You Know What Today Is? April 15, 2011March 24, 2017 NOT TAX DAY . . . . . . because it’s Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia, and – though the taxpayers there are denied representation in Congress – their holiday is honored by the IRS. Monday your taxes are due. If you can’t complete your return by Monday, file Form 4868 for an extension. Monday is also the day your first 2011 quarterly estimated tax payment is due, if you have had appreciable taxable income this year on which no tax was withheld. That’s Form 1040-ES. TOGETHER FOREVER Steve Baker: “Thought you might be interested in this story from the Toronto Star about a couple celebrating their 50th year together.” (“In a life rich with famous friends and dazzling diamonds, Toronto socialites Alan Hanlon and Andy Body have one priceless treasure — each other.”) ☞ When the time comes, they want their cremains to rest in side-by-side stainless steel martini shakers. These two items are related because if you’ve been together for 50 years – or even just 50 days – and you’re legally married in Iowa or Massachusetts (say) and you’re gay, then you have three more days to decide . . . IS IT OK TO LIE TO THE IRS? IS IT MANDATORY? The federal government does not yet recognize your marriage – must you lie on your Federal Form 1040 (under penalty of perjury) and say you are single? As a practical matter, I’d say not: The IRS is not likely to come after you for telling the truth. But you can learn more of the pros and cons, if you’re curious about them, on the Refuse to Lie site and from this excellent New York Times report. AND SPEAKING OF MARRIAGE Did you see that the right-winger who organized last summer’s national bus tour against same-sex marriage – who actually drove the bus – has changed his mind? On his tour, he wound up actually meeting the gays who were following his bus in protest. Once he came to see them as nice people like him with the same kinds of hopes and fears as anyone else, he decided they should have the same rights and respect as anyone else. Go figure. FINALLY Might criminal prosecutions be looming for some of the folks who were involved in the housing bubble and Wall Street’s collapse? Goldman Sachs (and others) in the hot seat? Hats off to Senator Carl Levin for pursuing this. If no one did anything wrong, no one should be prosecuted. But it’s high time we took a look. Have a great weekend.