April 1: The first day of April definitely is not a day to fool around if you must make a required minimum distribution (RMD). This year's deadline is for folks who turned 73 in 2024 and decided to delay their first RMD.
April 5: You made it through April 1 and the month's first full week unscathed by foolish pranksters, but tax misconceptions persist year-round. Don't fall for any of these 10 tax myths as you work on finishing your return. Similarly, make sure you don't make any common filing mistakes, or overlook any tax breaks.
April 8: Tax Day is just a week away. You really tried to do your taxes yourself, but you've realized you need help. It's probably too late to find a tax professional who'll do your taxes by April 15. Sorry. They tend to book up earlier in the tax year. But there's still help available, especially if you're older or don't make a ton of money. Check into Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs in your area. These IRS-trained volunteers are happy to help eligible taxpayers fill out and file returns at no- or low-cost.
April 10: If your job is as a server at a restaurant or at any other establishment where gratuities from customers are part of your compensation, I hope you get all the tips you deserve for doing your job well. Remember, though, that those tips are taxable income.
Whether you're dining at your favorite eatery or getting food, groceries and/or prepared meals, delivered to your home, if a tip isn't included on your restaurant or delivery bill, click the image above to calculate how much to tip the person who brought it to you.
And if you got at least $20 in gratuities in March for your extraordinary services as a food server or hair stylist or parking valet or whatever job where tipping is common, you must report that amount by today. Use Form 4070 to let your employer know the total tips you took in last month.
April 12: It’s the last weekend before Tax Day. If you plan to send your completed Form 1040 to the Internal Revenue Service by next Tuesday, buckle down now. The prior months tax tips — January, February, March, and the ones so far on the April page can help.
April 15: This is it! Tax Day 2024 is here.
via GIPHY
The main task today is, of course, filing your 2024 tax year return. The IRS recommends we file electronically, which will speed up processing of returns and issuance of any refunds. And again this year, millions of taxpayers can do their taxes and e-file for free.
First, there’s the IRS-Free File Alliance partnership, which again offers no-cost online tax preparation and electronic filing to taxpayers whose adjusted gross income (AGI) is $84,000 or less, regardless of filing status at the official IRS.gov Free File website. The same eight software companies that participated last year are back for the 2025 filing season.
If your income is too high, you still can file for free by using Free File's Fillable Forms option.
You also might want to check out IRS Direct File, the IRS’ own free online tax prep and e-filing program if you live in one of the 25 states where the free online tax preparation and e-filing is offered. In addition, Direct File offers more options that apply to more taxpayers’ situations this year.
If you find you just can't get your 1040 finished today, file Form 4868 to get an automatic six-month extension. Note, however, that while this will give you until Oct. 15 to file your tax forms, you must pay any tax you owe when you file your extension form today.
April 15 also is the deadline several other tax tasks. They include:
Making your first 2025 tax year estimated tax payment. There's no extension allowed here.
Adding to your IRA, either Roth or traditional, and have that amount count as 2024 tax year contribution. Note, too, that a traditional IRA contribution is deductible for some taxpayers as an above-the-line tax deduction on your current return. Contributions for 2024 to either type of IRA also could provide eligible filers a claim of the Saver's Credit, a $1,000 dollar-for-dollar offset of any tax owed.
And if you live in a state that collects income tax, you likely must file that return today, too.
April 21: Whew! Now that filing is done (except for tax procrastinators on extension) and you've had a few days to get settled, it's time to take care of your tax records. You need to hang onto some filing paperwork just in case the IRS has follow-up questions.
April 30: Yay! We made it through the year's biggest tax month! Did you get or are expecting a big refund? Or did you end up owing Uncle Sam a lot? Either way, with your filing fresh in your mind, it's a good time for a paycheck checkup to see if you should adjust your paycheck tax withholding.
Small Business Tax Calendar: Important filing, deposit and record keeping dates throughout the year that your company needs to know. The IRS is updating the online version. Until that link is operational, you can get the full year's important business and individual tax dates in IRS Pub. 509.
Despite Texas coming in number one in this analysis, I'm happy to report that our school district tax rate
has dropped a bit from last year. So our combined 2007 property tax bill should
be a little smaller. 
I live 75 miles east of St. Louis in Southern Illinois, which is for the most part an economically depressed area. Med. Income around low $20's.
I live in a town of 16,000 people, and our property taxes here are atrocious. I have friends who have had their home on the market for 3 years, a lot of interested parties, until they see the property tax bill, no thanks. The homes aren't appreciating much in value either. My taxes for a 2900 sq. ft. home were over $8000. I could live for less in a City with a lot more to offer, than what I pay to live here. Our schools have failed to met the Average Yearly Progress for the last 2 years, yet the taxes increase every year, so I pay more and get less. As a point of reference, property taxes in the Chicago area, are on average less than in our fair city south. Less population = more taxes.
Posted by: MW - (Fed-Up with Taxes in Mousetown) | Monday, October 08, 2007 at 03:59 PM
Unfortunately this argument does not include state income taxes. Since state income taxes range from 1% to 4% of income (vs property value), it is difficult to compare apples to apples. What would truly be valuable would be a chart that compared the cost to live in each state for someone making $200,000 per year and living in a $500,000 home.
Posted by: Randy Walker | Monday, October 08, 2007 at 03:20 PM
The piece about taxes in Texas brought back not so fond memories of living in the Austin area. Currently, I'm in Key West and have a house roughly 3 times the value of my old house back in Austin. My current tax bill is still about $300 less per year than the TX house. I still maintain a lake house outside Austin and it's tax bill is about the same as mine here in FL. Like Texas, Florida has no state income tax and our sales tax is 6.5% so I'm not sure what makes up the difference or where the money goes, but it might be a good question to ask.
Posted by: Jeff R in Key West | Monday, October 08, 2007 at 02:48 PM
I live in TX (#1 on the list above), and my parents live in AL (#49 on the list). In fact I pay around double the property taxes they pay. That doesn't sound too crazy until you realize that I live in a 792 SF condo and they live in a 10,000SF house worth almost 10 times what my property is valued! But thank God I don't live in NY or NJ where people who inherit paid off homes are forced to sell because they can't afford the property taxes.
Posted by: Meg | Sunday, October 07, 2007 at 01:50 PM