Taxpayers nationwide have until Tuesday, April 17, 2007, to file their 2006 returns and pay any taxes due, the IRS announced recently.

Why the extra time? Because April 15 falls on a Sunday in 2007, and the following day, Monday, April 16, is Emancipation Day, a legal holiday in the District of Columbia. (By law, filing and payment deadlines that fall on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday are timely satisfied if met on the next business day.)

In past years, the later deadline applied just to individuals in the District of Columbia and six eastern states who are served by an IRS processing facility in Massachusetts, where Patriots Day will be observed on April 16. But now, the IRS has given the extra time to taxpayers across the country.

The April 17, 2007 deadline applies to the following:

• 2006 federal individual income tax returns, filed electronically or mailed on paper.
  
• Requests for an automatic six-month tax-filing extension, submitted electronically or on Form 4868.
  
• Tax year 2006 balance due payments, made electronically (direct debit or credit card) or by check.
  
• Contributions to a Roth or traditional IRA for the 2006 tax year.
  
• Individual estimated tax payments for the first quarter of 2007, made electronically or by check.
  
• Individual refund claims for tax year 2003, where the regular three-year statute of limitations is expiring.

Next year, take it easy at tax time.  Have ASAP do your books this year, so that everything is ready to go next year.  Contact us ASAP for an appointment.