Tax day
Tax day is the deadline to file your return and pay what you owe. In the US it's usually April 15, and paying late adds penalties and interest.
🌍 In the real world
The IRS charges a failure-to-pay penalty of 0.5% of the unpaid tax for each month it's late, up to 25%, plus interest. Filing late costs more: 5% a month.
Employees have tax taken from each paycheck, so most people only settle the difference on tax day. Investors and the self-employed often pay quarterly estimates instead.
Example
Owe $1,000 and pay it two months late: the failure-to-pay penalty is about $10, plus interest.
🎮 In Journey Shares
The game's tax year is a week. Taxes owed build up and are due on tax day, Monday 12 AM ET. Pay any time before then, or they're taken from your cash, savings or shares with a 0.5% late penalty, the real IRS monthly rate. →
🧭 How to use it
Check what you owe on your portfolio during the week and pay early with the Pay tax button. If tax day comes and your cash is short, the game takes it from savings or sells shares, and adds the late penalty.
🎮 Learn Tax day the fun way
Try it in a live 3D city with play money: trade shares in real public figures, get margin-called, pay your taxes and rob a bot or two. Free, and nothing real is at stake.
❓ Common questions
Why is US tax day April 15?
It moved from March 15 to April 15 starting in 1955, giving the IRS more time to handle a growing number of returns.
What if I can't pay in full?
File on time anyway, because the late-filing penalty is bigger than the late-payment one, then pay what you can or set up an IRS payment plan.
📜 Where it came from
🔗 Related terms
- Capital gains tax: Capital gains tax is tax on the profit from selling an investment for more than you paid.
- Standard deduction: The standard deduction is a fixed amount of income that isn't taxed at all.
- Tax bracket: A tax bracket is a range of income taxed at one rate.
- Fiscal policy: Fiscal policy is the government's use of spending and taxes to influence the economy.
Categories: Taxes
Practise with $10,000 in play money
Free. No real money involved.