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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Two Extra Days Still Not Enough Accountants Work Overtime For Procrastinating Taxpayers

It’s not a typical Easter hunt.

Instead of looking for eggs, Al Siemen spent Sunday looking for deductions and itemizations. His doors were open. He scheduled appointments with clients - the tax preparer’s annual dance on the day before taxes.

Even if it was Easter Sunday.

“This year I’ve been at it since the second week of January, seven days a week,” said Siemen, who owns AJS Business Services. “I’ve been doing more than 12 hours a day.”

This year’s April 17 tax deadline meant an extra two days for procrastinators and tax preparers to finish up their returns.

The accountants had to handle not only their regular clients but also the procrastinators - people walking through the doors at the last minute, carrying bags of receipts and asking the impossible - their returns finished by today.

“It gives me two extra days to get it done,” said Dan Johnson, who owns a tax preparation business. “You have a weekend to more or less shut down for new business, but I can get the stragglers completed.”

The people rushing to accountants in the past week most likely owed the federal government money. Those entitled to refunds usually show up in early or mid-February, accountants said.

“These people for the most part owe, and they’re generally the more complicated tax returns,” said Jim Philopant, a partner at LeMaster & Daniels. “These are the procrastinators who always come in the last week.

“We have some who’ve not filed for three or four years. Generally they’ve been contacted by the Internal Revenue Service. They aren’t doing this voluntarily.”

H&R Block accountants tackled some returns that dated back to 1982 and several going back to 1986, said Marty Evans, district manager for H&R Block. Many of those people were spurred to do their taxes by the IRS.

“When that first letter does come in, it’s not an easy one to swallow,” Evans said.

Nor is writing the IRS a large check.

One accountant had an out-of-state client who owed the Internal Revenue Service more than a million dollars.

“He had a good year,” the accountant said. “He has the money to right the check.”

This year’s returns run the gamut. One of Siemen’s customers hadn’t filed since 1980. One owed $58,000. Another had a $10,500 check coming.

“Somebody got back about $3,500, and they didn’t know they were getting anything back,” said Gerri Wood, who owns Northwest Tax Service with her husband. “One guy owed about $5,200. He thought he owed more than that, so he was actually happy.”

Unlike some accountants, Northwest Tax planned to be closed Sunday and today. Customers had to pick up their returns before noon on Friday.

Wood said she and her husband planned to go on vacation after a hard tax season.

“We’re going to Vegas and Tucson for two weeks,” Wood said with a laugh. “My husband and I work here. To save the marriage, we have to go.”

And after more than seven hours of preparing taxes Sunday, Siemen looked forward to an extravagant Easter dinner.

“I think my wife is making leftover soup,” Siemen said Sunday afternoon. “That’s what it boils down to.”

xxxx Ticktock … Taxpayers can go to five Spokane post offices until midnight to mail their tax returns by the deadline. This year, they had two extra days to mail returns because the normal April 15 deadline fell on a Saturday. The five locations that are accepting returns until midnight are: The Spokane Mail Processing Center, 703 E. Trent. Manito Post Office, 3120 S. Grand. Opportunity Branch, 11712 E. Sprague. Shadle-Garland Post Office, 1903 W. Garland. NorthTown Shopping Center, southwest corner lot at Division and Wellesley. Some other Eastern Washington post offices offering tax return collection until midnight today include Colville, College Place and Fairchild Air Force Base.