Income Tax Deadline Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research

Here’s a look at the annual income tax filing deadline in the United States. April 18, 2022, is the deadline to file 2022 income tax returns.

Filing Statistics

The Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30.

Fiscal Year 2021
The IRS amassed almost $4.1 trillion in gross tax collections and issued almost 600.1 million refunds, totaling over $1.1 trillion.

Individual Income Tax Returns Filed
Total Number of Returns: 167,915,264
Gross Amount Collected (in thousands of dollars): $2,706,298,354

Total Individual Income Tax Refunds (does not include economic impact payments)
Number: 247,437,667
Amount (in thousands of dollars): $1,049,901,291

Where Do The Taxes Go?

(Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, FY 2022)
Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, marketplace subsidies 25%
Social Security 21%
National Defense 13%
Economic security programs 11%
Benefits for veterans & federal retirees 7%
Interest on debt 7%
Education 3%
Transportation 2%
Natural resources and agricultrue 1%
Science and medical research 1%
Law enforcement 1%
International 1%
All other 5%

Timeline

1862 – During the Civil War, the IRS is born when President Abraham Lincoln and Congress create the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and enact an income tax to pay war expenses. The first income tax levies 3% on incomes between $600 and $10,000 and 5% on anything over $10,000. This income tax lasts until 1872.

1895 – The Supreme Court rules in Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan and Trust Co. that taxing incomes uniformly throughout the United States is unconstitutional.

1913 – The 16th Amendment is ratified by the states, giving Congress the authority to enact an income tax. Congress also introduces the first 1040 form and levies a 1% tax on personal incomes over $3,000 with 6% surtax on incomes of more than $500,000.

1954 – The tax filing deadline is moved from March 15 to April 15, to give taxpayers more time to prepare their returns.

January 3, 1996 – Congress enacts the Taxpayer Bill of Rights to ensure relief from overzealous collection efforts on the part of IRS personnel.

March 20, 2020 – Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin tweets that tax day is moving from April 15 to July 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

March 17, 2021 – The IRS announces the filing deadline has been moved from April 15 to May 17, to allow filers more time to navigate tax situations complicated by the coronavirus pandemic.

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