In 1817, Benjamin Franklin wrote in this world, nothing can be said certain, except death and taxes.
Yet Tax Day once again managed to take some by surprise.
At the Durango Post Office, for every person who helped, two more last-minute filers seemed to join a line that coiled tightly around the room and trailed out the doors.
A little after lunch Shawna Fullington lined up to mail her companys New Jersey tax return after the online tax application she had been using refused to recognize the business taxpayer I.D. number.
Fullington had been putting off paying her personal taxes. Instead of citing work pressures or unforeseen events clichés of the excuse genre she gamely admitted she had waited till the last minute because I didnt want to pay the money.
Krystal Ciluffo, a Fort Lewis College student who was mailing a box of graduation invitations, said her predicament was somewhat frustrating. Maybe there should be two lines, one for people who are paying their taxes and one for everybody else, she suggested.
Ciluffo had no problem with the deadline. I did it in January. If you get a refund you file early, but if you owe the government, you wait till the last day, she said.
Some last-minute filers found ways to avoid the post office.
At UPS Inc., owner Linda Munch said shed seen a lot of people who couldnt stand the line at the post office. Though she said she detested paying taxes, she said shed already paid them.
My husband did them. If it was me doing them, Id be filing today, she said, laughing.
Perhaps the busiest place in Durango on tax day was H&R Block, which buzzed with the quiet industry of Santas North Pole workshop on Christmas Eve.
Owner Bard Heroy characterized business as pleasantly hectic and controlled chaos, while his wife and partner, Dottie, oversaw operations.
Dottie Heroy said H&R Block was overrun with procrastinators anonymous, and the phone had been ringing off the hook since 7 a.m. the moment she and Bard walked in.
Since tax season began in January, their branch had prepared nearly 3,000 returns.
Still, the Heroys called in extra help Monday to assist with the expected deadline daredevils they anticipated would come through the door.
cmcallister@durangoherald.com
