The History of April 15th Tax Day, LFG Daily - December 18, 2025

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Why April 15th Became Tax Day — And What It Teaches Us About Planning Ahead

Every year, April 15th shows up like clockwork.

It’s circled on calendars, whispered about at dinner tables, and dreaded by anyone who hasn’t looked at their numbers yet. But few people stop to ask a simple question:

Why April 15th?

The answer is more interesting than you might think—and it carries an important lesson for your financial life today.

Tax Day Wasn’t Always April 15th

When the modern federal income tax was created in 1913, Americans didn’t file in April at all.

The original deadline was March 1st.

Back then, the tax code was relatively simple, returns were filed on paper, and there were far fewer deductions, credits, and reporting requirements. As the U.S. economy grew, so did the complexity of taxation—and the government quickly realized March 1st wasn’t practical.

By 1918, the deadline was pushed to March 15th, where it stayed for decades.

Then came the post-war economic boom, the expansion of the middle class, and a tax system that grew more layered every single year.

Finally, in 1955, the IRS officially moved Tax Day to April 15th—not to give taxpayers a break, but to give the government more time to process the growing volume of returns.

April 15th wasn’t about convenience.It was about complexity catching up with reality.

The Deadline Stayed — Even as Taxes Got Harder

Fast forward to today.

We have:

• Multiple income streams

• Stock compensation and side hustles

• Retirement accounts with different tax rules

• Capital gains, losses, and carryforwards

• Required Minimum Distributions

• Medicare premium thresholds

• State and local tax considerations

  
  

Yet we still treat April 15th like a finish line instead of what it really is.

A checkpoint.

Most tax mistakes don’t happen because people miss the deadline. They happen because people wait until the deadline to think about taxes at all.

April 15th Is a Rearview Mirror, Not a Windshield

By the time you file your return, the year is already over.

You’re looking backward—documenting decisions you already made, income you already earned, and taxes you can no longer change.

Real tax planning doesn’t happen in April.

It happens:

• When income is earned, not reported

• When investments are sold, not summarized

• When retirement distributions are planned, not forced

• When Roth conversions are evaluated before year-end

• 
  

April 15th is simply the moment you see the consequences.

The Planning Lesson Hidden in Tax Day

The history of April 15th tells us something important:

As financial lives become more complex, reaction becomes more expensive.

The investors and retirees who do best aren’t scrambling in April. They already know what their tax bill will look like long before they file. They’ve made intentional decisions throughout the year—with their CPA and advisor working together, not in silos.

Taxes aren’t just a compliance issue.They’re a strategy issue.

A Different Way to Think About Tax Season

Instead of asking:

“How much do I owe?”

The better question is:

“What decisions can I make now that change what I’ll owe later?”

That shift—from reporting to planning—is where real value is created.

April 15th will always be Tax Day.But the people who win financially treat it as a reminder, not a deadline.

A reminder that the best financial plans aren’t built in a rush—they’re built intentionally, throughout the year.

Don’t leave your financial future up to chance. Let’s build a plan that gives you confidence today and peace of mind for tomorrow. Click here to schedule a meeting — I’m here to help you take the next step toward financial freedom.

Colin Symons, CIO Lloyd Financial Group

The House passed a Republican health care bill without ACA subsidies, while the Senate passed a defense spending bill.

Trump announced $1,776 checks for active-duty servicemen.

Foreign flows into Japanese bonds rose to eight-month highs last week ahead of an expected rate hike.

China split off a Belgium-sized island for the purpose of creating a new Hong Kong-style commercial hub.

Santa turned into Grinch yesterday as AI stocks got hit on a quickly discredited claim that an ORCL datacenter wasn’t getting funding. OK, then.

Micron beat estimates and raised guidance by quite a bit, moving the stock up 10%. The only potential blemish is that capex was raised, something that seems to have hit names, recently.

Can the gains stick, this time?

Elliott built an over $1B position in LULU and is pushing for reforms, sending the stock up 5%.

CPI and jobless claims, today. The ECB, BoE, and several other banks also have rate decisions.

What does it all mean?

Markets are trying the Santa thing again on the back of MU earnings. Can we stick, this time?

The Fed had their latest balance sheet expansion this morning and bitcoin jumped. Coincidence? Maybe.

They’re doing it again on Friday, so we’ll see what happens.

My attitude is that the Fed actions are actively working on solving the one problem the market had-- liquidity.

For what it’s worth, short-term financing got better this morning, but credit spreads didn’t.

Barring unforeseen trouble, which can happen, I don’t see why we shouldn’t go back to a market that looks more like September action.

Worries in the AI space have been a little slow to leave, as ORCL is using a different source to finance an AI center. How big of a deal is that? I don’t think it is, but we’ll see how the market plays out as the week continues.

We’ve seen this game before, most notably declaring TSLA dead over and over again. I view this as systematic selling that can easily reverse. I just don’t see fundamental problems, so the odds of higher prices seems high.

Lots of give-up in the AI theme, today. That can change rapidly.

MU, the memory company, reports tonight, in another tell for the AI trade. It should be good but the market has been quick to punish AI names, of late.

I’m reluctant to take risk off, as these are conditions where big up moves can start. We’ll see what happens, though. Equal-weight SPX (RSP) is currently up with the market down fairly well. Definitely places to invest.

Don’t leave your financial future up to chance. Let’s build a plan that gives you confidence today and peace of mind for tomorrow. Click here to schedule a meeting — I’m here to help you take the next step toward financial freedom.

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