Legally speaking, the later of these two dates is the latest day by which you can file a credit claim or get a federal income tax refund for a certain tax year:

• Either two years after the date of tax payment
• or three years after the date on which your federal income tax return was submitted.

This is called The Refund Statute Expiration Date (RSED).

The IRS considers your return submitted on the due date even if you filed it earlier. They consider payments received on the date of the return to have been made if you had estimated tax payments or income tax withheld during the year.

The date you make your claim will determine how much credit or refund you are eligible for. The total amount you paid in the three years prior to filing the claim, plus any additional time you were required to complete your return, is the maximum amount of credit or refund you will receive. The maximum credit or refund that you can receive is the amount that you paid in the two years prior to filing your claim. Unless there is an exception that gives you more time to file a claim, you will not be eligible for a credit or refund if you do not file the claim within 3 years of filing your initial return or 2 years after paying the tax, whichever is later.

Exceptions to the 3-year/2-year expiration dates

You may have more than 3 years to file a claim for credit or refund if you:

• Accept a written extension of the IRS’s window for assessing taxes: Your agreement specifies the deadline for making a credit or refund claim, plus an additional six months. As stated in the written terms of your signed agreement, there might be further restrictions on the total amount of credit or refund you are eligible to receive depending on any limitations on the IRS’s capacity to collect taxes.
• Are impacted by a disaster that the president has declared: You might be able to get a credit or refund for an additional year.
• Participate in a contingency operation or designated battle zone: You could have more time to submit a claim for a credit or refund, but in order to be eligible, you need to fulfill a few requirements.
• File due to a worthless security loss or a bad debt deduction: You can file the claim up to seven years after the year’s return deadline.

How to file a claim for a credit or refund

Claim a credit or refund for income taxes on your:

Original return (for example, Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return PDF)

Amended return (for example, Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return)

Send your updated return to the IRS Service Center where you originally filed it. In order to edit Forms 1040, 1040-SR, 1040NR, or 1040-SS for the current or two previous tax years, as well as up to three modified returns per tax year, you can electronically file Form 1040-X using tax return filing software.

Claim a credit or refund for other taxes (not income taxes) and penalties on Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement.