Alabama calendar and forms

Alabama keeps its calendar locked to the federal one. Form 40 is due the same day as the federal return, April 15, 2027; the four estimated payments fall on the federal dates; and the extension is automatic for six months, to October 15, 2027, with no form to file and nothing to request. The catch is the same as everywhere: the extension is for the paperwork, not the money. Tax not paid by April 15 draws a 1%-a-month penalty and interest from that day, extension or not. The forms side has one return for residents, Form 40, a short form for the simplest returns, Form 40A, and a nonresident return, Form 40NR, with schedules that attach only when they apply.

One thing makes the Alabama paperwork different from most: the return needs your finished federal return, because the deduction for federal income tax on Form 40 line 12 is figured from it. The Alabama return is always the second one done. Most filers touch Form 40, Schedule W-2 for withholding and, with retirement income, Schedule RS; the rest of the list below is for people who itemize, moved, work across the state line, owe estimated tax or need to fix a return.

The 2027 filing season, dated

How the extension really works

The Department grants every individual an automatic extension to October 15. Its own words: no paper or electronic extension form is needed, and an extension means only that you will not be assessed a penalty for filing after the due date. It is not an extension of time to pay. If you expect to owe, send the expected balance by April 15 with Form 40V, checking the Automatic Extension Payment box, or pay on My Alabama Taxes, which does the same thing without the voucher. Penalty and interest run from April 15 on whatever was not paid by then. Except for taxpayers abroad, no extension runs past six months.

The penalties are fixed in statute and worth knowing. Late payment: 1% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month, up to 25%. Late filing: the greater of 10% of the tax due or $50, which does not apply to a return showing a refund or no tax due. Interest: the IRS rate, from the federal due date. The late-filing penalty is the one the extension protects you from; the other two run regardless.

Estimated payments

Alabama requires estimated payments when you expect to owe at least $500 for the year after withholding and credits, and your withholding and credits are less than the smaller of 90% of this year’s Alabama tax or 100% of last year’s. If last year’s Alabama AGI was more than $150,000 ($75,000 married filing separately), the look-back figure is 110%. Payments go in on Form 40ES or through My Alabama Taxes on April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15, and the underpayment penalty is figured on Form 2210AL. The people most often caught are the self-employed, landlords, anyone with a large capital gain, and retirees drawing on IRAs and 401(k)s, because that income is taxable in Alabama above the $6,000 exclusion at 65 and payers rarely withhold Alabama tax from it. Social Security and pension income never triggers the requirement, since Alabama does not tax it.

The forms, in the order a filer meets them

Filing, paying and checking a refund

The Department says all Alabama taxpayers can file their individual return free through My Alabama Taxes, at myalabamataxes.alabama.gov, for an original Form 40 or Form 40NR. It is the state’s own system, not a vendor’s; it does not file the federal return, and it does not take amended returns. The same site makes payments and runs Where’s My Refund. Commercial software and the Department’s list of authorized e-file providers file Alabama with the federal return, and many offer a free version for those who qualify; the Department does not endorse any of them. Alabama has never been part of IRS Direct File. Paper filing is allowed, and the mailing address depends on whether the return shows a payment, a refund or neither; it is printed in the instruction booklet.

Refunds are slow by design. For the 2026 season the Department said it would begin releasing refunds on March 2, that e-filed returns should expect a refund about 8 to 10 weeks after acceptance and paper returns 8 to 12 weeks, and that returns filed near the deadline could take up to 90 days. Before some refunds are released the Department mails an Identity Confirmation letter asking you to take a short online quiz or send copies of documents; its instructions say receiving one does not mean you are suspected of identity theft, and the refund waits until you answer. Check status on Where’s My Refund at My Alabama Taxes, or by phone on the 24-hour refund hotline, 1-855-894-7391; the daytime refund status line is 334-309-2612. If nothing has arrived 90 days after you mailed the return, file Form IT:489.

The Department’s headquarters is at 375 South Ripley Street, Montgomery, AL 36104, and it keeps Taxpayer Service Centers around the state for in-person help. Its letters come by mail and are answered through My Alabama Taxes. A text or call about an Alabama refund is not from the Department.