This year, the Internal Revenue Service is doing you a solid and giving you a little extra time to file your taxes.
According to Consumerist, the deadline to file in 2016 has moved to Monday, April 18 — a whole three days later than the usual due date.
If you thought the IRS is pushing the date back out of the goodness of their hearts, we're sorry to say that's not the case. This year, April 15 happens to also be Emancipation Day, a public holiday in Washington, D.C., that honors the day President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, which outlawed slavery in the District of Columbia.
Also, residents of Maine and Massachusetts will have an additional day to file their taxes this year, due to Patriot's Day. Their due date is April 19.
Last month, Congress approved a $290 million budget increase to help the IRS improve its customer service. In 2015, taxpayers complained of hang-ups en masse. Fewer than half of all calls were connected to a staff member, which is not the greatest. So far this year, an additional 1,000 customer service representatives have been hired. Additional help will also be readily available online.
Early-bird taxpayers can start filing on January 19.
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