Tax Day
| Tax Day | |
|---|---|
| Observed by | United States |
| Type | National |
| Significance | Due date for federal individual income tax returns |
| Date | Typically April 15 |
| 2017 date | April 18 |
| 2018 date | April 17 |
| 2019 date | April 15 |
In the United States, Tax Day is a colloquial term for the day on which individual income tax returns are due to the federal government. The term may also refer to the same day for states, even where the tax return due date is a different day.
Since 1955, for those living in the United States, Tax Day has typically fallen on April 15. For people who file a U.S. tax return and live outside the United States and Puerto Rico, Tax Day has typically fallen on June 15, because of the two-month automatic extension granted to filers by IRS Publication 54.
Emancipation Day, a holiday in Washington D.C. that is observed on the weekday closest to April 16, causes special rules to apply: When April 15 falls on a Friday, tax returns are due the following Monday; when April 15 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, tax returns are due the following Tuesday.
Federal income tax was introduced with the Revenue Act of 1861 to help fund the Civil War, and subsequently repealed, re-adopted, and held unconstitutional. The early taxes were based on assessments, not voluntary tax returns. Tax payment dates varied by act.
The case of Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. challenged the constitutionality of the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act of 1894 which taxed incomes over $4,000 at the rate of two percent. The case was decided by the United States Supreme Court in 1895. The Supreme Court decided that the Act's unapportioned income taxes on interest, dividends, and rents were effectively direct taxes. The Act was therefore unconstitutional because it violated the Constitution's rule that direct taxes be apportioned among the states. In 1913, eighteen years later, the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. This Amendment gave the United States Congress the legal authority to tax all incomes without regard to the apportionment requirement.
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