Illustration by Kip Aoki, Star-Bulletin

The deadlines are coming up fast,
but there are a few angles
for last-minute filers

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

IF you haven't filed your taxes yet, you're not alone. At the end of March, only about 40 percent of Hawaii state tax returns were filed about 46 percent of the federal returns, tax officials say.

That leaves a lot of people who still have to file in April. Deadlines are coming up fast: April 15 federal taxes and April 20 for state taxes.

Here are some tips for those procrastinators who may need help getting information, filing forms, speeding up refunds, and perhaps even saving some money.

Need forms? Get them electronically. Both the Hawaii Department of Taxation and U.S. Internal Revenue Service have useful Web sites. Download forms on your computer and print them yourself. You'll need Internet access and Adobe Acrobat Reader software, which is available for free download on both sites.

At the federal level, you can even get personal answers to tax questions at the IRS Web site.

File electronically. That's not yet possible at the state level, but at the federal level, there are three ways to do what the IRS calls e-filing.

Taxpayers using the simplest return, the 1040EZ, can use a touch-tone telephone. First you have to request a TeleFile package that comes in the mail with a personal identification number.

Use it when you call in and you'll be walked through the push-button filing step by step.

File by personal computer. The most common way is to go through a professional tax preparer who is licensed to file for you, but it is also possible to do it yourself.

A growing number of taxpayers are using software such as TurboTax and MacInTax from Intuit and Kiplinger TaxCut from Block Financial Corp.

When you've finished your return, send it to the software provider who in turn files with the IRS in big batches of thousands of returns at a time.

E-filing is growing. Adding telephone, tax preparer and personal computer filings together, Hawaii had produced some 70,500 electronically filed federal returns by last week, up 42 percent from last year.

If you have a refund coming, e-filing is the fastest way to get it. The IRS says it normally takes six weeks to get a refund from a paper filing but only three weeks from an e-filing, less if the IRS deposits it electronically in a taxpayer's bank account.

The State of Hawaii is doing some things electronically, even if you can't yet file that way.

Taxpayers with CD-ROM equipped computers can get a state CD-ROM, for only $5, which has on it all the forms needed, not just for 1997 but for the prior two years as well.

June Yamamoto, taxpayer services branch chief, said it is also contains the tax laws, announcements, rulings by the attorney general and tons of other goodies.

Need more time? If you are still too far behind to catch up, file for an extension. At the state level, some people are doing that because they think the Legislature might make changes in the current session that will retroactively affect their 1997 taxes, Yamamoto said. You can use the federal extension form to file for a state extension. Just cross out the title and write "Hawaii" on it.

Another way is to go ahead and file according to the existing laws and file an amended return later if there are state changes.

Caution: If you think you owe money to the state, work it out as well as you can and pay it by the April tax deadline even if you have applied for an automatic extension. "It's an extension to file, but not an extension to pay," Yamamoto said. The same is true at the federal level.

As usual, the IRS will extend its open hours for walk-in assistance and tax filing as the April 15 deadline gets closer.

One last tip: For those who would like to take the edge off their tax bill, you can still place up to $2,000 in a traditional individual retirement account and it won't count as 1997 income. The IRA contributions count on your 1997 returns if they are done on or before April 15.

Tax facts Federal tax information: Filing deadline: Wednesday, April 15 Office hours: Honolulu 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday April 11; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday April 14; 8 a.m to midnight, Wednesday April 15. Address: Prince Kuhio Federal Building, 300 Ala Moana. Assistance: 1-800-829-1040 Monday-Saturday 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Forms by mail: Phone 1-800-829-3676. Forms by fax: Phone 1-703-368-9694 from a phone at your fax machine. Recorded information: 1-800-829-4477. Forms and help on the Internet, even get questions answered: http://www.irs.ustreas.gov State tax information: Filing deadline: Monday, April 20. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Address: Keelikolani Building, Punchbowl. Also Wailuku, Hilo, Lihue. For state tax information and help on where to get forms phone 587-6515 on Oahu or 1-800-222-3229 from neighbor islands. After April 20, 587-4242. To request tax forms and CD-ROM by mail, call 587-7572 or 1-800-222-7572. CD-ROM costs $5, contains forms, brochures, tax laws, legal opinions etc. You'll get an order form in the mail. Send it back with $5 and CD-ROM will come. Tax forms by fax: Fax to 587-7572 on Oahu. Off-Oahu, call 1-808-678-0522 from your fax machine. Forms etc. on Internet site: http://www.state.hi.us/tax/tax.html