April 15th marks the day many Americans dread — tax day — but don’t fret. A few restaurants are trying to mitigate Tax Day damage by offering free food and discounts to their customers. Finally, a reason to be happy about tax day!
If you’re a fan of PF Chang’s, stop by the restaurant on Wednesday for a great tax day discount. Chang’s is offering 15% off the total bill. This offer applies nationwide to all guests and applies to every order.
McCormick & Schmick’s seafood restaurants are giving out a $10.40 certificate for future use. Many $15 to $20 Entrees will also be discounted to $10.40 on the 15th.
MaggieMoo’s Ice Cream is giving away single-scoop servings to customers at 200 stores in what it calls an “e-cone-omic ice cream stimulus package.”
Cinnabon is offering free Tax Day Bites (small bite-size cinnamon rolls) from 5 to 8 p.m. at its 700 outlets.
Taco Del Mar’s promotion, “Taxes Suck. Tacos Don’t,” is funny, but it’s only being offered in the West. It offers a free taco coupon to people who register on the company website.
Finally, T.G.I. Friday’s is giving out gift cards in honor of tax day. If you spend between $10-$15, you get a $5 gift card; spend more than $25 and receive a $10 card.
As I get prepared to do my 2008 taxes, I read some rather depressing news. It will take American workers 103 days to earn enough to pay their 2009 taxes. Yes, that’s right 103 days! According to the Tax Foundation (a tax education group), everything after that is theoretically theirs to keep.
So, the money I’ve earned so far this year is all going to the government? Ugh!
The report states that April 13th is the earliest Tax Freedom Day since 1967 primarily because of the recession and the stimulus package. Even though Tax Freedom Day comes a little earlier than previous years, it’s still outrageous that it takes 103 days just to earn enough to pay your taxes — more than 3 months worth of salary down the drain. Depressing, indeed.
And it’s not going to get better anytime soon. Experts predict that in 2009 Americans will pay more in taxes than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined.
Regrettably, tax season is here again. I haven’t filed mine yet– been too busy with travel and working awful hours — but I’ve got to get it done soon.
If you have some extra time on your hands and want to save some money on electricity, here is a great video by Truman Greene showing how to file your taxes online using a computer fueled by onions and electrolytes.
Truman used three different types of onions, potatoes and yams, and a few tomatoes. He also used green energy drinks. He reports that his energy supply did not last long, but it was “long enough for me to file my taxes, which probably says more about how fast and easy online tax filing is with H&R Block than my vegetable power plant.”
So, if you want to conduct a fun experiment while doing the dreaded deed of filing your taxes, give it a try. But remember to wear your goggles at all times warns Truman, “that onion juice will make the toughest guy teary eyed.”
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