Tax Procrastinator? Win one of 3 copies of Turbo Tax Deluxe!
It’s almost April (OK, it may be April where you are, but just work with me here) and you know what that means for those of us in the U.S.?
Tax time!
It also means throwing a kid birthday party for me, but I digress.
For more years than not, we put our taxes off until the last minute for various reasons and I hate that feeling of April 15th looming.
However, it looks like we weren’t the only ones.
Intuit, the maker of TurboTax products, tallied last-minute online tax filings to find out which American cities are the biggest procrastinators when it comes to filing federal income tax returns.
The following list includes the TOP 10 TAX PROCRASTINATING CITIES IN AMERICA determined by the number of tax returns electronically filed online via the TurboTax Online service from April 14-April 17, 2007 (previous year ranking in parenthesis):
-Chicago, Ill. – (#2) – Chicago is the “Second City” no more as it takes the top spot for the first time in the seven years the list has been compiled.
-New York, N.Y. – (#5) – After procrastinating less last year, the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple takes its toll on taxpayers as NYC climbs back up the list to rank at Number 2. The Giants may be number one in pro football, but New York is second on our list of late filers.
-Houston, Texas – (#1) – Houstonians have topped our list more than any other city (three times) but must have tired of being the top procrastinators. Progress is progress and Houstonians drop two spots this year.
-Austin, Texas – (#4) Austin continues to procrastinate as they lock up the fourth spot for the second straight year. One of the fastest growing cities in America, Austin may be too busy to worry about taxes until the deadline forces them to.
-San Francisco, Calif. – (#5) –The City by the Bay held steady in the fifth slot for the second straight year. In a year that saw the home run record fall to Barry Bonds, taxpayers in San Francisco waited until they had a full count to take a swing at doing their taxes.
-San Diego, Calif. – (#6) –The home of the 2008 U.S. Open, and home to TurboTax, San Diego dropped to sixth last year and is there yet again. After topping the list two years ago, San Diegans are relaxed in the sixth place.
-Seattle, Wash. – (#8)Grunge may have gone the way of disco, but Seattle residents continue to live a laid back lifestyle and are still late with filing their tax returns. The Emerald City jumps one spot this year.
-Las Vegas, Nev. – (#11) – Making its return to the list after a two-year absence is the jewel of southern Nevada, Las Vegas.
-San Antonio, Texas – (#7) –Settled first in 1731, San Antonio ranks as one of America’s oldest cities. Despite its age, the home of the Alamo is steeped in today as its residents use the power of online tax prep to file at the last minute.
-Los Angeles, Calif. – (#12) –Apparently Los Angelinos were busy chasing Britney Spears all over town and waited until the deadline to file their taxes. At least they didn’t let the forlorn Britney file their taxes for them.
So, is this you?
Meant to do your taxes in January and never got around to it? Just got that final document you need?
Don’t fear!
I like to reward people like me, so I’m giving away 3 copies of Turbo Tax Deluxe. We used it (I didn’t get a free one) and it’s really easy.
1. Leave a comment here to be entered to win.
2. The deadline is Thursday, April 3rd,2008 at 11:59pm CST
3. Winners will be randomly drawn from the comments. Bonus for me if you tell me a funny story.
4. If you really loved me, you’d link from your blog and tell all your friends.
So, why wait in line for hours at the tax store or local post office when you can file your last-minute tax return from the comfort of your own home?
Get on it, time’s a wastin’!
We set out so well this year — we started getting things together in early December, because the baby was due and I’m self-employed, so our taxes are SERIOUS BIZNESS. We were going to get everything to the accountant by February 1, giving us a few weeks before we had the baby.
Ha.
HaHA, even. We didn’t even finish tallying things until long AFTER baby was born, and then we rushed to the accountant, and SHE procrastinates, so… I need the freedom to do my own taxes!
Oh, it’s not me. I’m done. But, I’ll stumble this post for you anyway.
What’s the big hurry? Don’t we have two more weeks?
Yes, I am publicly claiming procrastinator-dom. (or is it DUMB?)
I have no funny story about the whole tax situation, other than the fact that my husband is a CPA, and has about nine months of bank statements to balance before he can even start working on our taxes.
Funny? No. Pitiful? Yeeeessssssss.
I would love this! Thanks!
HA. We are the King and Queen of tax procrastinators. We file on time every year, but HELLO can we not wait until the very last second, husband-dear????? I mean, really, what is so wrong about the week BEFORE the 15th? And since April 15th is our childs birthday, its not like we don’t know we’ll be busy that day !
I usually do mine early because I break even or get money back but this year I am empty-nesting and can’t claim my boys anymore. Guess what that means??? I owe – so I’m waiting on purpose. (I just hope I don’t miss it in my effort to pretend it’s not so – that would be so like me).
You’re blogs are great – thanks for the daily entertainment and advice.
OH that is SOOO me. Still haven’t even looked at mine yet-thought about it a week or so ago! I’m not even sure where my W2 is. Problem for us is sheer laziness, plain and simple. We wonder about who claims the kids, who gets to claim day care and other child expenses….usually manage to fill out forms 2-3 times trying to figure out which way it works better for us and then forget to mail it all in until the day before. Did I mention we live in Houston? This is the ONLY time of year it’s worth being outside and who the hell wants to think about taxes?
We are normally done our taxes by the end of January, but this is the first time in 7 years that we owe something and we have been waiting to you know…..have the money to actually pay the government. With my husband not working at the moment, getting this would be great! We normally pay someone to do our taxes, but being broke has put a crimp in that plan and the fact that we actually owe this year. Okay, so I didn’t have anything funny to say. I went for hard up instead =) Love your blog, BTW!
I always PLAN to do mine early, but usually end up staying up most of the night on the 13th or 14th of April and going to work bleary-eyed and really cranky the next day. Doing our taxes absolutely sucks, because my husband has many 1099s and lots of expenses. Less work to do it myself with Turbotax than try to explain all of it to an accountant. Still, not fun.
posted here and busymom — stressed over the entire tax thing . . . and I don’t even think about it until April 1st.
Thanks
I’ll be starting this tax filing thing next year, a lil program to make it easier is just what i need.
Ah…well….I am the queen of procrastination…especially when it comes to taxes. It is always good to know that I am not alone.