Posted on 04/14/2015 8:30:28 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Because the first Tuesday after the first Monday in April would have been too obvious.
“April 15 was chosen as Tax Day, the deadline for filing and paying your taxes.”....
Although “passed” as a law, they forgot to notify everybody since many of those in gubmint have missed that part.
#3 NAILED IT.
A history professor of mine said the formula for election day is actually the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. He said it was established that way so it would always be on a Tuesday and would never fall on November 1, a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation.
My tax preparer got so buried and behind trying to deal with Obamacare issues (for other clients), they didn’t get my return done and had to file an extension. I’ve never filed an extension before, hope it doesn’t garner extra scrutiny from our friendly IRS.
Yes. But there’s more to it than that.
It’s also placed well enough after the Xmas Holiday (and shopping) season that people don’t really start thinking about it until after the New Year. It poses no psychological impediment to spending money, and doesn’t place a burden on businesses to get their documentation (W-2s) together and out to employees until after the holidays at over. As well as annual budgeting exercises, etc which are usually need on calendar year or fiscal year starting Oct 1.
But, as you also point out, it’s far enough in advance of election day that the sting of it has pretty much evaporated by the time it comes to vote. In realty it’s optimally placed on the calendar to have as neutral an impact on just about any other type of annual activity except Spring Break.
There once may have been a good argument to move Tax Day closer to election day, but now it would be a disaster.
Your typical low information voter now gets a HUGE tax “refund” every year courtesy of EITC and employer overwithholding (employers which underwithhold are at risk of severe penalty ... so they withhold even from employees highly likely to have no FIT liability). This has become so predictable that the tax preparation chains now advertise Tax Day as a second Christmas. The >last< thing you want that guy thinking about it how much he LOVES Uncle Sugar.
Anyway, April 15 isn’t a bad day. We couldn’t really have an earlier tax day, because investors and business people can’t even start to prepare their returns until the accountants finish the calendar-year business-level tax calculations and give them their K-1s, 1099s, and Schedule C / Schedule D data. And a later day delays financial reconciliation for taxpayer and government alike.
I propose we move Election Day to the first Tuesday after April 15th.
Further, income tax withholding should be deposited into a personal tax account so that instead of seeing the difference in amount paid and owed, taxpayers would write ONE check for the full amount. If they have to withdraw that much money, they will NOTICE it.
Finally, we should move Inauguration Day to July 4th and make the ceremony part of our National holiday.
If a politician is really serious about lowering tax rates and with the scope and power of the IRS -- really serious -- all they need do is eliminate payroll withholding. Everyone would pay the same amount they do today, but when they are forced -- ultimately at the point of a gun and under threat of debtors prison -- to write a check every three months to the IRS they will be stunned into realization of how much they must pay. They will see a direct relationship between what the government confiscates with what they earn and with their normal living expenses.
Then, when (I'd estimate) 90 percent do not have the money to pay what they must, the tax code will be changed within the month. It may take slightly longer before the IRS megabureaucracy is dissolved.
Simply eliminate payroll withholding. Everything else will follow automatically.
End withholding and make people pay quarterly — January 15 (still trying to handle the Christmas bills), April 15 (traditional filing date), July 15 (summer vacation time), and October 15 (just a couple of weeks from Election Day.)
I would add that tax withholding should be abolished, so that all taxes would be due on that one day to give a bigger appreciation for the size of the Federal bite.
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You’ve got to “federalize” that a bit ... All taxes must be paid in full on April 15th , if you are due a refund you must still pay taxes owed, the refund amount will be issued 90 days AFTER payment in full for the taxes owed are received
And that was a big shock to my teenage son this year.
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