Don't Mess With Taxes

A quick post to point out a couple of blog additions as we near Tax Day 2006.

If you haven't voted in the poll to your left, please take a few minutes to do so. I'll be changing it here in a day or so. Please vote in that new one and subsequent polls, too.

And speaking of days, they are quickly dwindling when it comes to how many you have left to get your taxes done. So I've added a countdown section to your right.

For most of us, our returns or requests for more time must be filed, either electronically or by snail mail, on Monday, April 17. We get the two extra days because this year the 15th falls on a Saturday, pushing the deadline to the next business day.

And folks in six Northeastern states (and D.C.) get even more time, thanks to our Revolutionary forebears.

April 17 is Patriots' Day, a state holiday in Massachusetts.

Originally celebrated on April 19, in 1969 the holiday was moved to the third Monday of April.

Although Patriots' Day is a state holiday, whenever it coincides with the federal tax filing deadline, the IRS traditionally recognizes the commemoration. It was, after all, taxes that prompted our fight for independence.

This year is no different. The IRS has announced that taxpayers whose federal returns are handled by its Andover, Mass., processing center have until April 18 to get the material on the way to that location. This means 24 more hours for filers in Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and the District of Columbia.

To avoid confusion, the IRS has decided that all taxpayers in these states will get the extra day, even if they happen to be sending certain federal payments or forms to locations outside Massachusetts. So regardless of where your IRS filings go, be it Massachusetts or Montana, if you live in one of the states listed above, you have until April 18 to file, either electronically or on paper, the following:

• 2005 federal individual income tax returns, whether filed electronically or on paper;
• Requests for an automatic six-month tax-filing extension, whether submitted electronically or on Form 4868;
• Tax year 2005 balance-due payments, whether made electronically (direct debit or credit card) or by check;
• Individual estimated tax payments for the first quarter of 2006, whether made electronically or by check; and
• Individual refund claims for tax year 2002 where the regular three-year statute of limitations is expiring. (You can read more about this filing situation here.)

If you must file state tax returns this year, double check with your state's revenue office about the deadline to make sure it also is granting the extra day. You can find links to your state's tax officials here.

And when you're done with your taxes on the 17th, or even if you're still working on them, take a break and check out the 110th Boston Marathon being run that day. Most of us taxpayers can fully appreciate this convergence of tax obligations and a grueling race!