Taxpayers in Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and the District of Columbia will have until April 18, 2006 to file returns and pay any taxes due, according to formal guidance issued Monday as Notice 2006-23 by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The extension is being given because April 17 is Patriot’s Day, a state holiday, in Massachusetts and Maine. If the filing and payment deadlines fall on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday they are extended to the next business day, by law. Since April 15 falls on a Saturday this year, the deadlines were already extended to April 17, nationwide. Although the holiday only affects those returns and payments sent to the IRS processing center in Andover, Massachusetts, all taxpayers in the six eastern states and the District of Columbia will get the extra day, regardless of where they are instructed to send payments or returns.

The April 18 deadline applies to any of the following when filed by taxpayers in the six eastern states and the District of Columbia:

• 2005 federal individual income tax returns, whether filed electronically or on paper;
• Requests for an automatic six-month tax filing extension, whether submitted electronically or on Form 4868;
• Tax year 2005 balance due payments, whether made electronically (direct debit or credit card) or by check;
• Individual estimated tax payments for the first quarter of 2006, whether made electronically or by check; and
• Individual refund claims for tax year 2002 where the regular three-year statue of limitations is expiring.