on December 17th, 2010 President Obama signed into law a tax package that would keep the same tax rates for 2 more years, while implementing a 2011 payroll tax holiday, extending $1000 child tax credit and reimplementing the estate tax.
While I was glad that the current rates were extended, even if it was a temporary compromise solution, I wasn’t very happy about how long they waited to do it because it threw a wrench in the system when it came to filing taxes. Millions of people who itemize on their taxes, myself included, were to have a delay until mid-February when filing their taxes.
Due to the tax filing delays a lot of people weren’t able to get their tax refunds as soon as they usually do. But thankfully, this past Monday marked the last day that itemizers would have to wait, and the delay is now over.
Those Who Itemize Can Now File With The IRS
Because of how late in the year the tax bill was passed (December 17th, 2010), the IRS announced earlier this year that the estimated 50 million taxpayers who itemize their deductions would not be able to file taxes until the IRS had a chance to update their software to account for the tax package. Sometime in late January the IRS announced that February 14th would be the first day that itemizers could file their taxes and have it accepted.
While the delay applied to an estimated 50 million taxpayers who itemize their taxes, of those only about 9 million would have actually filed in January in February anyway.
Tax Filing Deadline Pushed Back In 2011
For those of you who are procrastinators like I am, you’re in luck this year. The tax filing deadline has been pushed back this year because of a government holiday on the 15th of April. Tax day will be on Monday the 18th of April this year.
Remember, even if you can’t pay your entire tax bill, you need to file!
Checking Tax Refund Status Is Easy
If you filed your taxes by now, all you need to do is wait for your big fat refund check to arrive in the mail (if you’re getting a refund). Here’s a post talking about how to check the status of your refund, both for federal and for each of the states.
Were you planning on filing your taxes earlier in the year, and had to wait because of the delay? Tell us about it in the comments.
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