Weekend, MLK Day to delay due date until Tuesday for estimated tax

By long tradition, Jan. 15 is the date fourth-quarter estimated taxes are due to the U.S. Treasury and the Missouri Department of Revenue for individual filers.

This year, the 15th falls on a Saturday when government offices are closed.

Normally, the deadline rolls over to the next business day, which is Monday -- but Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a holiday for both state and federal governments. Lynette Halter, managing partner of H&R Block in Jackson and Marble Hill, Missouri, said it can be easy to miss paying estimated tax, which can result in late penalties.

"I find especially with our clients who are just starting out with the quarterly payment, it can take two years to get into the groove of remembering to pay it," she said.

Halter, who has been in the tax preparation business for 29 years, said it is sometimes a struggle for her not to forget.

While most of her clients prepare and pay their own estimated taxes, Halter's office prepares "five to 10" estimated tax payments each quarter, she said.

Tuesday is the official postmarked deadline for payment of both tax bills accompanied by federal Form 1040-ES and the state's MO-1040ES form.

Estimated tax payments are required for those individuals who do not have taxes automatically withheld from paychecks.