US Filing Deadlines for Americans in Canada: June 15 Is Automatic, October 15 Is on Request, and April 15 Is Still Payment Day

Short version: U.S. Citizens Living in Canada: What You File Each Year

An American living in Canada gets an automatic two-month extension to file the US return, to June 15, because they are abroad on April 15. What they do not get is an extension to pay: interest runs from April 15 on any balance, and the failure-to-pay penalty does too. A further extension to October 15 is available on request, and a discretionary one to December 15 in narrow cases. The FBAR has its own deadline and its own automatic extension. The information returns that Americans in Canada file (3520, 3520-A, 5471, 8621, 8938) mostly follow the 1040, with one exception. And the Canadian T1 is due April 30 with no extension at all, which is why the sequencing matters.

Key takeaways

• April 15: the statutory due date for the 1040; payment is due; interest starts; first estimated payment; FBAR due (automatically extended); Form 3520-A for a calendar-year foreign trust was due March 15.
• June 15: the automatic extended filing date for US citizens and residents whose tax home and abode are outside the US on April 15 (attach a statement); also the second estimated payment date and the Form 8840 date for non-residents.
• October 15: the extended filing date on Form 4868 filed by June 15 (or April 15); also the FBAR's automatic extended date; Forms 3520, 5471, 8621, and 8938 filed with the extended 1040.
• December 15: a discretionary further two-month extension for taxpayers abroad, by letter to the IRS, not automatic.
• Payment: due April 15 regardless of extension; the failure-to-pay penalty (0.5% per month) and interest run from that date; taxpayers abroad using the June 15 extension owe interest from April 15 but not the failure-to-pay penalty until June 15.
• Canada: the T1 is due April 30 (June 15 for the self-employed and their spouses), with any balance owing on April 30 and no extension; the T1135 with the T1; Quebec's TP-1 on the same dates.

The automatic extension to June 15

A US citizen or resident alien whose tax home and abode are outside the US and Puerto Rico on the regular due date, or who is on military duty abroad, receives an automatic two-month extension to file and to pay without the failure-to-pay penalty, by attaching a statement to the return explaining which condition applies. Interest still accrues from April 15 on any unpaid tax. The extension applies to the 1040 and the forms filed with it.

The extension to October 15

Form 4868, filed by the (extended) due date, extends the filing date to October 15. It does not extend payment; an estimate of the tax should be paid with the form to limit interest and avoid the failure-to-pay penalty on the unpaid portion. Americans in Canada often use this extension because the Canadian T1, due April 30, has to be completed before the foreign tax credit on the 1040 can be finalized, and the Canadian notice of assessment often arrives in the summer.

The discretionary extension to December 15

A taxpayer abroad who cannot file by October 15 can request a further two months by letter to the IRS explaining the reasons; the IRS grants it at its discretion and does not respond unless denied. Not available to taxpayers in the US.

The FBAR

Due April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15 for everyone; no request needed. Filed electronically with FinCEN, not with the 1040. A taxpayer who files the 1040 in June and forgets the FBAR still has until October.

The information returns

• Form 3520-A (foreign trust annual return, for a TFSA or RESP treated as a foreign grantor trust): due March 15 for a calendar-year trust, extendable to September 15 on Form 7004. A substitute Form 3520-A can be attached to a timely Form 3520 if the trust does not file.
• Form 3520 (transactions with foreign trusts and large foreign gifts): due with the 1040, including extensions.
• Form 5471 (Canadian corporation): due with the 1040, including extensions.
• Form 8621 (PFIC): due with the 1040, including extensions.
• Form 8938 (specified foreign financial assets): due with the 1040, including extensions.
• Form 8833 (treaty-based return position): due with the 1040.
• Form 8854 (expatriation): due with the final dual-status return, by June 15 of the following year for a taxpayer abroad.
• Form 709 (gift tax return): due April 15, extended by the 4868 extension.

Estimated payments

Due April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15. Americans in Canada with Canadian salary and no residual US tax after the foreign tax credit often owe no estimates; those with US-source investment income, NIIT, or a residual after the credit make them.

The Canadian side

The T1 is due April 30, or June 15 if the taxpayer or their spouse is self-employed, but any balance owing is due April 30 in both cases; there is no extension and the late-filing penalty is 5% plus 1% per month. The T1135 is due with the T1. Quebec's TP-1 follows the same dates. Because the Canadian tax is the foreign tax credit on the US return, the practical sequence for an American in Canada is: T1 by April 30; US estimate paid by April 15 (or June 15 with the automatic extension); Form 4868 by June 15; 1040 with the final Canadian numbers by October 15; FBAR by October 15.

Worked example

A US citizen in Toronto with Canadian employment income, a TFSA (kept, unfortunately), US dividends, and Canadian mutual funds.

• March 15. Form 3520-A for the TFSA (or Form 7004 to extend to September 15).
• April 15. Pay an estimate of any residual US tax; FBAR due (auto-extended).
• April 30. Canadian T1 with the T1135; balance owing paid.
• June 15. Automatic extension; Form 4868 filed for October 15.
• Summer. Canadian notice of assessment received; foreign tax credit finalized.
• October 15. 1040 with Form 1116, Form 3520 (TFSA), Forms 8621 (mutual funds), Form 8938, and Schedule B; FBAR.
• Next year. Close the TFSA and sell the mutual funds so the March 15 and 8621 items disappear.

Official sources

"If you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien residing overseas or are in the military on duty outside the U.S., on the regular due date of your return, you are allowed an automatic 2-month extension of time to file your return without requesting an extension." "Even if you are allowed an extension, you will have to pay interest on any tax not paid by the regular due date of your return." — Internal Revenue Service, U.S. citizens and resident aliens abroad, https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/us-citizens-and-resident-aliens-abroad

"April 30, 2026: Deadline to file your taxes [...] June 15, 2026: Deadline to file your taxes if you or your spouse or common-law partner were self-employed in 2025 [...] April 30, 2026: Deadline to pay your taxes" — Canada Revenue Agency, Get ready to do your taxes, https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/income-tax/personal-income-tax/get-ready-taxes.html

"A U.S. person, including a citizen, resident, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust and estate, must file an FBAR to report: a financial interest in or signature or other authority over at least one financial account located outside the United States if the aggregate value of those foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year reported." — Internal Revenue Service, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/report-of-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts-fbar

Practitioner note

The deadline Americans in Canada miss is not June 15; it is April 15 for payment and March 15 for the Form 3520-A on the TFSA they were told to close. We put every date on one calendar per client, pay the US estimate in April, file the T1 in April, extend the 1040 to October, and use the summer to make the two returns agree.

See also: Planning a move? Start with the Canada-to-US tax checklist and browse every corridor by city, province, and state.

Next step

Fairlight prepares the cross-border filing calendar for Americans in Canada, the extension and payment sequencing, and the information returns on their own dates. See cross-border pricing or book a call.