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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, April 14, 2004

When filing your taxes, it doesn't pay to delay

 •  No time for taxes? File for extension

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

If you haven't done your income taxes yet, here's some free advice from a professional: relax.

Aaron Rodrigues' last-minute work on his taxes yesterday was a much bigger burden than his year-old daughter, Mahealani. Rodrigues was looking for tax forms at the IRS Honolulu office.

Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

At this point, you're better off getting an extension. You're tired and hassled. Your tax preparer is even more tired and more hassled. If you try to finish your tax return now, less than 48 hours from the federal deadline, chances are someone is going to make a mistake.

And that will end up costing you more money in the long run.

So relax, says Georgette Jordan, president of the Hawai'i chapter of the National Association of Tax Professionals. Grab that 4688 extension form, make a payment if you need to and chill out.

"Then you can start worrying all over again about Aug. 14," Jordan said.

Jordan is so serious about this advice that she doesn't even take client appointments after April 1.

While hundreds of other people running on fear and caffeine were scrambling across town yesterday to get their federal taxes done, Jordan's Tax Lady office, behind an unmarked green door in a small building across from the Wai'anae Post Office, was a little island of tranquility.

People would drop in for a few moments to chat, share a story and, oh yeah, pick up that tax return that Jordan had finished for them.

"I'm all done except for signing. That's the beauty of it," said James Pritchett, a civil process server who stopped by with his wife, Julie, to pick up his return.

Tax preparer Georgette Jordan urges her clients to file early, and is so serious about this advice that she won't take appointments after April 1.

Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Not everyone is sitting so pretty. The Internal Revenue Service estimates that 40 million people — about one-third of all taxpayers — file their return in the first two weeks of April. Another 9 million won't meet the April 15 deadline. And there was a long of people yesterday waiting to pick up extension or other forms at the federal building in downtown Honolulu.

Professional tax preparers in Wai'anae, Nanakuli and Pearl City, however, reported that business was unusually light for this time of year. At the Pearl Highlands Taxbusters office there was no waiting at all. You could walk in, pay $25 and have an 1040EZ form filled out in less than an hour.

Or, Jordan said, you could do the really smart thing and get an extension.

Unlike her customers, Jordan worked until 4:30 a.m. yesterday and plans to stay up at least that late again today, finishing work on some returns she started several weeks ago.

Jordan never planned to become the Tax Lady. She was just born to it.

Her mother, Sandy, started a tax preparation business 30 years ago in Hawai'i and soon began involving the whole family. At first, Jordan came by to sweep the floors and empty the garbage. By age 11, she was helping people reconcile their bank checkbooks, and by 17 she was preparing tax returns, at least for those customers who didn't mind putting their financial trust into the hands of a teenager, she said.

Today, Jordan has a legion of loyal customers who come from all over the island, and know enough to come early.

"She doesn't let me wait until the last minute," said Candace Guzman, a Wai'anae mother picking up her tax return yesterday. "I really like getting my tax refund back."

Guzman tried one of those corporate tax chains once and signed up for an "instant rebate," which she promptly spent even before her real tax refund arrived. "I won't do that again," she said.

Georgette Jordan, the Tax Lady, finds satisfaction in helping her clients receive all the money they have coming to them.

Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Pritchett said the key to getting done early is to be organized throughout the year. Of course, it helps if you have a spouse like Julie, who spent 30 years working in a bank, he said.

For Jordan, the satisfaction of her job comes from helping people receive all the money they have coming to them. Even the simple tax returns require at least two hours of time, including one hour with the client, to complete, she said.

The IRS agrees. It estimates you'll need 13 hours to complete the basic 1040 form, five hours to itemize deductions, nearly 11 hours if you run a small business, and eight more hours if you're a typical investor.

That's 38 hours — nearly a full week's worth of work.

"All the professional people are under the gun, living on the edge right now," Jordan said. "Do you really want someone like that doing your taxes in less than an hour? That's stupidity if you ask me."

The most common mistake being made so far this year, the IRS said, is that parents are miscalculating the child tax credit or forgetting to factor in the advance child credit check sent last summer.

Unlike her customers, Jordan doesn't get to heave a big sigh of relief when April 15 comes and goes. There's always another tax deadline looming: April 20 is the day for state income taxes; April 30 is when general excise taxes are due; May 15 is for payroll taxes; Aug. 15 is when that four-month extension on federal income taxes runs out.

"April 15 is just another day," Jordan said. Especially if you've already done your taxes.

Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com