@LynneW: we get that too, and I don’t know. I know nothing about tax law, but it seems like one year could affect another. But no, I don’t know. The other question we get is, since the tax forms are so late in coming, will the April 15 deadline be pushed back? I do know the answer to that: Form 4868 [pdf].

And the question we hear most about tax forms (beyond all the others you’ve mentioned)is: “why does the IRS have to wait for Congress to enact legislation related to 2013 income & taxes, in order to print up the forms and instructions for taxes on income earned in 2012?”

Does anyone here know the answer to that one?

@Rebecca: thank you very much – I’d never heard of that, but it looks great. There isn’t a site in my town, but close by.

@Jo: we get that too – as if we’re keeping a stockpile in a back room and not telling anyone. Oh well. I like Weather Underground too, and use it for other things, but I don’t think they record snowfall.

@Mamie: you’re totally right – but I hesitate to elaborate very far on that, because Congress is elected by the people, so it’s really our patrons’ fault for the tax form situation. I have a feeling no one would like that pointed out to them. Great news about the form check-off – I hope you’re able to clear the $10,000 to keep it there (and I enjoyed the MELIBS discussion about whether libraries can encourage the check-off when patrons pick up forms).

@Matthew: thanks – I imagine academic libraries have all kinds of challenging tax situations, with students from all over the country in various states of residency. As for snow, I shoveled at least two feet – and took half of Saturday to do it. No power loss though, so everything is mostly back to normal.

How much snow fell over the weekend!?

-Matthew

Here is a bright spot for this tax season. This past year the Maine legislature passed a measure allowing the establishment of the Maine Public Libraries Fund. This effort will raise funds via a check off on the Maine tax forms. Taxpayers can designate $5, $10, $25 or more to go to this fund. It is one of 8 organizations designated to receive funds via a tax check off. The fund will be administered by the Maine State Library. It is required that the funds be used to support public libraries. The key is that we must raise $10K this year to remain viable for next year. If you know anyone in Maine, please encourage them to donate to support Maine’s public libraries via the check off on Form CP. (The only other state to allow this is Hawaii and they raise about $40K per year.)