It’s April 15! Happy Tax Day! Get your return in on time! Just kidding.
Since today is Saturday, and DC has its own Emancipation Day holiday about April 16 (the anniversary of the end of slavery in DC) with observance this year on Monday April 17, most 2023 tax deadlines are April 18. In certain areas, there may be automatic extensions, such as parts of California affected by natural disasters. The linky has some state details. If this friendly reminder doesn’t get you working on your return and you don’t qualify for an automatic extension and you still don’t get done by Tuesday, you can file a request for an extension until October. Those extensions are almost always granted. I have used them myself! They don’t require any particular reason, they know procrastination is the Great American Pastime. So relax, but if you get your taxes done sooner than later, give yourself a treat.
Thus concludes this Public Service Message.
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Who currently gets audited? As you might expect, the current system is racist and classist. It is mostly those who take the EITC who get audited. This has been a somewhat practical outcome of the IRS being short-handed. The wealthy hire lawyers and fight hard, as we see with $Rump. Results only come, if at all, after major investments of money and time on both sides. The EITC check is a simple mailed letter that usually brings fast results.
But here’s an interesting detail: Study showed that the most targeted person is a single black male taking the EITC, regardless of whether or not he claimed dependents. Why this happens is unclear, as the IRS does not share its algorithm. However, almost certainly if returns are flagged that have the highest magnitude of possible underpayment, audits will shift to the wealthy and a higher percentage of white men.
More interesting IRS facts: About 65% of IRS employees are women, 60% are white. IRS employees are more likely than employees at other institutions to speak Spanish and to be Democrats. So now you know.
