💸 Tax Day Reality Check: The Big Picture in 2026

🏔️ Closer to home (Colorado):

Today (April 15) is the deadline to file and pay your Colorado state income taxes.

✔️ You can file for an extension until October 15

❗ But you still need to pay at least 90% of what you owe today to avoid penalties

📬 Mailing your return? Read this carefully:

Yes — a tax return mailed on the due date is generally considered on time under the IRS “mailbox rule.”

⚠️ But starting in 2026, there’s a catch:

• The official postmark may reflect when USPS processes your mail, not when you drop it off

• Dropping it in a mailbox on April 15 could result in an April 16 postmark (late!)

✅ The safest move:

Take it to the post office counter and request a hand-stamped postmark (round-date stamp) or a PVI receipt to prove it was sent on time.

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Today is Tax Day — and while many of us are filing returns or making payments, it’s worth stepping back to look at the bigger financial picture for our country.

📊 Here’s where things stand:

The United States is currently running a year-to-date federal deficit of about $1.2 trillion just halfway through Fiscal Year 2026. That means in just six months, we’ve spent over a trillion dollars more than we’ve brought in.

📉 The full-year projection?

➡️ Around $1.9 trillion deficit — nearly 6% of our entire economy (GDP).

💰 Meanwhile, our national debt has now surpassed $39 trillion, and the cost of just paying interest on that debt is on track to exceed $1 trillion per year.

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📌 The full FY 2026 budget snapshot:

For Fiscal Year 2026 (Oct 1, 2025 – Sept 30, 2026):

• Total Spending: $7.4 trillion

• Total Revenue: $5.6 trillion

• Projected Deficit: $1.9 trillion

• Spent so far (as of early April): $3.65 trillion

In other words… we’re already halfway through the year and halfway through the spending.

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📌 Where is the money going?

The majority of federal spending — about 86% — is concentrated in a few major areas:

• Social Security: ~22%

• Health & Medicare: ~28% combined

• Interest on the Debt: ~14%

• National Defense: ~13%

One striking reality: interest on the debt is now one of the largest line items in the entire federal budget.

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🤔 So what does this mean for us?

This isn’t about politics — it’s about math.

We need to have an honest conversation about long-term sustainability.

Because if we don’t address it now, the next generation won’t just inherit opportunity — they’ll inherit the interest payments too.

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💬 On this Tax Day, it’s worth asking:

How do we balance responsibility today with prosperity tomorrow?

Let’s have that conversation.

Note: the Colorado Constitution requires a balanced budget (meaning the state cannot legally run a deficit like the federal government).