Extended deadline helps Las Vegas Valley procrastinators as tax day looms

With the Tuesday deadline to file returns fast approaching, many Las Vegas Valley residents are heading to tax service centers to avoid getting slapped with late penalties.

“We didn’t get around to it and now it’s a last-minute kind of thing,” said Dace Svarcbaha, a financial analyst who filed Thursday afternoon.

Svarbaha said she would have been more panicked had she waited until the deadline.

Stragglers picked up an extra three days to file this year because the traditional April 15 cutoff falls on a Saturday, and Monday is a holiday for many IRS processing centers.

The tax filing delay comes because of Emancipation Day, a Washington, D.C., holiday marking President Abraham Lincoln’s April 16, 1862, signing of a bill to end slavery in the District. The Washington Post noted that the measure freed about 3,100 slaves.

Because the 16th falls on a weekend this year, the city observes the day Monday. The Internal Revenue Service treats D.C. holidays as federal holidays for tax-filing purposes, so the official tax deadline is pushed to the next day, in this case, Tuesday.

“So this is really late compared to what it usually is,” said Dee Greene-Drummond, office manager for the H&R Block at 1416 S. Decatur Blvd.

Nationwide, 40 million Americans drag their feet and file near the deadline, Greene-Drummond said. But with the extended deadline, she said more people than usual are trickling in as the window to file closes. The deadline ends a laborious season; The New York Times reported last week that Americans will spend more than 6 billion hours this year gathering records and filling out forms.

Greene-Drummond said people postpone filing for several reasons. They could be unsure or nervous about forms claiming important tax information, such as in the case of filing jackpot winnings, which she said is not uncommon in Las Vegas.

The dread of owing the government money also turns people off from taking care of their taxes, she said. But those people are better off filing early and giving themselves time to plan to make that payment.

Patrick Rodgers, office manager of an H&R Block at 840 S. Rancho Drive, said people with investments tend to file later that others because they don’t get the proper documentation until late in the season.

He said he sees a spike in business at his office every year at the end of tax season.

Joella Smith, tax analyst and preparer in Rodgers’ office, said young couples and single parents are generally among the earliest filers.

“There’s more credits available to them,” she said.

Traveling nurse Eden Khamo said she files at the last minute every year because of the cumbersome process of tracking all of her businesses expenses. Her work takes her to several different locations, so she said it can be tough to find time to file early.

Greene-Drummond said people show mixed emotions as they come in to file late in the season, but they usually leave feeling relieved to just be done.

For Jason Gaffney, who also filed Thursday, there was no mystery.

“Procrastination,” he said. “It’s the American way.”

Heidi Webster, a 34-year-old Las Vegas resident, said she usually gets money back from the IRS, but owed this year. The dread of having to pay more than $1,000 caused her to procrastinate and the complexity of her return had her seeking help late. Having many professionals already booked solid when she started looking for aid added new worry.

“Usually I do my taxes myself on TurboTax, but I started doing it and when I saw how much I was going to owe, I didn’t want to face the reality of that,” she said. “I needed to have a tax professional to help calculate all my deductions.”

“Usually I go with the flow at tax time, but having to owe definitely stressed me out.”

Webster filed for an extension, but filing late doesn’t erase the payment deadline.

As the financial newspaper Barron’s points out, no matter when taxpayers file, they must estimate how much they owe in taxes and pay that amount by Tuesday. People who file an extension without paying owed taxes will face interest charges plus a 0.5 percent penalty for every month they wait.

Webster, who works as a Broadway singer at Wynn Las Vegas, acknowledged that her tax situation reflected a level of success — someone has to make money to owe money. But it doesn’t make her feel much better.

“I feel like I already pay enough in taxes,” she said. “I don’t think anybody feels good about paying more when they’ve done their due diligence as a citizen.”

Review-Journal writer Matthew Crowley contributed to this report. Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.