We typically assume that April 15 is the tax due date for individuals. However, many individuals including farmers file an extension which gives you until October 15 (or later if it falls on a weekend or holiday) to finally file their personal tax return.
However, April 15 has not always been the due date.
The 16th Amendment was ratified in 1913 (the year after my father’s birth) and the first tax return was originally due on March 1.
In 1918, the tax deadline was moved to March 15, and this date remained as the deadline until 1955 when it was finally pushed back a month to the current deadline of April 15.
The special March 1 filing for Farmers is typically called the farmer’s due date, but it is technically not a due date. The March 1 filing allows the farmer to skip making one estimated tax payment on January 15 if they file and pay their taxes by March 1.
This has been some chatter to eliminate the March 1 filing option and in my personal opinion I believe this would be a good thing. Too many rushed returns are pushed out the door on March 1 for farmers when in many cases the farmer receives a Form 1099 for dividend income on February 27, etc.
Paying a small estimated tax payment on January 15 in many cases and then paying the remainder of the tax owed on April 15 can be economically beneficial to many farmers.
We shall see if it ever goes away.