribune.
