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2010 Tax Filing Deadline Extended to April 18

The IRS has given taxpayers a three-day extension to file 2010 tax returns this year, because Emancipation Day, a Washington D.C., holiday that celebrates the freeing of slaves, falls on Friday, April 15.

The Internal Revenue Service has given taxpayers a three-day extension to file 2010 tax returns this year, because Emancipation Day, a Washington D.C., holiday that celebrates the freeing of slaves, falls on Friday, April 15.

Taxpayers now have until midnight, Monday, April 18, to file their 2010 tax returns. Taxpayers who need to file for an extension, however, will have until Monday, Oct. 17 to file their returns.

District of Columbia holidays impact tax deadlines just as federal holiday do, the IRS says. By law, filing and payment deadlines that fall on a weekend or legal holidays are extended until the next business day.

If you typically itemize deductions on your returns — and about one-third of all U.S. tax filers do -- you’ll have to wait a little later this year to get your return processed anyway. Last month, the IRS said it would take longer than usual to process claims because Congress took too long to get around to deciding on how to handle the 2011 expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts. The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 didn’t become law until Dec. 17, 2010, and as a result the IRS has had to scramble to reflect the changes in its forms and processing system.

Taxpayers who itemize, and those who claim state and local sales-tax deductions, higher-education tuition and fees deductions, and the educator-expenses deduction, will need to wait to file their tax returns, the earliest the IRS anticipates it will be able to begin processing forms.

Those who don’t itemize and file using the IRS e-file and FreeFile systems can begin filing their returns on Jan. 14, 2011, the IRS says.

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