We have just cusped over mid-April. For most of us that means nicer spring weather is ahead and our taxes are officially behind us. However, you may have noticed this year that tax season lingered on a few extra days.

For some, this extra time was welcomed, allowing them to still file on time. Still, the question remained: why was Tax Day April 18 this year, and when did it begin to be April in the first place?

In 1913 the 16^th Amendment permanently enacted the federal individual income tax. Back then, only the top 4% of US income earners filed a tax return, and because of this and the simpler tax laws the due date was March 1^st. As time went on, the filing threshold lowered and tax laws grew in complexity. Finally in 1954, Congress adopted a major revision to the Internal Revenue Code, including the pushing back of the due date to April 15. That leads us to today, where the due date has been April 15 for as long as many of us can remember. So why change it this year?

Any time a deadline falls on a weekend, the IRS pushes the due date to the following Monday. However, any federal holiday also pushes the due date back by a day. So Saturday April 15 was pushed to Monday, and since Emancipation Day was observed in Washington, D.C. on April 17 this year, Tax Day was pushed back an additional day to April 18, 2023.

There you have it, a brief history of the federal individual income tax and why 2023 saw a change in Tax Day. If you have any questions over your return or need assistance filing an extension, please give our office a call at (402) 932-8815.

Sincerely,

W.E. Stevens PC