Taxpayers have two extra days to file income tax returns this year -- so, taxes are due Tuesday.
The deadline was extended because the normal deadline, April 15, is today, which normally would have bounced the filing deadline to Monday. But Monday is Emancipation Day, a legal holiday in Washington, D.C., home to the IRS, which then pushed the deadline to Tuesday.
With extra time, are people putting off working on their tax returns?
"Very much so," said Ardelle Hermanson, a certified public accountant in Grafton, N.D., noting an increase in last-minute filers compared to recent years.
The number of clients who are filing extensions is about the same as past years, he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Randy Kiefel, certified public accountant with Drees Riskey and Vallager in Grand Forks, said, "People are a little bit later this year than other years. Some still think the deadline is Monday, rather than Tuesday, even though there's been a lot of information out about it."
Because of the firm's client base, many are filing extensions, he said.
"They may have holdings in publically traded companies and must wait for information which is not available until March or even early April," he said. "It depends on the complexity of their return."
Tax laws have not changed much the past couple of years, he said, but there are some changes that will affect the 2012 tax year.
"The uncertainty will come in 2013 and beyond, after the elections (this fall)," he said. "Congress could extend the Bush tax credits for 2013 and beyond, but we're really not sure."
The last time taxpayers had two extra days to file was 2007, when Emancipation Day again took precedent. Emancipation Day is celebrated every year in Washington, D.C., to mark President Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Compensated Emancipation Act on April 16, 1862. The act freed more than 3,000 slaves in the District of Columbia.
However, slavery did not officially end in the rest of the country until after the Civil War in 1865.
Reach Knudson at (701) 780-1107; (800) 477-6572, ext. 107; or send e-mail to pknudson@gfherald.com .
