Most American tax payers know that their annual income tax return is due on April 15 each year. Every year this date is marked by traffic disruptions and lengthy lines at the post office as people filing at the very last minute try to get their tax returns postmarked by the deadline. These disruptions have decreased some in recent years due to the rise of online filing, yet every year there are always many thousands of people that mail in physical returns and wait to the very last day to get them in the mail. In fact, for many people it seems almost like a game; waiting until the last possible minute to do their taxes and get them in the mail before the deadline hits.

One of the odd facts about this trend is that many of the last minute filers are precisely the people that would stand to benefit the most by filing much earlier. It seems that a majority of the people that wait until the very last minute to file their taxes have extremely simple tax situations, use the 1040EZ form to file and can safely expect a tax refund as opposed to having to pay additional taxes. For these people, waiting until the very last minute increases the processing time and delays the arrival of their expected tax refunds considerably longer than would be the case if they had filed earlier.

People with more complex tax situations tend, on average, to file much earlier. This is primarily because it is important for them to work out the amount owed – either the additional amounts owed to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the amount owed back to them as a refund – long in advance of the deadline. The more complicated someone’s tax situation is, the higher the likelihood that there will be some little problem or omission that drastically effect the end result, therefore it only makes sense to work everything out with plenty of time to spare for revisions or changes. Suddenly discovering something that was unexpected at the last minute tend to mean that the person filing the return will be forced to make time consuming amendments to their return after they have been filed, following the basic process connected to filing form 1040X which only increases the chances of more problems.

Therefore, for most people – whether they have a simple or complex tax situation – it generally makes much more sense to file in advance. The IRS will accept tax returns as early as January, but more often than not it is better to wait until the middle of February at the earliest to file. This is because Congress has a habit of adding new options or possibilities that can affect the previous year’s tax return at the beginning of the year. A recent example of this was the decision to allow people to claim charitable contributions made to help with earthquake relief in Haiti as a 2009 deduction instead of claiming it on the 2010 return. People that qualified for this additional option – people who had made deductible contributions to help in Haiti – and waited until February or March would be able to take advantage of this, while people that had filed in January would not be able to without filing an amendment.

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