Economics 004
April 10,2000
"The rush is on for last-minute filers"
April showers bring may flowers, but on April 15th not one American is thinking of spring. Tax day, one of the only two events in life that will not excuse anyone, is right around the corner. If you have procrastinated in your efforts to give the government even more of your money, don't worry your not alone. A good percentage of persons haven't filed yet.
Although the tax deadline of filing your 1040 is April 15th, this year the government is forced to give everyone two extra days till April 17th before you have to fork over any money you owe. That amount can be calculated by filling out Form 4868. Check, cash, money order or major credit card can pay your amount of money to the International Revenue Service. Extensions can be filed for, which will give you an extra two months although you still need to pay any money owed by April 17th.
With only slight differences in tax forms from 1998 to 1999, the challenge might not be as hard as expected. Some changes in standard deductions that will need some extra attention. "For example, single filers will get a $4,300 deduction and married-filing-jointly filers will get a $7,200 deduction. The child tax credit is rising from $400 to $500".
Even though filing your own taxes can be the maximum stress one can have in life, now there are some easy to use programs available and phone lines to serve you. Some inexpensive programs for your computer or laptop are Turbo Tax by Intuit and TaxCut by H&R Block. Costs for such hardware are between $14.95 and $29.95. Some ...