SERVICE EXPLAINS LEGAL HOLIDAY FILING REQUIREMENTS FOR TAX RETURNS AND ESTIMATED INCOME TAX PAYMENTS.

Rev. Rul. 90-5

ISSUE

In the situations described below, by what date must the specified act be performed if the due date for performing the act falls on a Saturday or Sunday that is followed on Monday by Patriots' Day, a legal holiday in Massachusetts and Maine?

FACTS

In each of these situations, April 15, the due date for performing the act, falls on either a Saturday or a Sunday. The following Monday is Patriots' Day, a legal holiday in Massachusetts and Maine but not in any other state.

SITUATION 1. A, an individual who is a resident of Connecticut, files A's federal income tax return on a calendar year basis. Individuals who are residents of Connecticut are required to file their returns at the Andover, Massachusetts, Internal Revenue Service Center.

SITUATION 2. B, an individual who is a resident of Massachusetts, files B's federal income tax return on a calendar year basis. Individuals who are residents of Massachusetts are required to file their returns at the Andover, Massachusetts, Internal Revenue Service Center. B also makes installment payments of estimated income tax for the calendar year. Individuals who are residents of Massachusetts are required to send their estimated income tax payments to a depository in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

Section 6072(a) of the Internal Revenue Code provides that individual income tax 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.

Section 6654(c) provides that the due date for the first required installment payment of estimated income tax payment is April 15.

Section 7503 of the Code provides that when the last day for performing any act falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, performance of the act is considered timely if it is performed on the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. In general, the term "legal holiday" is limited to federal legal holidays and those in the District of Columbia. However, section 7503 provides that, in the case of any return required to be filed at any office of the Secretary, or at any other office of the United States or any agency thereof, located outside the District of Columbia but within an Internal Revenue Service district, the term "legal holiday" includes a statewide legal holiday in the state where the office is located.

The third Monday in April is a statewide legal holiday, Patriots' Day, in Massachusetts and Maine. Mass. Ann. Laws. ch. 4, section 7(18) (Law. Coop. 1988); Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 4, section 1051 (1988). When April 15 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday is the third Monday in April.

The purpose of section 7503 of the Code is to extend the time for performing any act required by the internal revenue laws when the last day for performing the act would be a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. Thus, when April 15 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, a taxpayer ordinarily would have to perform the specified act on or before the following Monday to be timely. However, in Massachusetts, where the Andover Service Center is located, that Monday is a statewide legal holiday. Accordingly, because A in Situation 1 and B in Situation 2 are required to file their federal income tax returns in Massachusetts, where the following Monday is a statewide legal holiday, A and B have until the third Tuesday in April, the next day after April 15 that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, to make a timely filing. The fact that A is not a resident of Massachusetts is of no consequence.

B in Situation 2 is required to make installment payments of estimated income tax to a depository in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a state in which the third Monday in April is not a statewide legal holiday. Accordingly, B in Situation 2 must make the installment payment of estimated tax on or before the third Monday in April for the act to be timely. The fact that B is a resident of Massachusetts, a state in which the third Monday in April is a statewide legal holiday, is of no consequence.

HOLDINGS

A in Situation 1 and B in Situation 2 must file their federal income tax returns on or before the Tuesday immediately following Patriots' Day.

B in SITUATION 2 must make the estimated income tax payment on or before Monday, Patriots' Day.

When April 15, the due date for filing federal individual income tax returns, falls on a Monday, that date is also Patriots' Day in Massachusetts and Maine. The holdings stated above are equally applicable when April 15 is Patriots' Day.

DRAFTING INFORMATION

The principal author of this revenue ruling is Beverly A. Baughman of the Office of Assistant Chief Counsel (Income Tax and Accounting). For further information regarding this revenue ruling, contact Ms. Baughman on (202) 566-3980 (not a toll-free call).