Every year, millions of Americans dread the inevitable; they have to gather all of their receipts and records and get ready to file their Federal Income Tax Returns. When was tax season first initiated? Here, we will take a look at that magic day of April 15 and why it was chosen as tax day.

During Abraham Lincoln’s presidency in the 1860’s, were first legally required to pay income taxes. The President and Congress created the Commissioner of Revenue and enacted a Federal Income Tax law in order to fund the costly Civil War.

The original deadline for submitting your income taxes was March 1, not April 15. It was in 1918 when the Congress pushed the date out to March 15. Then in 1954, the date was once again moved, this time to April 15, the date we still know as tax day.

If you are an individual taxpayer, you are required to file either a return or an extension (Form 4868) by April 15. Corporate and other legal group entities must file their tax return or an extension by March 15. The extension merely gives you extra time to file your tax return, not extra time to pay if you owe.

For some years after World War 2, the tax burden was shared relatively equally by the corporate world and the individual taxpayer. Today, the shift seems to be toward the individual carrying the load of the tax burden.
(more…)

April 15th – “The Day of Reckoning”! Every year, millions of Americans get ready to pay taxes to Uncle Sam, or get ready to collect a tax refund from Uncle Sam; when did this become the great day that it is for taxpayers, and when are we actually required to file a income tax return? Let’s take a look at the beginnings of the income tax date of April 15 and why it was chosen?

The first known income tax that Americans were legally required to pay was enacted during the early 1860s, and the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. The Civil War was proving very costly to finance, and the President and Congress created the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and enacted a law requiring citizens to pay federal income tax. This could be considered the start of our modern day income tax. This income tax was based on principles of graduated or progressive taxation and of withholding income at the source. The commissioner was given authority to assess, levy and collect federal income taxes. The authority to enforce tax laws by seizure of property and income and by prosecution.

Originally, the deadline for completing and filing your individual income tax was not April 15th. In the beginning, it was first set for March 1st. Then, during 1918, Congress pushed the date out to March 15th. Then, in the great overhaul of 1954, the date was once again moved forward to April 15th, and this is where it remains today. Why April 15th? The main thought from most scholars say the reasoning is that the date gives the IRS more time to handle the work load and more time to hang on to your money before offering a tax refund. This date has only been set this way for a little over 50 years. That’s not very long, in historical terms, and it could possibly be changed again.

If you are an individual taxpayer, you are required to file either a return or an extension of time to file (Form 4868) by April 15th. Corporate and other legal entities are required to file their federal income tax return by March 15th, and if not, they also must file an extension of time to file. What this extension does not do, is to extend the amount of time you have to pay any taxes due the government. So, if you are unable to ready your personal or business financial information in a timely manner, and have no reasonable estimate as to the amount of tax you may owe, you can expect to pay some form of penalty.
(more…)