IRS Extends Tax-Filing Deadline to April 17

The Internal Revenue Service opened the 2012 tax season on Wednesday by extending the tax-filing deadline until April 17.

Taxpayers will have until Tuesday, April 17 to file their 2011 tax returns and pay any tax due because April 15 falls on a Sunday, and Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District of Columbia, falls this year on Monday, April 16. According to federal law, District of Columbia holidays affect tax deadlines in the same way that federal holidays do, giving all taxpayers two extra days to file this year. Taxpayers requesting an extension will have until Oct. 15 to file their 2011 tax returns. The IRS will begin accepting e-file and Free File returns on Jan. 17, 2012.