We Knew This Day Was Coming, and Here It Is

As his family went to church and then prepared for a dinner gathering Easter Sunday, Frank Mickens sat anxiously with a tax preparer and made some final calculations.

Mickens, 31, a computer technician from Santa Ana, had waited until nearly the last minute to file his income tax return. With today’s midnight filing deadline looming near, Mickens rushed down to an H&R; Block tax preparation office Sunday and spent an hour of his holiday filling out forms.

“I do it every year,” Mickens said sheepishly. “I just don’t like to pay taxes.”

Mickens--who wound up breaking even on taxes this year--was not alone in his procrastination. With Internal Revenue Service officials estimating that up to 50% of Southern Californians had not filed their returns as of late last week, Orange County post offices are expected to be deluged today as taxpayers scurry to beat the midnight deadline.

Usually, April 15 is the deadline for filing income tax returns. But because that date falls on a Sunday, the Internal Revenue Service allows taxpayers another day to have their returns postmarked.

“They panic,” said IRS agent Mary Laumbach in Santa Ana. “People realize they have to get their forms in, and they wait until the last minute.”

In their haste, Laumbach added, these taxpayers get confused and frequently make mistakes.

“They don’t sign the return. They file the state return with the federal government and the federal with the state,” Laumbach said.

A host of private and public tax preparation groups were working overtime this past weekend to assist the procrastinators. On Saturday, a number of IRS-sponsored volunteer tax assistance centers were kept open throughout Orange County. And on Sunday, many private tax preparation companies were open and doing a brisk business.

“After church, we’ll be hit hard,” Alethea (Lea) LaMar, H&R; Block district manager for East Orange County, said from her Santa Ana headquarters office Sunday morning.

Taxpayers like Brian McClanahan, 21, of Santa Ana, were filing steadily through the Tustin Avenue office early Sunday.

“I just put it off, I guess you’d say,” said McClanahan, an apprentice bricklayer who recently moved here from Illinois. “My fiancee got on me to get it done. I’d be shot if I weren’t here right now.”

The biggest reasons for waiting until the last minute include a fear of doing one’s taxes and the busy schedules of some taxpayers, said H&R; Block tax preparer Ed Moersch. Moersch said some taxpayers come into his office with their receipts and forms well-organized, while others bring them stuffed haphazardly in grocery bags.

“I had one self-employed guy who brought in three shoe boxes filled with receipts,” Moersch said. “It took me three hours to get him organized.”

If you are preparing your own tax forms, IRS suggests that you:

* Check your address; use your correct ZIP code.

* Check your name and Social Security number to ensure that they agree with your Social Security card.

* Answer the question on the presidential election campaign fund contribution. Your answer will not affect your refund.

* Double and triple check all mathematical computations.

* Make certain you sign the return. If filing a joint return with your spouse, both must sign.

* Remember to attach all necessary forms and schedules.

* If money is owed, make out the check to “Internal Revenue Service” rather than “IRS.”

* Remember to send your federal return to the IRS in Fresno and your California state return to the Franchise Tax Board in Sacramento.

If unable to complete a return in time for the filing deadline, taxpayers will need to obtain both state and federal extension forms, said IRS spokeswoman Sally Ruhnau in Laguna Niguel.

The IRS forms, which grant a four-month extension, can be picked up at IRS’s two Orange County walk-in offices: 34 Civic Center Plaza in Santa Ana and 24000 Avila Road in Laguna Niguel. The IRS offices are open between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

The state extension forms, which grant a six-month extension, can be picked up at the IRS’s Laguna Niguel walk-in office and at the State Franchise Board office, 600 W. Santa Ana Boulevard in Santa Ana. The state office is open between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays.

An important note from the IRS for extension filers: Both the state and federal extensions buy time only to file a return. It has nothing to do with payment owed. So if one owes money, payment must be included with the extension forms--even if it is only an estimate, Ruhnau said.

If one overestimates taxes, a refund will be returned. If one underestimates, he or she will be charged a late fee. If no payment at all is sent and one is due, the taxpayer will be made to pay interest on the tax plus a late penalty, Ruhnau said.

For last minute help with your tax return, call the IRS at (800) 424-1040 or visit a local IRS office.

WHERE TO MAIL TAX RETURNS TONIGHT

Anticipating a last-minute rush to file tax returns, eight post offices in Orange County will postmark mail right up to tonight’s midnight filing deadline.

* The general mail facility at 3101 Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana.

* The substation at 2201 N. Grand Ave., Santa Ana.

* Newport Beach’s main post office at 1133 Camelback St.

* Orange’s main post office at 1075 N. Tustin Ave.

* Anaheim’s main post office at 701 N. Loara St.

* Costa Mesa’s main post office at 1590 Adams Ave.

* Laguna Niguel’s main post office at 29911 Niguel Road.

* The branch at 24001 Calle de la Magdalena, Laguna Hills.