Filing date for Form 1040 – personal tax return

Normally, the filing date for a Form 1040 is April 15 of each year unless that day falls on a weekend or a legal holiday. Since April 15, 2011 falls on a Friday, the question is why did the IRS change the filing date this year to April 18, 2011? The reason is that April 15 falls on a holiday in the District of Columbia. The holiday is Emancipation Day and is a celebration of the day Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act that freed 3,100 slaves in D.C. Since the IRS considers holidays in D.C. to be legal holidays, the IRS changed the filing date to Monday, April 18.

If you are filing for an extension, your tax return must be filed by Monday October 17, 2011. That is because October 15, the normal extension filing date, falls on a Saturday.