Arizona calendar and forms

Arizona runs on the federal calendar. The return is due April 15, 2027, the four estimated payments fall on the federal dates, and an extension runs six months to October 15, 2027. Two Arizona dates have no federal counterpart. April 15 is also the last day to make a gift to a qualifying charity, foster care organization, school tuition organization or public school and claim it on the 2026 return, which for many households is the single most valuable date on this page. And September 1 is the county assessor’s deadline for the Senior Freeze, which is not on the income tax return at all. The extension, as everywhere, extends the paperwork and not the payment: Arizona wants 90% of the tax in hand by April 15 or it charges an extension penalty on top of interest.

The forms are more numerous than the tax is complicated. There are three versions of the resident return, and the short ones could not carry the tips, overtime and senior subtractions in 2025. Every credit runs through a separate numbered form and then through Form 301, the credit summary. Anyone who gives to an Arizona charity or school, has a pension, or sold stock will file Form 140 with at least two attachments. The list below is in the order a filer meets them.

The 2027 filing season, dated

How the extension works

Arizona grants an automatic six-month extension, but it has to be asked for. File Form 204 by April 15, or rely on the federal extension and check the box on the return saying so; either one extends Forms 140, 140A, 140EZ, 140PY, 140NR and 140PTC to October 15. The extension does not extend the time to pay. Interest runs from April 15 on anything unpaid, and if less than 90% of the tax shown on the final return was paid by April 15, the Department adds an extension underpayment penalty of 0.5% a month, up to 10% (verify). A return filed late with no extension draws a late-filing penalty of 4.5% a month up to 25%. The payment can go in with Form 204 or on AZTaxes.gov, which needs no account to accept a payment.

Estimated payments

Arizona’s estimated-payment rule is based on income, not on the tax owed. Payments are required when Arizona gross income, which for a resident is federal AGI, exceeds $75,000 single, head of household or married filing separately, or $150,000 married filing jointly, in both the prior year and the current year. Below that, no estimates are required however much is owed. Above it, estimated payments plus withholding must reach 90% of the current year’s tax or 100% of the prior year’s; the prior-year route is open only to someone who was required to file and did file an Arizona return for that year. There is no 110% tier. The four dates are the federal ones. The underpayment penalty is computed on Form 221. Because Social Security and military retired pay are exempt but pensions, IRA withdrawals and Roth conversions are not, the people caught are often new retirees drawing from an IRA for the first time with no Arizona withholding, and anyone with a large capital gain.

The forms, in the order a filer meets them

Filing free, paying and checking a refund

Arizona has no e-file mandate for individuals and accepts paper, but nearly every return is filed electronically with the federal return. The Department’s Free File page links guided software from four vendors, 1040.com, 1040Now, FreeTaxUSA and OLT, free for adjusted gross income of about $89,000 or less; the offer applies only if you reach the vendor through the Department’s link. Above that, the Department points to its fillable PDF forms, which do no arithmetic and must be printed and mailed. Arizona took part in IRS Direct File for the 2024 and 2025 seasons; the IRS has since ended the program.

Payments, including estimates, extension payments and balances due, go through AZTaxes.gov without registering; an electronic check is free and a card carries a processing fee of about 2.2% (verify). Refund status is at Where’s My Refund on the same site, available 24 hours after an e-filed return is received or four weeks after a paper one is mailed. The Department says it issues most refunds in less than eight weeks, and that returns filed in late March and April take longer. A refund may arrive as a paper check instead of a direct deposit if the return was flagged for identity review, corrected for errors, offset against a debt, or if the bank information had a typo. The Department’s individual income tax line is (602) 255-3381.