IRS: More than 300,000 tax returns still expected from Kansans

As of last week, more than 983,000 Kansans had filed their tax returns, according to Internal Revenue Service data.

IRS spokesman Michael Devine said Thursday that, as of April 8, the agency had received close to 74 percent of the returns it expects to get from Kansas residents this year.

Nationwide, Devine said about 107 million tax returns had been received at last count with about 99 million of them coming in electronic form.

The deadline for filing a 2016 tax return is later than usual due to the observance of Emancipation Day – which is a legal holiday in Washington, D.C. – on April 15, the normal tax-filing deadline.

Because Emancipation Day (April 16) is on a Saturday this year, it is being observed Friday, Devine said, forcing the IRS to push back the filing deadline to Monday.

“The government will be open (Friday), but we can’t collect taxes because of the holiday,” Devine said. “The same thing happened in 2007 and 2011. The key is that the deadline will always be pushed out.”

The filing deadline will also be pushed back in 2017 and 2018 because of the conflict with the holiday.

Devine said the IRS expects as many as five million tax returns to come in nationwide on Monday alone.

Those who don’t file by 12 a.m. Tuesday morning will need to request an extension from the IRS, Devine said. The extension, however, does not apply to taxes that are owed, he said.

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 6:45 PM with the headline "IRS: More than 300,000 tax returns still expected from Kansans."