When Do You File a Tax Return?
Every year, millions of Americans get ready to pay up to Uncle
Sam, or get ready to collect from Uncle Sam; when did this
become the great day that it is for taxpayers, and when are we
actually required to file a tax return? Let's take a look at the
beginnings of the 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 1860s, and the Presidency of
Abraham Lincoln. The Civil War was proving very costly to fund,
and the President and Congress created the Commissioner of
Revenue and enacted a law requiring citizens to pay income tax.
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. But, it 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 tax payer, 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 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.
In the years following WWII, the burden of tax responsibility
was shared fairly equally by the corporate world and the
individual tax payer. Today, however, the shift has been toward
more responsibility on the part of the individual, and less on
the business backs. To demonstrate how special interests have
begun to overtake American politics, during 1867, public opinion
was so strong, and the outcry of the general public so loud,
that the President and Congress repealed the income tax law, and
from 1868 until 1913 almost all of the revenue for government
operation came from the sale of liquor, beer, wine, and tobacco.
An interesting time during the formation and eventual taxation
of America occurred during 1918. Until that point in time, the
vast majority of revenue for government funding came from
alcoholic beverage sales. In 1919, Congress passed an amendment
to the Constitution that made it illegal to manufacture or sell
alcohol; what would replace the revenue? American income tax was
the proposed solution, and we've been paying since. Although
during the great years known as Prohibition, many "revenue
agents" spent their days tracking down "moon shiners" not tax
evaders, the American citizen, the individual taxpayer took on
the heavy burden of supporting government revenue, and it has
become heavier with each passing year.
Then, during 1942, the Revenue Act of 1942 was passed and the
"New Deal" era was begun. Since that point in time, government
control, power, and expenditures has continued to increase at a
phenomenal rate, and today the American taxpayer supports a
trillion dollar giant known as the United States government.
This ravenous beast consumes more than 10% of our earned income
each year, and if the Social Security Administration has their
way, will continue to consumer even more of our weekly earnings.
We can foresee no other relief in sight.
Currently, all the tax regulations for this country are the
responsibility of the Internal Revenue Service, and there are
four major divisions of this government office: the Wage and
Investment, Small/Business Self-Employed, the Large and Midsize
Business and the Tax Exempt and Government Entities. Each
division has responsibilities as they pertain to their
individual specialty.