Need to Know Tax Income Tax 2026 · Federal & Wyoming

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Wyoming calendar and forms

Every date that matters for a Wyoming household in the 2027 filing season, which is the federal calendar plus a property tax calendar that runs on its own schedule: two payment halves, an affidavit, a March 1 claim at 65, a May renewal for veterans and a June deadline for the refund. And the short list of Wyoming filings an ordinary resident actually meets, none of which is an income tax return.

Charles Trautman, EA

By Charles Trautman, EA, editor

Need to Know Tax  ·  written from Wyoming Department of Revenue sources, November 3, 2026; updated November 12, 2026 after the election  ·  not yet reviewed by a Wyoming practitioner

Wyoming has no income tax return, so there is no state due date, no state extension and no state estimated payment. The federal calendar is the whole income tax calendar: Form 1040 is due Thursday, April 15, 2027, the extension runs to Friday, October 15, 2027, and the four estimated payments fall on the federal dates. What Wyoming adds is a property tax year that the county runs: the assessor values the home as of January 1, the exemption claims are due in the late winter and spring, the treasurer bills around the end of August, half is payable by November 10 and half by May 10 (or all of it by December 31), and the refund program’s applications close on the first Monday in June for a check between July and September. The 2026 federal return filed in the spring of 2027 deducts, for a household that itemizes, whatever property tax was actually paid in calendar 2026 and the sales tax on anything bought in 2026.

The forms side is shorter than in any state with an income tax, because the Department of Revenue has almost nothing to do with an individual who does not sell goods. What a household files goes to the county assessor, the county treasurer, or the Department’s refund system. The one thing to watch is that the 25% homeowner exemption, which was automatic in 2025, now runs on a deadline, and the 2027 deadline is to come.

The 2027 season, dated

Federal and Wyoming dates for the 2026 return and the 2027 tax year
DateWhat happensForm or office
Tuesday, November 3, 2026General election. Initiative 1, the 50% primary-residence property tax exemption, was rejected, 56.79% to 43.21%. The existing exemptions are unchanged.Ballot
Tuesday, November 10, 2026First half of 2026 property tax payable to the county treasurer; interest at 18% a year begins the next day on an unpaid first half unless the whole bill is paid by December 31.County treasurer
Thursday, December 31, 2026Last day of the 2026 tax year: RMDs, charitable gifts, Roth conversions. Paying the whole 2026 property tax by today avoids any interest on the first half. A payment made today is a 2026 federal deduction; the same payment on May 10 is a 2027 one. Also the valuation date for the refund program’s asset test.County treasurer
Friday, January 1, 2027Assessment date for 2027. The assessor values every parcel as of today; ownership today decides whose name is on the 2027 notice.County assessor
Friday, January 15, 2027Fourth and final 2026 federal estimated payment. No state equivalent.1040-ES
Late January 2027; the IRS announces the date in JanuaryIRS begins accepting 2026 returns.1040
Monday, February 1, 2027W-2s and most 1099s due from employers and payers; January 31 is a Sunday. Box 17 of a Wyoming W-2 is blank.W-2, 1099
Monday, March 1, 2027Long-term homeowner exemption (50%, 65 or older, 25 years) claims and renewals due to the county assessor, under 2026 HB 45. Also the 2026 deadline for the 25% exemption’s owner-occupied affidavit; the 2027 affidavit deadline is to come and may be later (HB 109 proposed the second Monday in May) (verify). File by March 1 unless the assessor says otherwise.County assessor; Department of Revenue owner-occupied notification
Thursday, April 15, 20272026 federal return and balance due. Extension request due; an extension is time to file, not time to pay. First 2027 estimated payment. Last day for a 2026 IRA or HSA contribution. No Wyoming filing.1040, 4868, 1040-ES
Spring 2027 (verify county)Assessor mails the 2027 notice of assessment: fair market value, 9.5% assessed value, exemptions applied. The window to appeal the value runs from the mailing date. Check that the 25% or 50% exemption and the veterans exemption appear.County assessor
Monday, May 10, 2027Second half of 2026 property tax payable; delinquent the next day at 18% a year. A late second half forfeits that half of the 2027 refund program.County treasurer
Monday, May 24, 2027Fourth Monday in May: veterans exemption renewal due to the county assessor (in person or by phone). If Initiative 1 passed, its sworn claim for 2027 is due today too.County assessor
Monday, June 7, 2027First Monday in June: Property Tax Refund applications due, refunding 2026 taxes, if the 2027 General Session funds the program. To come.Department of Revenue refund system; county treasurer
Tuesday, June 15, 2027Second 2027 federal estimated payment.1040-ES
July 1 to September 30, 2027Refund program checks and deposits issued, if funded.Department of Revenue
Late August to September 2027 (verify county)County treasurer mails the 2027 property tax statement (Laramie County mails on the last business day of August). The tax is owed whether or not the statement arrives.County treasurer
Wednesday, September 15, 2027Third 2027 federal estimated payment.1040-ES
Friday, October 15, 2027Extended 2026 federal return due. Medicare open enrollment begins; 2028 IRMAA premiums are based on the 2026 return.1040
Wednesday, November 10, 2027First half of 2027 property tax payable.County treasurer
Vehicle sales or use tax is due to the county treasurer within about 60 days of a purchase (counties describe it as 60 or 65 days) (verify), before plates issue. Sales tax returns for a household that sells goods run on the Department’s monthly, quarterly or annual cycle depending on volume (verify).

How the property tax year works

The Wyoming property tax year is built around a January 1 valuation and a bill that arrives in the fall. The assessor values the home as of January 1, applies the 9.5% ratio and whatever exemptions have been claimed, and sends a notice in the spring; that notice, not the bill, is the moment to object to the value. The taxing entities set their mill levies over the summer, the treasurer sends the statement around the end of August, and the tax is payable in two halves, November 10 and the following May 10, under W.S. 39-13-108. Paying the whole thing by December 31 avoids interest on the first half. Anything unpaid after its date accrues interest at 18% a year, and a second half still unpaid on May 11 goes onto the delinquent list that leads to the tax lien sale.

The two-halves schedule gives a homeowner who pays directly a small federal choice. A half paid in November 2026 and a half paid in May 2027 puts one half on each year’s Schedule A. Paying the whole 2026 bill in December 2026 and the whole 2027 bill in December 2027 puts a full bill in each year. Paying the 2026 second half in May 2027 and the whole 2027 bill in December 2027 puts a bill and a half in 2027, which matters only to a household on the edge of itemizing. For most Wyoming households, with no state income tax in the SALT line and a property tax under $3,000 after exemptions, none of this changes the answer: the standard deduction wins and the only question is avoiding the 18%.

Worked example: which year the property tax lands in

A homeowner with a $1,995 property tax bill (a $400,000 home with the 25% exemption at 70 mills (verify local mill levy)) receives the statement each September. Three payment patterns, and what each year’s Schedule A shows.

PatternDeductible in 2026Deductible in 2027Interest
Halves on time: November 10 and May 10$998 (plus the May 2026 half of the 2025 bill, $998)$998 + $998None
Whole bill each December 31$1,995$1,995None
2026 bill all in May 2027, 2027 bill in December 2027$0$3,99018% a year on the first half from November 11 to the May payment, about $90 (verify)
Result for a standard-deduction householdNo differenceNo differencePay on time

Bunching costs $90 of interest and buys nothing unless the doubled year gets the household past the standard deduction, which in Wyoming takes a large mortgage or large gifts. A refund program applicant should never bunch: a late half forfeits that half of the refund.

The filings a household meets

Wyoming filings for an individual or household
FilingWhat it doesFiled with, and when
Residential Owner-Occupied Notification (affidavit for the 25% homeowner exemption)Swears that the single-family home is the owner’s primary residence occupied at least eight months of the year, so the assessor can exempt 25% of the first $1,000,000 of value. New for 2026 under 2025 SF 69. Second homes and rentals do not qualify.County assessor, through the Department of Revenue’s online notification or in person. March 1 for 2026; 2027 deadline to come
Long-term homeowner exemption applicationClaims the 50% exemption on the first $3,000,000 of value for an owner or spouse 65 or older with 25 years of Wyoming residential property tax paid, living in the home eight months a year. Replaces the 25% exemption. After the first year, confirm by phone or mail.County assessor, by March 1 each year from 2027
Veterans exemption application and annual renewal$6,000 of assessed value off the home, or the ad valorem portion of the vehicle registration, for qualifying veterans and unremarried surviving spouses with three years of Wyoming residency.County assessor, by the fourth Monday in May, every year
Property Tax Refund applicationClaims a refund of up to 75% of the prior year’s tax, capped at half the county median bill, for a household under the income and asset limits with five years in Wyoming. The Department publishes the county median income and median tax tables with the application each spring.Online at the Department’s refund system (wptrs.wyo.gov), by mail, or at the county treasurer; first Monday in June, if funded
Vehicle registration and sales or use taxRegisters a vehicle in the owner’s county and pays 4% plus the county rate on a recent purchase, less tax paid to another state with the receipt. New residents register immediately on becoming residents.County treasurer, within about 60 days of purchase (verify)
Sales and use tax license and returnsFor a household that sells goods directly to Wyoming buyers (not through a marketplace that collects): license from the Department, collect 4% plus the county rate, remit on the Department’s schedule.Department of Revenue, Excise Tax Division, before the first sale
Business personal property renditionLists a business’s equipment and other personal property for the assessor. From January 1, 2026 the first $75,000 of value per county is exempt (2025 SF 48), so most home businesses owe nothing but may still be asked to list.County assessor, on the assessor’s schedule (verify)
What is missing is the point: there is no Wyoming income tax return, no Wyoming W-4, no Wyoming extension and no Wyoming estimated payment voucher. A Wyoming resident whose software asks for a state return should answer that there is none. The only state return a Wyoming resident files is another state’s nonresident return, for wages earned across the line in Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Utah or Nebraska, or for rent, business or gambling income sourced there.

Filing the federal return from Wyoming

The federal return is filed the same way from Wyoming as from anywhere: electronically, with direct deposit, through a preparer, commercial software or the IRS Free File partners. The IRS Direct File program, which included Wyoming for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, is not offered for 2026 returns. What a Wyoming preparer does that a preparer in a taxing state may not is run both halves of the SALT line for a household that itemizes: property tax actually paid in the year, plus the sales tax election from the IRS tables at the county’s combined rate, plus the actual tax on a vehicle, trailer or boat from the treasurer’s receipt.

Federal estimated payments matter more to a Wyoming retiree than to one in a state with withholding on pensions, because the only withholding is whatever the custodian takes for the IRS. A household living on Social Security, an IRA and a brokerage account with no withholding on any of it meets the federal underpayment penalty in April unless it pays estimates or has tax withheld from the IRA. The safe harbors are in Estimated payments; the simplest Wyoming fix is to have the custodian withhold enough from a December withdrawal to cover the year.

Behind the scenes: why the dates are the county’s

Wyoming’s property tax calendar is a county calendar because the tax is county money. The state sets the rules, the assessment ratio and the exemptions, and the Department of Revenue supervises the assessors and runs the refund program, but the 23 county assessors value the property, the 23 treasurers bill and collect, and the towns, school districts, fire districts and hospital districts spend it. The November 10 and May 10 halves are in the statute, W.S. 39-13-108, and so is the December 31 full-payment option; together they get most of the money into county treasuries in the fall and the rest before the fiscal year turns on July 1.

The exemption deadlines are newer and they are converging. The fourth Monday in May was the traditional claim date for the veterans exemption and the long-term homeowner exemption; 2026 HB 45 moved the latter to March 1 so the assessor knows before the assessment roll is set, and the refund program’s first Monday in June was chosen so applicants would have the prior year’s paid receipt in hand. The 25% exemption’s affidavit was fitted into this calendar in a hurry, by emergency rule, after the Legislature wrote the occupancy test without a procedure; the permanent rule and the 2027 date are what the editor should check first.

What to bring

  • The county treasurer’s 2026 property tax statement and the receipts, with the dates paid, for each Wyoming parcel
  • The assessor’s 2026 notice of assessment, to check that the exemptions were applied
  • The treasurer’s receipt for sales or use tax on any vehicle, trailer, boat or RV bought in 2026
  • Your county of residence, for the combined sales tax rate in the IRS table
  • Federal estimated payments made in 2026, with dates; a Wyoming resident has no state payments to list
  • 1099-Rs and the SSA-1099, with the federal withholding boxes
  • Any Property Tax Refund received in 2026, if you itemize
  • For a new resident: the move date, the Wyoming registrations and license dates, and the old state’s part-year return information
  • Any W-2 or W-2G with another state’s withholding, for that state’s nonresident return

Questions people ask

Do I file anything with Wyoming for income tax?

No. There is no individual income tax return, no extension and no estimated payment. The federal return is the only return. The Wyoming filings an individual meets are property tax claims at the county and the refund application with the Department.

When is my property tax due?

Half by November 10 and half by May 10 of the next year, or the whole bill by December 31 with no interest. Anything late accrues 18% a year. The statement comes from the county treasurer around the end of August or September; the tax is owed even if it does not arrive.

Should I pay the whole bill in December or in halves?

Either, as long as each half is on time. For the federal return, what counts is the calendar year the payment is made; for most Wyoming households that take the standard deduction it makes no difference. If you apply for the refund program, pay on time: a late half forfeits that half of the refund.

What is the deadline for the 25% exemption affidavit for 2027?

To come. The 2026 deadline was March 1, 2026 under emergency rules; the 2026 Budget Session considered the second Monday in May. Ask the county assessor in January 2027, and file by March 1 unless told otherwise.

Where do I check on my Property Tax Refund?

The Department of Revenue’s refund system, where you applied, or the county treasurer. Refunds go out between July 1 and September 30. If the Department wrote asking for something, you have 14 days to answer.

My software keeps asking for my Wyoming return.

There is none. Tell it you have no state return. If you worked in Colorado or another taxing state, that state’s nonresident return is the only state return in the file.

One federal return, two property tax halves, and a March 1 that decides more than any form

Put April 15, November 10 and May 10 on the calendar, file the affidavit and the 65-and-over claim by March 1, renew the veterans exemption in May, and apply for the refund by the first Monday in June.

Written by Charles Trautman, EA, editor  ·  Need to Know Tax, Lone Tree, Colorado

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Forms and official pages named in this article

Sources and where to check

Updated November 12, 2026, after the November 3 election · tax year 2026 figures · awaiting review by a Wyoming practitioner

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