Today is the day that millions of Americans are rushing to get their federal and state income taxes filed for 2009! Have you ever wondered why April 15 is designated as Tax Day? Well, here's why according to Fortune magazine:
"Actually, Congress originally put tax day on the calendar. When the 16th Amendment, which allows Congress to institute the income tax, was adopted on Feb. 3, 1913, Congress chose March 1--one year and a few dozen days later--as the deadline for filing returns. Then, with the Revenue Act of 1918, Congress inexplicably moved the date forward to March 15. The next overhaul came in 1955, when buried between tax-code revisions was yet another date change, this time to April 15. According to an IRS spokesman, the move "spread out the peak workload," but there's another explanation. Turns out that as the income tax applied to more of the middle class, the government had to issue more refunds. "Pushing the deadline back gives the government more time to hold on to the money," says Ed McCaffery, a University of Southern California law professor and tax guru. Still, the IRS's rigidity works in your favor: By law, it must mail your refund within 45 days or pay you interest."
I hope you enjoyed a brief Tax Day lesson! Don't forget you can file your federal return for free on www.turbotax.com using the Free edition!
Until next time...
Katie, Ashby Hall Director
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