The tax calendar is not a comprehensive list of all tax dates that apply to individuals and businesses. For example, it does not include employment or excise tax deposit rules. The calendar also does not cover filing forms and other requirements for federal estate taxes, gift taxes, trusts and estates, exempt organizations, certain types of corporations, or foreign partnerships.
I’ve put together some of the key dates in a chart form for quick reference:
Click on the document to see it bigger or to download. You also can see the entire tax calendar, complete with more information on employment and excise due dates in IRS Publication 509(downloads as a pdf).
These dates apply to calendar year taxpayers since most individuals and companies are on a calendar year. If you file your return on a fiscal year basis as opposed to a calendar year, you’ll need to make some changes. Generally, you’ll move your estimated payments ahead to correspond with the appropriate quarter for your fiscal year (i.e. if your year begins in February, your first quarter begins February 1 and not January 1). With respect to tax forms, the due date for your tax return is usually the 15th day of the fourth month after the end of your tax year; make adjustments accordingly. That’s how we ended up with April 15 (the calendar year ends on December 31 and April 15 is the 15th day of the fourth month after the year end).
If the due date for a return or deposit falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, your return or deposit is considered timely if it is filed or deposited on the next business day (the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday). For these purposes, the term legal holiday means any legal holiday in the District of Columbia. The tax calendar makes the adjustment for Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays: April 15 falls on a Tuesday this year, so there’s no extra time for individuals to file this year, but March 15 falls on a Saturday, giving corporations two extra days to file.
It’s worth noting that a statewide legal holiday delays a due date for filing a return only if the IRS office where you are required to file is located in that state (but keep in mind that a statewide legal holiday does not delay a due date for making a federal tax deposit). Here’s a quick peek at where you most likely file your return, for reference:
Most filing and processing centers are located in states with no state holidays in April (shakes fist at Missouri) so you won’t get a break. And while Patriot’s Day occasionally falls on Tax Day, historically resulting in a delay, that doesn’t matter now: the IRS doesn’t process individual returns in Maine or Massachusetts these days so taxpayers in Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and the District of Columbia no longer have the luxury of that occasional extra filing day.
The one consistent exception is the District of Columbia. Since D.C. is our national capital, taxpayers everywhere get a break when Emancipation Day falls on Tax Day. Unfortunately, not this year: that happened last in 2012.
The real difference in filing dates this year starts at the beginning: the IRS has indicated that the filing season will start late this year – perhaps as much as two weeks, landing us in February for a start date. We don’t have a firm date yet (I’ll update when that information is made public). This delay will not change your due dates: Tax Day remains April 15 in 2014.
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