# Who waited until the last minute to file their taxes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351 "2004-04-16T13:16:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/1 "2004-04-16T13:16:47Z")
US dopers had to file their taxes by April 15 (yesterday.) Who waited until yesterday to file? Mine have been filed for weeks and I got my return today. Hooray! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/2 "2004-04-16T13:19:28Z")
I did, I always do, and I don’t know why. They’re not complicated, even with itemizing deductions. One of life’s little mysteries. ---
**Author:** ![misstee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@misstee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misstee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/3 "2004-04-16T13:21:57Z")
We filed weeks ago, but we waited until yesterday to send in our payment. Damn taxes ! ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/4 "2004-04-16T13:28:43Z")
I sent mine off today. But as I’m living and filing from overseas, I get an automatic extention until sometime in June. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/5 "2004-04-16T13:29:39Z")
Since I had to pay a buttload of money, I waited until the 13th or 14th to send it out. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/6 "2004-04-16T13:39:08Z")
> [@misstee](#): > > We filed weeks ago, but we waited until yesterday to send in our payment. > Damn taxes ! That’s what we do. I’m going to collect interest on my payment for as long as I can before I hand it over to those bastards. I like to find out how much we owe so we can put a little extra aside, thereby not taking as hard a hit on our savings. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/7 "2004-04-16T14:02:43Z")
I didn’t wait until the last minute. I got to the post office about 8:00 PM last night… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/8 "2004-04-16T16:55:50Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever not paid on April 15th. 9 times out of 10 I’ll do them on that day too. Yesterday was no different. I took the day off to work on them, loaded TurboTax (for the first time) in the morning and, with a number of breaks inbetween, finished them about 8:00 last night after getting my owage down to the level of a nice plasma bigscreen. I drove over to the Post Office around the corner where I’d taken them last year but this year they weren’t open, the bastids. So I called my wife, she looked in the paper to see which the govt. said would be accepting and I had to drive about 30 freakin’ minutes away to the next closest one. I get there and there’s a note on the door saying that they quit accepting at 8:00 and it’s now 9:00… the bastids. So I call my wife again and she routs me another 15 minutes away up to the freakin’ airport. I get there and they’re open but Jeez, the freakin’ line of cars looks like Galveston evacuating before a hurricane. What really pissed me off though was that some friendly guy in an orange vest walks up and takes my form for me so that I can turn around and immediately exit, thereby quelling my indignation. Seriously, what a bunch of bastids! Then, driving home, I realized I’d paid about three and a half times more in taxes this year than the value of the car I was driving so I got to cuss the IRS out for roughly twelve more minutes. Yea. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/9 "2004-04-16T18:57:23Z")
Not _precisely_ the last minute. We did the form on the 14th, and mailed it the next morning. Dunno why it’s so easy to procrastinate on this. It’s just a stressful experience, I guess, in some abstract sense, and while we’re working on it my wife and I both get testy with each other for no good reason. Then we finish an hour or so later, we sign off at the bottom, and things are back to normal. No idea why. ---
**Author:** ![misstee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@misstee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misstee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/10 "2004-04-16T19:08:20Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > That’s what we do. I’m going to collect interest on my payment for as long as I can before I hand it over to those bastards. I like to find out how much we owe so we can put a little extra aside, thereby not taking as hard a hit on our savings. Exactly, keep your money as long as you can. No reason to send it off the the government for them to collect intrest on it when I can. Damn, you know what I _could_ have bought with that money??? ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/11 "2004-04-16T19:15:52Z")
The Feds always give me a refund, so I took care of them in early Feb. State, however, I always break even with - so I filed them yesterday. I just kept forgetting. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/12 "2004-04-16T19:40:23Z")
Well, not _last_ minute…that would have been driving to the airport at 20 before midnight. But yesterday at 2pm, yep. Why? I don’t know. I’m a procrastinator - I’ve tried to do things early, but even last year when I’d filled out all the forms in March and all I had left to do was click “yes” on the computer screen, they still got filed on April 15 (1am). And yes, both years, the government owed me money. I’m pathetic ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/13 "2004-04-16T19:59:59Z")
Not _exactly_ what you’re looking for but I did get my account all my stuff on the fourteenth. What a kidder I am…he was so PLEASED he took the time to call me when he got them! It’s sort of a love-hate thing we’ve got going. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/14 "2004-04-16T20:48:08Z")
Not me. Why would I want to wait until mid-April to do my taxes when, by law, my employer, my bank, and my broker are all required to provide me with all of the information I need to complete my taxes by January 30? Why would I want to add to the amount of time it takes for me to receive my return? Why should I give the government an interest-free loan?? Why would I not want to start as early as possible, so if I ran into any problems or had any questions I would have plenty of opportunities to get help? Why would I want to rush, when I could take my time and therefore not miss any valuable deductions I might be entitled to? Why would I want to risk having to pay a penalty for filing late? Why would I want to endure the stressful experience of quickly approaching a deadline when clearly I didn’t have to? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/15 "2004-04-16T20:58:02Z")
To hell with the IRS, I work how many days a week just to pay them money? So, in my own version of what I think is fair I wait until the last possible second. I visualize some poor slob down at the IRS, in a cubicle with a computer and a phone (much like my own) who’s “In box” on April 16th is a huge, cartoonish, looming pile of tax returns. Eat 'em and smile boys. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/16 "2004-04-16T21:00:51Z")
I did but it was intentional, kind of. My taxes are really easy. It takes me longer to get the forms than it does to fill them out. I filed my Federal taxes on January 22nd. I put off my state taxes because I was mad. For the first time in my life, I had to pay. I figured that if Massachusetts wants another $7 of my money, they could wait for it. I planned on doing it the first week of April but I forgot. One of my coworkers asked me Monday if I had done them yet. I hadn’t but I wasn’t worried. BUT, I forgot to do them again. I ended up going to work early yesterday so I could do them at my desk, where I knew I had access to a mail room. It wasn’t totally last minute though. I did get them out before midnight. ---
**Author:** ![Omnipresent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@Omnipresent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnipresent)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/17 "2004-04-17T01:25:06Z")
15th here. I went online on the 15th just to file an extension 'cause I knew there was no way I was going to get it done by then. Just too complicated. But, while I was online using Yahoo finance, I just started pumping in info and ended up getting it filed legitimately and turns out, I’m getting thousands back. If it’s wrong, oh well, at least it’s filed. It’s out of my mind already. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/18 "2004-04-17T01:56:26Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > I’m pathetic You’re in good company. We filed our extension yesterday. ☹ The only explanation I have is…well, **amarinth** said it. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/19 "2004-04-17T05:07:43Z")
I did the Turbo Tax thing in Feb, but discovered I had to pay for the first time in years, so I waited…then couldn’t find the forms I’d printed and had to go print them again. Had to work all day so didn’t get to the computer til 7 pm…my brother lets me use his TT, so I had to go to his house…then forgot my w-2 at home. My daughter’s ex-roomate didn’t give her one of her (7) w-2’s, so we waited til the last minute for the replacement one to arrive…but it didn’t, so I filed electronically without it. Then my son (whose boss told him he hadn’t earned enough to pay taxes… he gets paid as non-employee with no taxes deducted) ended up owing $447, so I had to file a payment plan for him. Ended up driving to airport mail facility at 11 pm. And that replacement W-2 came today, so now I have to file an amendment. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351/20 "2004-04-17T09:46:43Z")
I will never understand the last-minute filers. The ones that are lined up around the block and down the street from the post office, tying up traffic all over town. What do you gain from filing on the 15th that you wouldn’t get on the 13th? On the 13th, you wouldn’t be lined up and stressed out. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-waited-until-the-last-minute-to-file-their-taxes/240351.md?page=2)