Extra three days for taxes!

11 April 2016

Have you finished your taxes yet? If not, the government has a happy surprise: You have an extra weekend to get them done.

The deadline for federal taxes this year is April 18, rather than the usual date of April 15. That’s because this year, Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia is celebrated on April 15 and all Federal offices are closed. Emancipation Day is usually celebrated April 16, but that’s a Saturday this year, so it’s observed on the 15th.

Emancipation Day commemorates the April 16, 1862 signing by Abraham Lincoln of the Compensated Emancipation Act, which freed 3100 slaves in the District of Columbia, almost nine months before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

If you live in Massachusetts or Maine, you get one more extra day because April 18 is Patriots’ Day, celebrated in those two states. So federal taxes in Massachusetts and Maine are due on Tuesday, April 19. (Please note that estimated taxes, which are mailed, are due on the 18th, even for residents of Massachusetts and Maine.)

I’d suggest checking your own state and local deadlines, however. Here in St. Louis, we have until the 18th to file state taxes, but city earnings taxes are due on the 15th as usual, as far as I can tell from the city’s website.

Procrastinators, rejoice!

Tagged with: procrastination, taxes