Key tax dates and to-do list: July 2026

July is the month for stars & stripes, but it’s also a sweet spot of the tax year, the lull between the spring filing crunch and extension season. For tax professionals who want to differentiate their practice, mid-summer isn’t downtime; it’s a great time to deepen client relationships, bring about planning opportunities, and lay the groundwork for a smoother fourth quarter. Clients are often more relaxed and reachable this time of year, which makes the summer ideal for meaningful conversations that go far beyond compliance.

This is the season to move from preparer to advisor. Business clients are now sitting on roughly six months of real income and expense data, making it the perfect moment to revisit year-end projections, stress-test estimated tax payments, and identify entity structure changes, such as S-corp elections or retirement plans that still have time to take effect in 2026. For individual clients, summer often brings life events worth noting: a job change, marriage, home purchase, new dependent, or even an inheritance. Proactively checking in on these changes now means fewer surprises at year-end and stronger trust throughout the advisor/client relationship.

Mid-summer is also an excellent window for practice-building work that gets crowded out during busy season. Consider investing time in professional development. Attend summer conferences, get your CPE, and learn more about any legislative changes you may have missed. Read up on workflow improvements, software upgrades, and staff cross-training. Firms that use July and August strategically emerge in September better organized, better informed, and better positioned to serve clients when the year-end planning intensity picks up again.

In July, it is recommended that you:

• File Q2 payroll and excise returns. Prepare and file Forms 941, 720, and 5500 (see below for Form links). Confirm all June payroll deposits are reconciled before filing.
• Identify Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) candidates in your client base. Review business owner clients who hold C-corp stock, have startup investments, or considering entity conversion. The One, Big Beautiful Bill changes make this the right time to initiate that conversation.
• Review entity conversion opportunities. For clients considering S-corp to C-corp conversion for QSBS purposes, July is the ideal window to begin the analysis and enough lead time to implement before year-end if the facts support it.

Key Compliance Dates

Friday, July 10: Tips reporting for June (Form 4070). Employees who received $20 or more in tips during June must report to their employer.

Tuesday, July 14: Regular-method excise taxes deposit for the last 15 days of June.

Wednesday, July 15: Monthly payroll tax deposit for June (Form 941).

Monday, July 27: Communications and air transportation taxes deposit for the last 15 days of June.

Wednesday, July 29: Regular-method excise taxes deposit for the first 15 days of July.

Friday, July 31:

• Form 941 for Q2 2026 due.
• Form 720 (Q2 excise tax) and PCOR Fee due. Form 5500 for employee benefit plans (calendar-year plans). Wagering tax (Form 730) and Heavy Highway Vehicle Use Tax (Form 2290) for June due.

Intuit® Accountant Resources

• Key Tax Facts for 2026 and Key Tax Facts for 2025
• The July 2026 calendar with filing deadlines and reminders for you and your clients.
• Tax update for TY26: Navigating the OB3 Act and more
• One Big Beautiful Bill summary and tax changes
• Navigating the tax landscape
• IRS annual inflation adjustments for tax years 2025 and 2026