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It’s Tax Day today, but what time are they do and how much time do you have left to file?
The old adage of death and taxes being the only constants in life seems fitting for today. It’s Tax Day, aka the day we all share a collective shiver of panic when we try to remember if we filed or not. Some of us are savages and file them like Ned Flanders on the first day we can. Others — like me — wait until the very last minute to put together a return and file it to the IRS.
Just how long is it until the true last minute?
There isn’t a real deadline for filing taxes as far as a cutoff. Instead, you need to consider the method of filing that you used: online or traditional.
If you filled out your taxes online or using a tax program on the computer, you have already bought yourself more time to file. Make sure you submit your taxes before 11:59pm in your time zone to be safe as the receipt you receive will have a time stamp on it indicating you filed on Tax Day. It will also be a searing reminder of what a profound procrastinator you are.
Those of you who filed on paper or need to print your return, the window is a little tighter. You’re really at the mercy of the Post Office — and those people are useless in more ways than can be counted. Seriously, I ordered a T-Shirt and somehow it got marked as delivered despite never appearing in my mailbox. Whenever you order something through UPS and you get a notification that it has been transferred to the USPS, you cue up ‘Johnny Boy’ and have a small funeral for whatever was supposed to come.
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Anyways, the fine folks at the Post Office will dictate whether or not you get your taxes filed in time. Your deadline is whatever the closing time is for your Post Office of choice, so be sure to choose very wisely.
