Today is well-known as Tax Day, or the day that the procrastinators among us finally get around to filing our tax returns (or file for an extension so that we can continue to put off the day of reckoning). Tax Day is often an object of lampooning and humor (after all, who likes paying taxes), but I thought I’d highlight both the history of Tax Day—as well as some of the exceptions to the mid-April tax filing deadline.

Section 6072 of the Code prescribes the 15th of April as the day upon which “returns made on the basis of the calendar year shall be filed.” That section was added to the Code in 1954—prior to 1955, individuals had until March 15 to file their taxes. While the IRS does not publish daily statistics to tell us who the über procrastinators are (i.e., the ones who waited until the very last day), we can get a pretty good sense of it. Around 20 million individuals file their income tax returns in the week including tax day, representing about 10–15% of the total returns filed. (This is, very roughly, the same number of returns that are filed after April 15, either because they are delinquent or have an applicable extension.)

Of course, there are a few exceptions to the “file your taxes by April 15” rule:

1. Anyone can file for a six-month extension for filing their tax return. This is automatically granted, though it does not grant the taxpayer an extension on paying the liability, so to avoid interest and penalties, a taxpayer generally must
2. Nonresident alien individuals have until June 15, provided they are not subject to wage withholding.
3. U.S. citizens and resident aliens are allowed a two-month extension until June 15 if they are living outside of the United States.
4. Members of the military and those supporting the military in a combat zone are permitted to postpone filing their tax returns.
5. When April 15 either falls on a weekend or legal holiday, it is moved to the first non-holiday business day. (The relevant holidays are Emancipation Day, which is celebrated in the District of Columbia on April 15 when April 16 is a Saturday, and is considered a “legal holiday” nationally, and Patriots’ Day,¹ which is celebrated in Maine and Massachusetts on the third Monday in April and is therefore a “legal holiday” for residents in those states. Thus, when Emancipation Day is on April 15, all taxpayers get the weekend to file their taxes; when Patriots’ Day is on April 15, generally only residents of Maine and Massachusetts get the extension.)

1. The holiday is “Patriots’ Day” in Massachusetts (and also Marathon Monday in Boston) and “Patriot’s Day” in Maine. It commemorates the first battles of Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy in the American Revolution. ↩︎