Taxpayers Are Waiting Longer to File Returns : IRS: Many say they’re procrastinating because they don’t expect refunds. Changes in law that cut deductions are blamed.
Ray Lanouette knows exactly what he’ll do with the sheaf of densely printed forms he picked up at the Internal Revenue Service office Monday afternoon.
He’ll itemize every last deduction, ‘fess up to every scrap of income, add and subtract and check and double check--and come up with a grand total of his debts to Uncle Sam.
Then he’ll plunk the papers on his desk and try to forget about them until tax deadline rolls around--exactly one month from today.
“I’m an April 15th-er,” Lanouette said with a grin. “I’ll get it done this week and then just sit on it until April 15.”
He has plenty of company.
Across Ventura County, residents are busily finding excuses to delay their annual number-crunching.
Procrastination, of course, has always been a popular response to tax-filing time. But financial planners from Newbury Park to Ojai say their clients are putting off the inevitable in record numbers.
“They’re unbelievably slow this year,” Bruce Berman said. A Thousand Oaks accountant, Berman has seen his business drop nearly 20% this month compared to a year ago.
Form-filing requests have been similarly sparse at Total Tax Services in Ventura--so sparse, in fact, that accountant Michael Allread plans to quit the business later this year.
“People are thinking they’ll try to do the forms themselves, because even $35 or $40 is pretty dear to them,” Allread said. “Also, fewer people are getting refunds, so they’re putting it off to the very last minute.”
Some procrastinators blame the January earthquake that sent files tumbling and houses crumbling. Others mumble about hectic schedules. Still others file late out of habit.
Homer Adrianse, for example, picked up his forms at the Internal Revenue Service a full month in advance, and estimated that he would need just a couple of days of work to get everything straightened out. Yet he could guarantee when he’d drop them in the mail: “April 15, you bet,” he said.
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Come mid-April, however, last-minute filers may end up wishing that they had been a bit more organized.
If they do their taxes themselves, they’ll face the annual stampede at post offices everywhere. If they give up and hire a professional just before deadline, they’ll face steeper fees.
Plus, of course, they’ll get their refund later--if they get one at all.
Even taxpayers who have diligently withheld money every quarter are finding themselves in debt at filing time, due to some changes in federal laws.
The most dramatic change affects the richest, whose income tax rate has jumped from 31% to 36%. But middle-income residents who refinanced their homes may also end up paying unexpected sums, especially if they forgot to adjust tax withholdings to reflect their savings.
And all taxpayers are finding some favorite loopholes gone--like the popular deductions for home offices.
“I just took all my stuff to an accountant and said, ‘You handle it,’ ” Fillmore resident Jane Munoz said. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Taxpayers who work with professional financial planners may find their forms whizzing toward the Internal Revenue Service via computer.
Electronic filing costs a little more--$15 to $50, depending on the accountant--but taxpayers get their refunds about a week faster.
And they can rest assured that their forms arrive in the IRS computer just as the accountant prepared them. In contrast, when forms arrive on paper, federal clerks enter the data by hand--and one errant keystroke could touch off months of legal hassles.
What with learning computer programs and keeping up with paperwork, many accountants have stayed busy this spring, even though procrastination fever has kept some clients away.
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In Thousand Oaks, Susan E. Cohen has abandoned her comfortable 30-hour workweeks for a full-time grind--and then some. Her teen-age daughters know that they’ll see less of her during tax season, Cohen said--and they’ve become used to cooking dinner themselves this March.
Across the county in Ojai, certified financial planner Chris Morrow has so many clients that she already knows she won’t have time to prepare her own taxes by April 15. She’s filed for an extension, and she hopes to have her forms ready by May--although last year, she didn’t make it until October.
“I want to take my time,” Morrow said, “so I can be sure I’ve taken every last deduction.”
Getting Tax Help The Internal Revenue Service operates several toll-free information numbers. For recorded tax and refund information, call (800) 829-4477. For tax information questions, call (800) 829-1040; for form and publication orders, (800) 829-3676.
The Ventura County office, at 2500 Financial Square in Oxnard, is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Representatives will answer questions and distribute tax forms and how-to booklets.
Officials from the Internal Revenue Service will hold workshops at 21 sites around the county each week until April 15 to help residents prepare basic forms. Spanish speakers should bring their own translators. Here are the workshop sites, by city: Camarillo Al Fox Realty, 5800 Santa Rosa Road, Unit 126 Fridays, 1 to 4 p.m. Camarillo Library, 3100 Ponderosa Drive Saturdays, 10 a.m. to noon Camarillo Senior Center, 1605 Burnley St. Mondays, 10 a.m. to noon Century 21 Real Estate, 2011 Ventura Blvd. Saturdays, 10 a.m. to noon Fillmore Fillmore Senior Center, 533 Santa Clarita Ave. Tuesdays, 9 to 11:30 a.m. Moorpark Catholic Charities, 77 1st St. Thursdays, 10 a.m. to noon Oxnard Guadalupe School, 530 N. Juanita St., Room 8 Wednesdays, 6 to 8 p.m. Internal Revenue Service, 2500 Financial Square Tuesdays, 4:30 to 8 p.m. Oxnard Community Center, 800 Hobson Way Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to noon Oxnard Library, 214 S. C St. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. VCCA, 4917 S. Rose Ave. Mondays and Thursdays,9 a.m. to noon Wilson Senior Center, 310 N. C St. Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Port Hueneme Family Service Center, 621 Pleasant Valley Road, CBC-35 Tuesdays, 3 to 6 p.m. Point Mugu Family Service Center Wednesdays, 3 to 6 p.m. Santa Paula Santa Paula Nutrition Center, 530 Main St. Mondays, 1 to 4 p.m. Simi Valley Senior Center, 3900 E. Avenida Simi Mondays, 9 a.m. to noon Thousand Oaks Goebel Senior Center, 110 S. Conejo Road Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Ventura Gregory Gardens, 9620 Telephone Road Wednesdays, 9 to 11:30 a.m. Santa Clara Senior Center, 420 Santa Clara St. Tuesdays, 1 to 3 p.m. Ventura Avenue Adult Center, 550 N. Ventura Ave. Tuesdays, 10 a.m. to noon; Thursdays, 9 to 11:30 a.m. Ventura Village Green, 6500 Telephone Road Fridays, 9 to 11:30 a.m.
