Tax Day 2024: Everything you need to know before proceeding to file income tax

Every year, Tax Day is observed in the United States on April 15, except under unusual circumstances. It has typically fallen on the same day every year since 1955. Tax Day is the day for individuals and small business owners to submit their income tax to the federal government and file tax returns. In simple terms, Tax Day is the due date for paying taxes a person still owes on income earned in the previous year. For more details about Tax Day like its history, changes in observation, importance, etc, keep reading this article.

Tax Day 2024 Overview

Tax Day Upcoming Events

Below mentioned are the upcoming dates for Tax Day for the upcoming 5 years.

History of Tax Day

To fund the Civil War in 1861, the US government briefly introduced federal income tax  with the Revenue Act of 1861. The tax was later revoked and again readopted where the tax payment dates varied by acts. In 1894, the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act was passed according to which incomes over $4,000 were taxed at the rate of two percent. In 1895, the Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. case challenged the constitutionality of this act which was taken up by the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decided that the Act’s uneven income taxes on interest, dividends, and rents (that were direct taxes) was unconstitutional as it violated the Constitution’s rule that direct taxes be apportioned among the states. Eighteen years after the case verdict, the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1913. After this amendment, the United States Congress was given the legal authority to tax all incomes without regard to the apportionment requirement.

The federal income tax was launched in 1913 and March 1 was selected as the deadline for filing the tax for individuals. The date was later changed to March 15 in 1918 and again to April 15 in 1955. Tax Day is still observed on April 15, unless it coincides with a weekend or holiday.

Changes in Tax Day Schedule

If April 15 is a weekend or there is a holiday observed on this day, Tax Day is delayed under such circumstances. In case of a natural disaster or pandemic too, the Tax Day is delayed. As a result, the state income agencies too delay their tax submission deadlines to remain in alignment with that of the federal government. In such cases, the federal government sets different deadlines for different states, depending on the nature of the holiday observed or the disaster that has occurred.

How is Tax Day observed?

On Tax Day, individuals earning incomes through any source file for tax payment even if their employer is the one deducting their taxes from their paychecks. Other than this, small business owners and self-employed individuals too file quarterly to pay estimated taxes and then file annual returns. Retired adults file income taxes on this day to account for their income from Social Security and any pension scheme, retirement account withdrawals, investment income, and others.

Check other Special Days in April

Frequently Asked Questions