Tax returns due two days later this year

Tax day is rapidly approaching, but Indiana taxpayers will have two extra days to file this year, according the Indiana Department of Revenue.\nThe usual April 15 deadline falls on a Sunday, and the following day is Emancipation Day, a legal holiday in the District of Columbia.\nAlong with allowing a little extra time, the state of Indiana is making improvements to allow easier tax filing for young people, said Candace Ford, an Indiana Department of Revenue external communications specialist. Recently the Indiana Department of Revenue has provided Hoosiers with I-File, a free service to file taxes using the Web. Tax-filers may only use I-File if they have filed taxes in Indiana in a previous year, according to the Indiana Department of Revenue Web site.\n“There’s a nationwide increasing trend of 52 percent of people who file taxes electronically,” Ford said. \nFord said last year 16 percent of those who used I-file were college-age students, and the figure is expected to grow this year.\nShe said another reason I-File is desirable is due to its quick tax return. The average electronic tax return takes only seven to 14 days, whereas a paper return averages six to 12 weeks for a return, she said. \nCompanies such as H&R Block that process many tax returns in person have shouldered the burden of the electronic tax-filing movement. \n“Truthfully, filing online has affected the amount of returns our business has,” H&R Block Office Coordinator Candace Ormiston said.\nThe two most popular forms to fill out are the 1040 and 1040 EZ, a shortened version of the 1040 form, according to the Internal Revenue Service Web site. 1040 forms are used in conjunction with W-2, Wage and Tax Statement forms. \nOne of the most familiar tax forms for students is the 1040 EZ, Ford said. The 1040 EZ requires that those filing do not claim any dependents, which partially explains its popularity among college students. \nThe 1040 EZ form is relatively easy to fill out online, and because so many young people last year filled it out electronically, it caused a drop in returns for H&R Block, Ormiston said.\nAmong employed students, using tax forms can be a familiar chore this time of year. But there is also a trend among undergraduates to let their parents worry about filling out their tax forms.\n“My dad pretty much sends me filled-out stuff with circles around where I need to sign, and I send them back to him,” sophomore Kip Carter said. \nCarter’s parents claim him as a dependent. Because his parents file his forms for him and they are accustomed to filing taxes on paper, his taxes are done on paper, while other students who do their own taxes often opt to do them online.\nWhether a generation gap is responsible for the discrepancy or not, younger residents are responding to incentives and filing online at increasing rates.\n“People who file electronically usually receive refunds faster, avoid costly errors, and they help save the state about 96 cents per return processed,” Indiana Department of Revenue Commissioner John Eckart said in a Feb. 1 news release.\nFor more information on filing using \nI-File, visit www.in.gov/dor.