Procrastinators, rejoice! Tax Day isn’t April 15 after all

If you took a look at your iPhone calendar this week, you may have noticed a looming deadline coming up Friday: Tax Day. For anyone who panicked, don’t worry. Apple doesn’t have it together, either. Their calendar, like most that state Tax Day is April 15, is actually wrong. Early in the year, the IRS clarified that taxpayers have until April 18 to file their taxes, giving you an extra three days of glorious procrastination until your taxes are due.

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April 15 is the traditional deadline for filing state taxes. This year, however, April 15 is being used to observe Emancipation Day, a holiday that marks Abraham Lincoln’s signature of the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in America. Because the holiday is recognized in Washington D.C., where the IRS is located, the last-minute taxpayers among us get a whole extra weekend to get our affairs in order.

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Although all states that require state taxes have the deadline pushed back to at least April 18, all taxpayers should check their state filing deadline. Maine and Massachusetts both have an additional day tacked onto the three-day delay in observance of Patriots’ Day, meaning residents don’t have to pay Uncle Sam until April 19. Other states, such as Delaware and Iowa, give residents until the end of the month to file.

And bear in mind that the IRS considers the day your tax return is postmarked — not the day it’s received — as the day it’s filed. So if you’re squeaking by, just getting it in the mail is enough.

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For those who tend to leave filing their taxes until the last possible second, this is great news, especially because the deadline allows for an extra weekend to devote to crunching those dreaded numbers.

So if you’re among the procrastinators of the world, sit back and relax. You have the whole weekend to keep putting off your taxes before the last-minute panic really needs to set in.