April 13, 2007 – Procrastinators will get an extra two days this year to file their local income tax returns and for the self-employed, their federal SS forms.
Tax returns are due by Tuesday, April 17.
While income tax returns are normally due April 15, this date falls on a Sunday so taxpayers get one additional day. The second extra day comes because April 16, which is Monday, is Patriot's Day in Washington, D.C. This means federal offices are closed.
"We have to comply with that," acting Internal Revenue Bureau Director Gizette L. Thomas said Friday.
She said offices on St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday to only help taxpayers prepare their tax returns. Thomas said Saturday is the last day staff members will assist with tax return preparation.
And offices will be open extended hours on Monday to accommodate taxpayers needing forms, with questions and who want to personally drop of their forms. The hours are 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
All returns must be postmarked by midnight Tuesday, April 17, but except for one post office each on St. Thomas and Croix, post offices will close at their normal hours.
According to a press release from the U.S. Postal Service, the Aubrey C. Ottley post office in Estate Thomas, St. Thomas and the Kingshill post office in Estate La Reine will have extended hours on Tuesday. At the Aubrey C. Ottley post office, hours are 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Kingshill office hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The post office recommended people send their tax returns by mail get proof of mailing and of delivery. Certified mail costs $2.40 and return receipt runs $1.85, both in addition to the cost of postage.
Thomas said that people who can't file their income tax return by the deadline may file by Tuesday for an extension. However, they must pay at that time an estimate of what they owe. The income tax return is then due by Oct. 15.
She said that Virgin Islands residents cannot use the electronic filing feature available at the Internal Revenue Service Web site because that money goes to the federal government, not the local IRB office.
"People have been doing that," she said.
Additionally, self-employed people, who must pay their own Social Security taxes, must send that form to the Internal Revenue Service Center in Austin, Texas, not to the local IRB office. Thomas noted that the address changed this year from the Philadelphia address used in previous years.
Thomas said that early filers are already receiving their refunds.
"They've been issued starting the first week in March," she said.
She said that the agency is now able to pay refunds in a timely manner, unlike the situation some years back when people had to wait several years for refunds.
Thomas said the fact that the agency now pays refunds quickly has helped with compliance.
Since the local IRB uses the same forms as the federal government, taxpayers will find all forms at www.irs.gov.
Call the IRB at 774-5865 on St. Thomas, 773-1040 on St. Croix and 777-1446 on St. John.
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