Even Maryland?s chief tax collector waited until the last day to file his income tax return.
“Anything people can do to delay filing their taxes, they?ll do it,” Comptroller Peter Franchot said outside the G.H. Fallon Federal Building on Tuesday. “The economic mood is very uneasy, and tax time becomes a double whammy for them.
“I filed today,” Franchot added, laughing. “I?m speaking from personal knowledge.”
Franchot joined Internal Revenue Service representatives in Baltimore City to help last-minute filers fill out their tax returns, apply for extensions and complete the necessary paperwork to receive their economic stimulus payment.
At 8 a.m. Tuesday, the line of people waiting for tax assistance was out the door and wove around the building and through Hopkins Plaza, according to IRS representatives.
“We hope this becomes less and less of a story each year,” said Jim Dupree, spokesman for the IRS in Maryland. “We?re encouraging people not to wait until the last minute and file online.”
Those who waited until the final days to file or have not yet filed will have to wait a little longer to receive the stimulus payment, Dupree said. The IRS plans to mail the stimulus payments from May 16 to July 11. Direct deposit payments will be transmitted May 2, 9 and 16.
“The No. 1 question I?ve gotten is, ?Am I going to have to pay this back?? ” Dupree said. “No, you will not. You won?t get any bills from the IRS.”
Kyle Roberts, the IRS?s governmental liaison for Maryland, was helping people apply for extensions and fill out the forms for their economic stimulus payment. Roberts helped Rodney Hill, a retired veteran from Baltimore City, fill out his form to receive his rebate.
“They were a big help,” Hill said. “I thought I?d be here all afternoon waiting in line.”
The Comptroller?s Office deals with about 2.6 million returns and collects about $20 billion from taxpayers, Franchot said. And while April 15 has come and gone, the real work has just begun for Franchot and his staff.
“We?ve got a mountain of mail waiting for us in Annapolis,” Franchot said.
