Today’s Tax Day, Only…It’s Not.

A World War II era IRS poster.

Did you know that for the last 64 years (since 1955) the United States’ Tax Day has been April 15? When April 15 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, tax returns are due the following Tuesday.

America’s tax history is, in fact, pretty interesting. For someone who’s paid taxes for decades, I must admit this information was new to me.

• Congress passed the 16th Amendment creating the income tax on February 3, 1913. It taxed income above $4,000 and designated the first tax deadline as March 1, 1913.

• The Revenue Act of 1918 moved the deadline to March 15 while also imposing a 77% tax on the highest income to help fund World War I.

• The Depression lowered incomes so significantly that people stopped paying taxes. Congress raised rates and eliminated exemptions to fund World War II, and it became a patriotic duty to pay taxes. The Treasury Department began withholding tax payments from workers' paychecks, and the W-2 was born. 

There’s a lot of information about the IRS, taxes, and the Treasury, on the internet. And now there’s a new bit of tax history:

This year following President Trump’s emergency declaration of the Stafford Act (a federal law pertaining to natural disasters), taxpayers don’t have to pay their federal income taxes until July 15, 2020.

Author Margaret Mitchell said, “Death, taxes and childbirth! There's never any convenient time for any of them.” 

Easter Monday

For at least a dozen and a half years, I've decorated an Egg Tree in our front yard during the Lenten season. I wrote a couple of blog posts about it. You can read a little bit about it here (including some easy how-to instructions). 

When Easter falls midway through the April calendar, like it did this year, I rush to get my plastic eggs up early enough that the tree leaves and blossoms don't arrive simultaneously to my decorating. Because of the Lunar calendar, Easter is always on the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring. The earliest possible date for Easter is March 22nd (plenty of time for decorating and seeing the tree) and the latest possible date is April 25th.

Virginia 2018

Virginia 2019

This year I decided to move our Egg Tree to a new location in our yard, sharing a little Easter cheer from a new vantage point.  

Virginia 2020

By Easter, the dogwood tree is flowering and the eggs are harder to see. 

My goal is to bring a little joy and a reminder to passersby. Every year as I unbox my eggs (and create a few more), the meaning and message are the same. 

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