SAN ANTONIO – Worried about making that April 15 deadline for your taxes? Don’t worry — the deadline is April 18 this year due to a holiday observed in Washington D.C.
That gives you one extra weekend to either file your taxes or file for an extension.
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By law, Washington, D.C. holidays impact tax deadlines for everyone in the same way federal holidays do, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
Washington D.C. observes the Emancipation Day holiday on April 16 to commemorate the signing of the Compensated Emancipation Act by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. The act freed more than 3,000 slaves in the District of Columbia.
However, since April 16 is on a Saturday this year, the holiday is being observed on April 15, which also happens to be tax day.
“This has been a rough busy season because we haven’t had to hit an April fifteenth deadline in 3 years,” said Laurie Meridith, tax manager at Sol Schwartz & Associates.
The tax filing deadline was pushed to July 15 in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and was pushed to June 15 in 2021 due to the Texas winter storm.
“Then we get to 2022 and we are facing the same staffing shortages every other industry is, dealing with ever-changing tax law both from tax reform and acts related to COVID,” Meridith said.
She said the silver lining, however, is the extra three days that consumers get to file their taxes.
“Extension payments, tax return payments, and 2022 1st quarter estimated payments are also due April 18,” Meridith said. “But keep in mind that if you are paying via the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, the payment must be initiated by 8 p.m. the day before the payment is due.”
Taxpayers requesting an extension will have until Oct. 17 to file their taxes, according to the IRS.
If you’re still waiting on the IRS to process your tax return from a previous year, you can still file your 2021 taxes. You can find more information about the previous year’s tax returns on IRS.gov.