Can anybody explain simply what tax year means and when we actually file?

The tax year and when we file can definitely be confusing! Let me break it down simply: The "tax year" is indeed January 1 through December 31. When you file your taxes in 2025 (typically between January and April 15), you're filing for income earned during the previous calendar year (2024). For your specific situation: If you quit your job in March 2024, that income would be reported when you file your taxes in early 2025. The filing period (January-April 2025) is for reporting all income earned during the 2024 calendar year. When someone gets an extension to file in October, they're still filing for the previous calendar year. So an October 2025 extension filing is still for 2024 income. The extension only gives more time to file, not more time to pay any taxes owed (those are technically still due by April 15). Think of it this way: we always file "looking backward" at the previous year's income, never for current-year income that's still being earned.

After spending HOURS trying to figure out my taxes last year, I discovered this amazing AI tool that really helped me understand my tax situation. It's called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it breaks down all these confusing concepts like tax years, filing deadlines, and which income goes where. When I was confused about which year my freelance income belonged to, I uploaded my documents and it explained everything clearly. The tool analyzes all your documents and gives you personalized explanations about your specific situation. It's like having a tax expert who can actually explain things in normal human language instead of IRS-speak. Definitely saved me from making mistakes with which income belonged to which tax year.

Okay so I tried that taxr.ai tool after my skeptical comment and I have to admit it was actually really helpful. I've been confused about tax years vs. fiscal years for AGES and it cleared everything up for me. I uploaded some of my documents from multiple income sources and it explained exactly which tax year each belonged to and when I needed to report them. The coolest part was how it explained my 1099 income that spanned across different tax years. I've been filing that wrong for years apparently! No wonder I got that notice from the IRS last year. Wish I'd known about this tool sooner.

If you're still confused about tax years after all this, just wait till you need to actually CALL the IRS to get help. I spent 3 weeks trying to get through to someone about which tax year my retirement distribution belonged to. Literally impossible to reach a human. Finally found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that actually got me through to an IRS agent in under 45 minutes when I'd been trying for weeks. They have this system that navigates the IRS phone maze for you and holds your place in line. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I finally talked to explained that I had been reporting my distributions in the wrong tax year all along. Completely different from what I thought!

I have to eat my words about that Claimyr service. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I've been trying to reach the IRS about a tax year issue with my amended return. I've literally called 16 times over the past month with no success. Used the service yesterday and got connected to an IRS rep in about 37 minutes. I expected to wait all day like usual! The agent confirmed that my amended return for tax year 2023 (filed in 2024) was indeed received and being processed, which I couldn't get an answer about before. Turns out there's a huge difference between a tax year and a processing year which was causing my confusion.

Another simple way to remember the tax year thing is just "you file last year's taxes this year." That's how I keep it straight. So for everything you earn in 2024 (Jan-Dec), you file those taxes in 2025 (Jan-April). If you get an extension, you're still filing 2024 taxes, just later in 2025 (up to October). The taxes you pay from each paycheck throughout 2024 are prepayments toward what you'll file in 2025. Sometimes you pay too much (refund) or too little (you owe).

When I moved to the US from Canada I was so confused by the tax year thing! In my home country we have a totally different system. One question though - what tax year do you use for reporting investments that you've held for multiple years? Is it the year you sell the investment?

This is such a common confusion! I went through the exact same thing when I first started working. Here's what helped me understand it: Think of the tax year like a school year - it's a complete 12-month period that gets "graded" (filed) after it's over. So your 2024 tax year (Jan 1 - Dec 31, 2024) gets filed during the 2025 filing season (Jan - April 2025). For your March 2024 job situation, that income definitely goes on your 2024 tax return that you'll file in early 2025. Your employer should send you a W-2 by January 31, 2025 showing all the income and taxes withheld from that job. The key thing that clicked for me: we always file taxes for a COMPLETED year, never for the year we're currently living in. That's why when you file in April 2025, you're not including any 2025 income - that year isn't complete yet! And yes, the system is unnecessarily complicated. Most other countries make it much simpler, but we're stuck with this backwards-looking annual system.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I've been working for the IRS for 8 years and I still see this confusion constantly. The "school year" analogy is perfect - I'm definitely going to start using that with taxpayers who call in confused. One thing I'd add that might help: when you get your W-2 or 1099 forms in January, they'll clearly show the tax year (like "2024") right on the form. That's your confirmation of which year's tax return those documents belong on. Also, for anyone worried about missing deadlines or filing for the wrong year - the IRS computer systems are pretty good at catching these mistakes. If you accidentally file income for the wrong tax year, you'll usually get a notice explaining the error rather than being penalized immediately. The system IS overly complicated, but once you get the basic timeline down (earn money in Year X, file taxes for Year X in Year X+1), it becomes much more manageable. Don't be too hard on yourselves for being confused - this trips up way more people than you'd think!