2015 Tax Returns After Deadline?

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Written by Annette Nellen | Posted in Tax Return

You likely already heard that the due date for your 2015 return is not April 15 (today), but April 18. This is due to a tax rule (IRC section 7503) that says if the required date for an act is Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday in the District of Columbia, then the action is to take place on the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday. April 16 is Emancipation Day in DC (see video). This is a legal holiday. Because it falls on Saturday this year, it is celebrated on April 15 making that day a holiday. All of this pushes the due date to April 18 for your individuals return. And most likely your state income tax return too.

At the Democratic Debate on April 14, Senator Sanders said he would release his 2014 return. I thought they were mixed up on the dates and they meant his 2015 return. But, it is the 2014 return which he released the next day (so, why did it take so long?). It is the only return he has released.

Tax Analysts has a great website of president, vice president and presidential candidate tax returns going back many years. I notice that all of the candidates have only released through 2014 (as of 4/15/16). So, will they get their 2015 return filed by April 18 or go on extension to October 17 (rather than October 15 due to the rule discussed above)? We’ll see.

I also notice that Tax Analysts has Sanders’ 4-page return that is just two pages each of federal and Vermont. The candidate’s website has the full 7-page version of the Form 1040.

I’ll have more later on what the possible value is of these tax returns anyway. And I’ll pose some questions about some of the items on the returns. Not that they are wrong, just that they look odd, such as unreimbursed employee business expenses consisting of meals. Who did Sanders take out to eat? Wouldn’t his employer reimburse these if work-related? An employee can only deduct unreimbursed employee business expenses if work-related and the employer has a policy that they can’t be reimbursed. More later.
What do you think?

Annette Nellen

Annette Nellen, CPA, Esq., is a professor in and director of San Jose State University’s graduate tax program (MST), teaching courses in tax research, accounting methods, property transactions, state taxation, employment tax, ethics, tax policy, tax reform, and high technology tax issues.

Annette is the immediate past chair of the AICPA Individual Taxation Technical Resource Panel and a current member of the Executive Committee of the Tax Section of the California Bar. Annette is a regular contributor to the AICPA Tax Insider and Corporate Taxation Insider e-newsletters. She is the author of BNA Portfolio #533, Amortization of Intangibles.

Annette has testified before the House Ways & Means Committee, Senate Finance Committee, California Assembly Revenue & Taxation Committee, and tax reform commissions and committees on various aspects of federal and state tax reform.

Prior to joining SJSU, Annette was with Ernst & Young and the IRS.