Alabama Form 40V is the payment voucher you send with a check or money order when you owe individual income tax to the Alabama Department of Revenue (ADOR). You use it for three situations: a balance due with your original return, additional tax owed on an amended return, or an extension payment made while you wait to file. If you pay electronically, you do not use this form at all.1Alabama Department of Revenue. Form 40 Booklet
When to Use Form 40V
Form 40V attaches to a paper payment for Form 40, Form 40A, or Form 40NR. The three triggers are:
- You filed your return and owe a balance.
- You amended a previously filed return and owe additional tax.
- You need more time to file and are sending an extension payment to cover what you estimate you owe.
The form booklet is explicit that you should not use Form 40V when paying by ACH debit or credit card.1Alabama Department of Revenue. Form 40 Booklet Sending a paper voucher after paying through My Alabama Taxes can create a duplicate charge.
One boundary worth knowing: quarterly estimated tax payments do not go on Form 40V. Those use Form 40ES, a separate voucher with its own schedule.
Filling Out the Voucher
The form is short, and every field matters because the ADOR uses the entries to route your money to the correct account and tax year.
- Enter the primary taxpayer’s full legal name and current mailing address. On a joint return, include your spouse’s name.
- Enter the primary filer’s Social Security Number, and the spouse’s SSN if filing jointly.
- Provide a daytime phone number so the ADOR can reach you if something needs clarification.
- Enter the tax period as the year-end date the payment covers, formatted as 12-31-2025 for the 2025 tax year.
- Check one payment-type box: Return, Amended, or Automatic Extension Payment.
- Enter the exact dollar amount you are paying.
Transposing a digit in the SSN or the tax-period year is the fastest way to send your payment to the wrong place. Verify both before you print.
Preparing the Check or Money Order
Make the check or money order payable to the Alabama Department of Revenue. On the memo line, write your SSN, a daytime phone number, and the tax year, for example “2025 Form 40.”1Alabama Department of Revenue. Form 40 Booklet If the voucher and payment get separated during processing, that memo-line information is what matches them back together.
Place the voucher and payment loosely in the envelope. Do not staple or paper-clip them to each other or to your return. ADOR processing equipment separates these documents, and fasteners cause damage or delays. Make a copy of the voucher and both sides of the check for your records before sealing the envelope.
Where to Mail Form 40V
The correct P.O. Box depends on whether a paper return is in the same envelope.
With your paper return (Form 40):
Alabama Department of Revenue
P.O. Box 2401
Montgomery, AL 36140-00011Alabama Department of Revenue. Form 40 Booklet
Voucher and payment only, such as an extension or amended-return payment:
Alabama Department of Revenue
P.O. Box 327467
Montgomery, AL 36132-74672Alabama Department of Revenue. Individual Income Tax Payment Voucher
Using the wrong box does not void your payment, but it can slow processing by days or weeks while the ADOR routes it internally.
Deadlines and the Extension to File
Alabama individual income tax is due on the same date as the corresponding federal return, which for most filers is April 15.3Alabama Department of Revenue. Due Dates If April 15 falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.
Alabama grants an automatic six-month extension to file, pushing that deadline to October 15, with no form to submit.4Alabama Department of Revenue. Can I Apply for an Extension to File My Return? This is only an extension to file. It is not an extension to pay. If you expect to owe, send your payment with Form 40V by April 15. The automatic extension protects you from the failure-to-file penalty; interest and the failure-to-pay penalty still accrue on any unpaid balance from the original due date.
The 2025 USPS Postmark Change
The ADOR uses the postmark date to decide whether a payment is timely, so a payment postmarked on or before April 15 counts as on time even if it reaches Montgomery days later.
Starting December 24, 2025, the USPS began postmarking mail at regional processing facilities rather than at the local post office where it was dropped off. A letter you drop in a blue collection box on April 15 may not be postmarked until it reaches the regional center a day or two later, which makes it technically late.5Alabama Department of Revenue. NOTICE New USPS Postmark Procedures Could Affect Time-Sensitive Forms
The ADOR recommends two ways to protect the date:
- Take the envelope to the post office counter and ask the clerk to hand-stamp it with that day’s date.
- Buy postage at the counter rather than at a self-service kiosk, so the printed label carries the acceptance date.
If you are mailing anywhere near the deadline, the counter visit is worth the trip.
Penalties and Interest If You Pay Late
Missing the payment date triggers two separate charges that run at the same time.
Failure-to-Pay Penalty
If you file but do not pay the full balance by the deadline, Alabama adds 1% of the unpaid tax for each month or partial month the balance remains outstanding, up to a maximum of 25%.6Alabama Administrative Code. Alabama Administrative Code Rule 810-14-1-.30 – Penalty for Failure to Timely Pay Tax
Failure-to-File Penalty
Filing late is a steeper one-time charge: 10% of any additional tax due with the return, or $50, whichever is greater.7Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code Title 40 Revenue and Taxation 40-2A-11 It applies even if you eventually pay in full, and it does not apply if your return shows no tax due at the time you file. The automatic extension to October 15 is what shields you from this penalty.
Interest
Interest runs on unpaid tax from the original due date. The 2026 rate is 7% per year, calculated daily.8Alabama Department of Revenue. Quarterly Interest Rates Alabama law ties the rate to the federal underpayment rate set by the U.S. Treasury.9Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 40-1-44 – Interest on Delinquent Taxes and Overpayments Interest has no cap and continues until the balance is paid.
If You Cannot Pay the Full Amount
Owing more than you can pay is not a reason to skip filing. File on time (or within the automatic extension period) to avoid the failure-to-file penalty, and send as much as you can with Form 40V to shrink the balance that is accruing interest and the failure-to-pay penalty.
Formal payment plans are available through the My Alabama Taxes portal, but only after you have received a Notice of Final Assessment or a Notice of Intent to Offset your federal refund. Plans require automatic ACH withdrawals from a checking or savings account, with a $25 monthly minimum and a 24-month maximum term.10Alabama Department of Revenue. Can I Set Up a Payment Plan? While a plan is active, the ADOR will still intercept state and federal refunds and apply them to the balance. Voluntary payments outside a formal plan reduce what you owe but do not stop the collections process.
Paying Electronically Instead
If you would rather skip the voucher, the My Alabama Taxes portal accepts credit card, debit card, and ACH debit payments for individual income tax.11Alabama Department of Revenue. Make A Payment Electronic payments post faster than mailed checks and sidestep the postmark issue entirely. Credit and debit cards may carry a convenience fee charged by the payment processor, not by the ADOR; ACH debit pulls directly from your bank account and typically has no fee.
Filing and paying are independent. You can mail a paper return and pay online the same day. Just leave Form 40V out of the envelope when you do.1Alabama Department of Revenue. Form 40 Booklet