TIME AND AGAIN: This year, those generous...

TIME AND AGAIN: This year, those generous folks at the Internal Revenue Service have granted two extra days to prepare taxes and get them in. That’s because the traditional tax day, April 15, fell on a weekend and, when that happens, returns aren’t due until the following Monday. . . . Larry Lechman, a tax preparer with H & R Block in Glendale, says procrastinators can come in as late as Monday evening and walk out with a finished return.

POSTAL PERKS: Uncle Sam is not only happy to take your money, he’s willing to help you send it off. In the San Fernando Valley, 10 post offices will remain open until midnight tonight to serve last-minute filers. . . . A complete list of participating post offices is on B6.

BIG BUCKS: Think your tax bill is hefty? Americans spend somewhere between $40 billion and $200 billion a year on guides and services to help them file returns. And an IRS study found that businesses and individuals devote 5.4 billion hours a year to tax-related paperwork. . . . That translates into 2.9 million Americans working full time, more than are now building automobiles.

WORTH A TRY: And then there was the time that a guy walked into an audit with a bag full of dead bunnies. According to IRS spokesman Keith Kimball, the man needed to prove that he was really trying to raise the rabbits for profit--and that they really had died. . . . But Conrad Knipschild of Glendale really does have some unusual deductions. He’s a masseuse and has deducted things like scented massage oil, towels and tables. The scented oil doesn’t improve the quality of the massage, he says, but his clients like it.

NO, REALLY: Some people really do try to say that the dog ate the documents that would prove the legitimacy of their deductions, according to Kimball of the IRS. . . . He also recalls an unusual number of people who seem to put their documents into outside sheds, which then rot away and destroy the proof.