26 U.S.C. § 6072 — Time for filing income tax returns

submitted 72 years ago by ch. 736 to r/title-26-INTERNAL-REVENUE-CODE · 549 words · no verdicts yet

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This law sets income tax return filing deadlines. Most calendar-year returns are due April 15, but partnerships and S corporations must file by March 15. Nonresident aliens, foreign corporations, cooperatives, and exempt organizations get different deadlines, mostly in May, June, or September.

(a) This subsection covers income tax returns filed under sections 6012, 6013, or 6017. A return on a calendar-year basis must be filed by April 15 after the calendar year ends. A return on a fiscal-year basis must be filed by the 15th day of the fourth month after the fiscal year ends. These deadlines apply unless one of the later subsections sets a different one. (b) Partnerships filing under section 6031, and S corporations filing under sections 6012 and 6037, follow different deadlines. On a calendar-year basis, they must file by March 15 after the year ends. On a fiscal-year basis, they must file by the 15th day of the third month after the year ends. A DISC's return under section 6011(c)(2) must be filed by the 15th day of the ninth month after its taxable year ends. (c) This subsection covers certain nonresident alien individuals and foreign corporations. It excludes aliens whose wages are withheld under chapter 24, and it excludes foreign corporations with a U.S. office or a former FSC. For those covered, a calendar-year return under section 6012 must be filed by June 15 after the year ends. A fiscal-year return must be filed by the 15th day of the sixth month after the year ends. (d) This subsection covers income tax returns of certain cooperative associations, described in section 1381(a)(1) or 1381(a)(2). It applies to associations that pay patronage dividends equal to at least half their net earnings from patron business. A calendar-year return must be filed by September 15 after the year ends. A fiscal-year return must be filed by the 15th day of the ninth month after the year ends. (e) This subsection covers returns of organizations exempt from tax under section 501(a), other than employee trusts under section 401(a). Their return must be filed by the 15th day of the fifth month after the taxable year ends.

facts

- Located at 26 U.S.C. § 6072, titled "Time for filing income tax returns," within the Internal Revenue Code. - Originally enacted August 16, 1954, by ch. 736, 68A Stat. 749. - Comprises 549 words across five subsections (a)–(e) addressing different filer categories. - Amended eight times, most recently by Pub. L. 114–41, § 2006(a)(1), July 31, 2015, 129 Stat. 457. - Source credit cites nine distinct public laws spanning from 1954 through 2015.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) General rule

In the case of returns under section 6012, 6013, or 6017 (relating to income tax under subtitle A), returns made on the basis of the calendar year shall be filed on or before the 15th day of April following the close of the calendar year and returns made on the basis of a fiscal year shall be filed on or before the 15th day of the fourth month following the close of the fiscal year, except as otherwise provided in the following subsections of this section.

(b) Returns of partnerships and S corporations

Returns of partnerships under section 6031 and returns of S corporations under sections 6012 and 6037 made on the basis of the calendar year shall be filed on or before the 15th day of March following the close of the calendar year, and such returns made on the basis of a fiscal year shall be filed on or before the 15th day of the third month following the close of the fiscal year. Returns required for a taxable year by section 6011(c)(2) (relating to returns of a DISC) shall be filed on or before the fifteenth day of the ninth month following the close of the taxable year.

Returns made by nonresident alien individuals (other than those whose wages are subject to withholding under chapter 24) and foreign corporations (other than those having an office or place of business in the United States or a former FSC (as defined in section 922 as in effect before its repeal by the FSC Repeal and Extraterritorial Income Exclusion Act of 2000)) under section 6012 on the basis of a calendar year shall be filed on or before the 15th day of June following the close of the calendar year and such returns made on the basis of a fiscal year shall be filed on or before the 15th day of the 6th month following the close of the fiscal year.

(d) Returns of cooperative associations

In the case of an income tax return of—

(1)

an exempt cooperative association described in section 1381(a)(1), or

(2)

an organization described in section 1381(a)(2) which is under an obligation to pay patronage dividends (as defined in section 1388(a)) in an amount equal to at least 50 percent of its net earnings from business done with or for its patrons, or which paid patronage dividends in such an amount out of the net earnings from business done with or for patrons during the most recent taxable year for which it had such net earnings,

a return made on the basis of a calendar year shall be filed on or before the 15th day of September following the close of the calendar year, and a return made on the basis of a fiscal year shall be filed on or before the 15th day of the 9th month following the close of the fiscal year.

(e) Organizations exempt from taxation under section 501(a)

In the case of an income tax return of an organization exempt from taxation under section 501(a) (other than an employees’ trust described in section 401(a)), a return shall be filed on or before the 15th day of the 5th month following the close of the taxable year.

Source credit: (Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 749; Pub. L. 87–834, § 17(b)(3), Oct. 16, 1962, 76 Stat. 1051; Pub. L. 92–178, title V, § 504(b), Dec. 10, 1971, 85 Stat. 551; Pub. L. 94–455, title X, § 1053(d)(3), title XIX, § 1906(b)(13)(A), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1649, 1834; Pub. L. 95–628, § 6(a), Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3630; Pub. L. 98–369, div. A, title VIII, § 801(d)(13), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 997; Pub. L. 110–172, § 11(g)(20), Dec. 29, 2007, 121 Stat. 2491; Pub. L. 113–295, div. A, title II, § 220(u), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 4036; Pub. L. 114–41, title II, § 2006(a)(1), July 31, 2015, 129 Stat. 457.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1954Enacted · Act of Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736
1962Amended · Pub. L. 87-834 · 76 Stat. 1051
1971Amended · Pub. L. 92-178 · 85 Stat. 551
1976Amended · Pub. L. 94-455 · 90 Stat. 1649, 1834
1978Amended · Pub. L. 95-628 · 92 Stat. 3630
1984Amended · Pub. L. 98-369 · 98 Stat. 997
2007Amended · Pub. L. 110-172 · 121 Stat. 2491
2014Amended · Pub. L. 113-295 · 128 Stat. 4036
2015Amended · Pub. L. 114-41 · 129 Stat. 457

The source credit establishes that this section originated as part of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, enacted August 16, 1954 (ch. 736, 68A Stat. 749). It has since been amended at least eight times, by Pub. L. 87–834 (1962), Pub. L. 92–178 (1971), Pub. L. 94–455 (1976, in two places), Pub. L. 95–628 (1978), Pub. L. 98–369 (1984), Pub. L. 110–172 (2007), Pub. L. 113–295 (2014), and Pub. L. 114–41 (2015). This pattern indicates a provision that has been repeatedly revisited by Congress over six decades, consistent with a technical, administrative rule subject to periodic recalibration rather than a one-time policy enactment. Historical context. The 1954 enactment occurred as part of the comprehensive recodification of the federal tax laws that year, which reorganized and consolidated income tax provisions, including rules governing the timing of return filings. The Act is generally understood to have been intended to modernize and systematize the tax code inherited from earlier statutes. The record does not establish the specific legislative purpose behind each subsequent amendment listed in the source credit, such as why particular deadlines were adjusted for partnerships, S corporations, cooperatives, or exempt organizations at various points. Many such changes to filing-deadline provisions in the tax code are commonly associated with broader efforts to coordinate deadlines across related return types, but this section's history does not itself document specific reasons for each change, and no such intent should be inferred beyond what the amendments' dates and citations show.

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