FSA Run-Out Period vs the Plan-Year Deadline

A run-out period extends the time to submit claims for expenses you already incurred. It never extends the time to incur new ones. Your plan document sets the deadline, and no IRS rule sets a maximum length.

The FSA deadline calculator leaves that date blank until you type it in, because there is no federal default to fall back on. This page explains what the date is and where to find yours.

The definition, in the regulation that carries it

The run-out period is defined in the proposed section 125 regulations at §1.125-1(f):

“Run-out period. A cafeteria plan is permitted to contain a run-out period as designated by the employer. A run-out period is a period after the end of the plan year (or grace period) during which a participant can submit a claim for reimbursement for a qualified benefit incurred during the plan year (or grace period). Thus, a plan is also permitted to provide a deadline on or after the end of the plan year (or grace period) for submitting a claim for reimbursement for the plan year. Any run-out period must be provided on a uniform and consistent basis with respect to all participants.”

Three things follow from that paragraph. A plan is permitted to have one, so a plan without one is not breaking a rule. The employer designates it. And it must apply the same way to everyone in the plan.

Submitting is not spending

Notice 2013-71 sets the two periods side by side in a single footnote. A run-out period is “a period immediately following the end of a plan year during which a participant can submit a claim for reimbursement of expenses incurred for qualified benefits during the plan year.” A grace period, by contrast, is a period “during which a participant may use amounts remaining from the previous plan year … to pay expenses incurred for certain qualified benefits during that two-month-and-15-day period.”

The difference is the word incurred. During a grace period, new expenses count. During a run-out period, only expenses dated on or before the last spending day count, no matter when you send the receipt.

Deadline	What it is the last day to do	Who sets it
Plan-year end (the spend-by date)	Incur expenses	Your plan document
Grace period end	Incur expenses, using last year’s money	Your plan, capped at 2½ months — the 15th day of the 3rd month after the plan year ends1
Run-out period end	Submit claims for expenses already incurred	Your plan; no IRS maximum

The two rows can coexist. Notice 2013-71 notes that “a run-out period may also be provided immediately following the end of a grace period instead of immediately following the end of a plan year”, so a plan with a grace period can have a submission deadline that sits after the grace period closes.

Why there is no standard date

Notice 2005-42 mentions the run-out period only as something employers already did: “As under current practice, employers may continue to provide a ‘run-out’ period after the end of the grace period, during which expenses for qualified benefits incurred during the cafeteria plan year and the grace period may be paid or reimbursed.”

That is the whole federal treatment. The regulation defines the term, Notice 2005-42 permits it to continue, and Notice 2013-71 uses it. None of the three states a minimum or a maximum number of days. This site records the deadline as Set by your plan — often 60–90 days after the plan year ends², and the “often 60 to 90 days” half of that phrase is what administrators commonly write, not what the IRS requires.

The practical consequence is that the number you read on a benefits blog is somebody else’s plan. Ninety days after a December 31 plan year lands on March 31, 2027, a Wednesday. Sixty days lands on March 1. Both are plausible; only your plan document decides.

Where to find yours

The date appears in three places, in descending order of authority: the plan document or Summary Plan Description, the administrator’s claim portal, and the notice your employer sends after the plan year closes. Where they disagree, the plan document governs.

What a carryover does not do

A carryover of up to $680³ for a plan year beginning in 2026 moves unused money forward. It does not move the submission deadline. Notice 2013-71 defines the carryover amount as what remains “after medical expenses have been reimbursed at the end of the plan’s run-out period for the plan year”, so the run-out period runs first and the carryover is calculated from what survives it.

That ordering matters for anyone holding receipts. A claim filed inside the run-out period reduces last year’s balance, which can reduce the amount that carries over. The money is not lost either way; which pot it comes out of changes.

What is an FSA run-out period?

A run-out period is the window after the plan year ends during which you can still submit claims for expenses you incurred during the plan year. Prop. Treas. Reg. §1.125-1(f) defines it as a period “during which a participant can submit a claim for reimbursement for a qualified benefit incurred during the plan year”.

Is the run-out period the same as the grace period?

No. A grace period extends the time to incur new expenses; a run-out period extends only the time to submit claims for expenses already incurred. A plan may have both, and the run-out period can be set to follow the grace period rather than the plan year.

Does the IRS set a maximum run-out period?

No. The proposed regulation defines the run-out period and leaves its length to the employer, and neither Notice 2005-42 nor Notice 2013-71 attaches a limit. The frequently repeated 90 days is an administrative convention.

What is a typical FSA run-out date?

Sixty to ninety days after the plan year ends is the range administrators commonly use, which for a December 31 plan year puts the date somewhere between March 1 and March 31. Your plan document carries the only date that binds your claims.

What happens if I miss the run-out deadline?

The claim is not reimbursed, and the money behind it is forfeited under the use-it-or-lose-it rule. The expense was valid; the deadline for proving it was not met, which is why the forfeiture rule treats the two dates as separate risks.

Can a plan have a run-out period and a carryover?

Yes. Notice 2013-71 assumes it: the carryover is measured from the amount unused “at the end of the plan’s run-out period for the plan year”. The run-out period settles last year’s claims and the carryover moves whatever is left.

Does the run-out period let me buy anything new?

No. Only expenses incurred on or before the last day of the plan year, or of the grace period where the plan has one, are reimbursable from that year’s money. The date on the receipt is what the plan tests, not the date you file.