Are your taxes done? For many Las Vegans, the answer is no

By Jeremy Twitchell

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 | midnight

Still putting off doing your taxes? Relax, you're in good company.

Las Vegas was declared the 10th-most procrastinating city in the United States when it comes to filing taxes, according to a list compiled by the makers of Turbo Tax software.

Turbo Tax based the list on the number of filings it received from each city during the week of April 13 through 17, 2008. Las Vegas was ranked No. 8 on last year's list.

Company spokeswoman Colleen Gatlin said the company does the list to let people that it's OK to file at the last minute, while reminding them that they do still need to file.

"The main message here is not to panic," Gatlin said. "It's not anything to be embarrassed about."

San Francisco topped the list, followed by Houston, New York, Chicago and San Diego in the top five. Phoenix, Seattle, Los Angeles and Dallas rounded out the top nine.

Gatlin said people who file for an extension should remember that the extension is only for filing their forms — if they owe money, it will still be due April 15.

Raphael Tulino, IRS spokesman for Nevada, said filing at the last minute is a common trend.

"Between 25 and 30 percent of all individual returns are filed in April, so we get a lot of procrastinators in general, whether they're in Las Vegas, San Diego, Southern Nevada, Northern Nevada or anywhere else," he said.

Tulino said the IRS doesn't take a position on when people should file their taxes, as long as its done before the deadline. He said the IRS has seen an increase in early filings this year, which he attributed to people trying to get their returns sooner because of the economy.

About 80 percent of all individual filers get a refund, Tulino said.

"If you wait until later on in the tax season to file, you'll be waiting for your return," he said.

Gatlin said it's best to file early on in tax season, if only to have one less thing to worry about.

"We always encourage people to file early just so that their taxes are done," she said. "It's a wonderful feeling."