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  • Tax Lines

    The Idlers of April

    by Vera H-C Chan

    April 15, 2008 10:33:03 AM

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    Oh, ye of little preparation. Your resolve is keen, your spirit willing, but your financial organization skills land you in the annual tax-filing panic.

    But why be negative on the ides of April? You, not your snide "I-already-got-my-refund-AND-Bush-personally-signed-my- economic-stimulus-tax-rebate" colleagues, will be bonding with other hanger-ons at the Post Office today. You can all chortle about the past 7 days, how you scrambled online for the "irs mailing address" (+977%), "2007 form 1040 instructions" (+644%), and  "2007 irs tax rate tables" (+368%).

    A few slackers will draw a laugh with their admissions that they looked for "free online tax preparation" (+378%) and "free turbo tax 2007" (+202%), and found out it's really for the people who filed a return only for the rebate. Others will collectively bemoan their writer's cramp from filling out sheets like the "irs form 6251" (+163%) and "form 4868" (+141%). Hopefully more than a few will explain they had success from searching on "free answers to tax questions" (+184%). All will roll on the ground over the frenetic misspellings like "irs.gob" and "trubo tax."

    The nice thing about this government-sponsored bonding experience is how it unites brethren of all ages (for age does not wither the procrastinating instinct), and men and women alike. If your neighborhood lacks these johnny-come-latelies, here is where your brethren lie, based on "irs" look-ups in the past 7 days:

      Top "IRS"-Seeking Regions
    1. Tallahassee-Thomasville (Fla.)
    2. Bakersfield (Calif.)
    3. San Antonio (Tex.)
    4. Fresno-Visalia (Calif.)
    5. Austin (Tex.)
    6. Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto (Calif.)
    7. El Paso (Tex.)
    8. Corpus Christi (Tex.)
    9. Albany (Ga.)
    10. Reno (Nev.)
    Top "IRS" Seeking States
    1. Texas
    2. California
    3. Oklahoma
    4. Nevada
    5. Illinois
    6. Washington
    7. Mississippi
    8. Florida
    9. Washington, D.C.
    10. Ohio