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Living in poverty is very real for so many people

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Hazleton, New York City men charged in connection with cocaine conspiracy

All right, perennial procrastinators, form-filling phobes, schedule shirkers and apathetic itemizers, time is almost up.That&#8217;s right, Friday is the dreaded Ides of April, Zero Dark 1040, Dependents Day. Pay homage to Holmes and make a brilliant deduction. Find the exemption to the rule. Join the national cheer of fixed asset holders everywhere: &#8220;2, 4, 6, 8, what can we depreciate?&#8221;Actually, you&#8217;ve been briefly reprieved.By a quirk, the millions who wait until the 11th hour of April 15 to send in their IRS income tax returns have a break this year and can stall over the weekend. Why? As the saying goes in relationships and taxes, it&#8217;s complicated.Saturday is &#8220;Emancipation Day,&#8221; which is being commemorated in Washington, D.C., Friday. Thus the deadline extension to Monday. Lucky you. And since Monday is &#8220;Patriot&#8217;s Day&#8221; in Maine and Massachusetts, the deadline in those states is Tuesday. Luckier them.There are options and tips, of course. You can file for an extension, but you still have to pay most of your anticipated taxes. You can and probably should e-file, but if you waited this long, filing online at home versus in line at the post office doesn&#8217;t seem like much of a stress reliever.The Postal Service encourages late filers to verify post office hours (<a href="https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorAction!input.action" target="_blank">tools.usps.com</a>,) if you are going to one; to double-check the last pickup time on the mailbox before letting the envelope slip down the slot; and to use an IRS-provided envelope, or failing that, to make sure you wrote the address on your envelope accurately.Lastly, if you do file by mail, be sure you have correct postage. The stamp is &#8220;forever,&#8221; not &#8220;for whatever.&#8221;There is no universal mantra late filers can chant to ease the self-inflicted pain from foot-dragging Form 1040 to the mailbox. But you might find comfort knowing taxes have been lambasted through the ages, by folks from all walks of life. Consider the Peanuts strip with Snoopy typing a letter.Panel 1: &#8220;Dear IRS,&#8221;Panel 2: A wordless pause.Panel 3: &#8220;I am writing to you to cancel my subscription.&#8221;Panel 4: &#8220;Please remove my name from your mailing list.&#8221;A few other quotes and those credited with making them (not an endorsement of physical harm to others or self):The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. &#8212; Mark TwainI am proud to be paying taxes in the United States. The only thing is I could be just as proud for half of the money. &#8212; Arthur GodfreyBe wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors &#8230; and miss. &#8212; Robert A. HeinleinIf Thomas Jefferson thought taxation without representation was bad, he should see how it is with representation. &#8211; Rush LimbaughIt&#8217;s income tax time again, Americans: time to gather up those receipts, get out those tax forms, sharpen up that pencil, and stab yourself in the aorta. &#8212; Dave Barry<style>
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<div class="neCaption">The IRS traditionally requires that taxes be filed each year on April 15, but because that falls on Emancipation Day this year, the deadline was extended to April 18. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_IRS.jpg</photo0><caption0>The IRS traditionally requires that taxes be filed each year on April 15, but because that falls on Emancipation Day this year, the deadline was extended to April 18. </caption0><photoCredit0>AP file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>

Our Opinion: Filed those tax forms? If not, you’re running out of loopholes to meet the April 15, er, 18, deadline