I've been sweating trying to get my taxes finished by April 15th, only to realize that we're getting a couple extra days this year. If you need to file an extension, here's what you need to know.

If there's one thing about living in Minnesota, it's that our taxes will kick you in the butt HARD. When we finish our taxes we gasp at what we owe the Federal government, then get a slap from the other direction to see what we owe Minnesota for our state taxes. It's always much less, but still is that last straw that breaks us.

Thankfully this year, April 15th lands on Sunday, so why aren't taxes due on Monday? On Monday, the District of Columbia celebrates Emancipation Day. On that day in 1862, President Lincoln freed the slaves in the nation's capital. Although a local holiday, Emancipation Day affects taxes the same way federal holidays do. (Source: The Balance)

The IRS is giving us until Tuesday the 17th to have our taxes postmarked, so if you're a procrastinator like me, you'll live it up this weekend and worry about starting your taxes on Monday. Yes, my tax guy HATES me.

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Every year for the last 5-years I've had to file an extension. If you didn't know this is an option and you're sweating cause you aren't even close to ready to file in the next 5-days, at least do this right now. According to Forbes, If you file an extension before the 17th you'll get an additional 6-months to get your taxes done. There's no fee to file an extension, and 10 million Americans do it each year.

Keep in mind though, if you file and extension you WILL get interest charges if you owe money to the IRS. It's better than having to pay a penalty on top of interest though.

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