The Internal Revenue Service is moving the tax filing deadline from the traditional April 15 to May 17. The move comes as the agency is still struggling to process returns from 2019 which were delayed due to coronavirus restrictions:

This will give taxpayers additional time to file their 2020 tax returns and pay any amounts owed to the IRS. Because May 15 falls on a Saturday, the final deadline for filers may be the following Monday.

The move from the IRS and Treasury Department comes after calls to extend the tax season increased following the passage of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which meant the agency was tasked with sending another round of stimulus payments while processing tax returns and refunds.

While this makes sense, the most sensible move of all would be passing the kind of tax reform that would make tax filing relatively painless – be it a flat tax or a national sales tax.

Failing that, tax day should coincide with Election Day, giving voters the ideal opportunity to sound off on politicians’ and their tax and spend records.

Image Credit: By Joshua Doubek (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons