Tax preparers' offices busy, opening early

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Posted 10:40 PM 4/16/2012 : Tax preparers' offices busy, opening early

TUCSON - Taxpayers got two extra days to file this year, but procrastinators are still doing what they do best.

News 4 has help if you're rushing to beat Tuesday's postmark deadline.

The H&R Block at Oracle and Roger will open at 2am early Tuesday. It's the only location in the city, offering the early hours.

Raul and Selena are self-proclaimed procrastinators who are self-employed. Due to itemizing roadblocks this is their second trip to H&R Block in two days.

"We actually did what we should have done a month ago, we did it yesterday and last night," Raul says.

Tax Advisor David Tinny tells News 4's Rebecca Taylor, "The people who owe, we encourage them to come in early."

Tinny has a list of must-have tax reporting documents, "Most important is the W2's, also 10-99's, the dreaded 10-99 miscellaneous statements, interest statement, dividend, brokerage statements."

If you're a homeowner, Tinny says don't forget the mortgage interest statement.

"If they itemize, they need to tally up their medical expenses and charitable deductions," he says.

In this down economy, Tinny has noticed a trend. He says people who can't find jobs are turning to self-employment, only to be shocked come tax time. Not only do you pay income tax, you pay self-employment tax on top of social security and medicare taxes.

"When you're employed you pay half of it on each paycheck, and your employer matches it, but it's not as noticeable. When you're self-employed you have to pay both halves and it's a burden on those people," Tinny says.

It's a lesson Raul and Selena learned the hard way.

What's their take home message? Should people wait until the last minute?

"No definitely not, month in advance at least," says Raul with a smile.

When it comes to tax extensions, remember it's not an extension to pay. And if you owe the IRS money, you will have to pay interest, and fees on a late payment.

If you have any questions, the folks here at H&R Block located at Oracle and Roger open at 2am Tuesday morning.

News 4 dug deeper on people who wait until the last minute to file their taxes.

A survey by H&R Block showed the average procrastinator overpaid by $400 dollars due to mistakes that came from rushing.

According to Techbargains, early filers paid an average of $87 dollars to get their taxes done.

Procrastinator paid nearly twice that at an average of $163 dollars.