Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/122115
8A Daily News – Tuesday, April 16, 2013 Tax Day: It's a national day of panic By Joseph N. DiStefano The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT) April 15 — The phone was ringing off the hook when the H&R Block office in the shopping center at 23rd and Oregon in South Philadelphia opened Monday — Tax Day — and the last-minute filers began streaming in, waving their paperwork and hoping the pros could make things as painless as possible. Denise Evans, a bus driver clutching her pay stubs and Form 1040-A, said she had tried to avoid paying extra for her taxes: "I thought I could do this on my own this year," she said. "I looked it up on You Tube. But you know what? It wasn't easy. I finally figured I'd better let the pros do it." She was relieved to learn she will be getting a small refund. "It's going down in a big way today," said Desiree Smith, who manages the H&R Block office and has experienced these April 15 pressurecookers. "We've seen more than 2,000 clients since we opened Jan. 7. "If I thought they owed me money, I'd have come in sooner. But I owe them, so no need for rushing," said Ronnie Towns, a retired maintenance supervisor for the city's former Youth Study Center, as he sat waiting in line. "Fear drove me into doing it so late," added taxpayer Diane Messina, after reviewing her paperwork in the lobby. "I kept saying, 'I'll do it tomorrow.' Well, here's tomorrow." Smith runs the Oregon Avenue office four months a year, and spends the other eight in Block's yearround office on Market Street. She sees a range of human behavior as April 15 traffic builds toward the final after-work, just- before-deadline rush. "As long as we do this," she said, flashing a broad smile, "we're all right." Among wealthier Americans who owe more, this year wasn't quite business as usual. "For sophisticated clients who are dealing with many sources of income, everything got delayed this year, because of the 'fiscal cliff,'" said Michael S. Jackson, partner in the Philadelphia office of the national accounting firm Grant Thornton L.L.P. "It's caused delays with a lot of Form 1099s." Those forms list investment income, and the Congressional budget negotiations delayed stock brokerage reports to clients who need that data to file their taxes. It's also taken extra time for accounting authorities to interpret this year's federal guidelines, he added. "The IRS education (tax-credit) and investment forms were late this year," said Davangi Nair, who runs H&R Block's office at the Cherry Hill Mall. The office lobby was filled with morning customers on Saturday, two days before the deadline. "Small-business owners may file late if it takes them awhile to collect all their expense records. And people who know they are going to owe, will try to delay it." Rookies in the late-filing maelstrom are sometimes disappointed to learn that an easy-to-obtain extension in their filing date doesn't excuse them from paying, if they owe, by April 15, Nair explained. By contrast, there has been no slowdown this year in filings by taxpayers who work for minimum wage or low hourly wages, said Lyn Kugel, senior director at PathWays PA, a nonprofit agency funded by the IRS and by private foundations, banks and other donors. PathWays recruits volunteers to help people who earn less than $51,000 a year complete their tax forms, free of charge.