Last-minute flood of returns

The Westwood firm estimates that about 15 percent of the tax returns it will handle this year have been processed in the past month, thanks to an extension until today for many local residents to file their tax returns.

“In the tax preparation business, everybody gears up for April 15,’’ Koppel said. “This is just like a second April 15.’’

Typically, taxpayers filing for an extension have to pay estimated taxes or risk facing interest and penalties. But because of heavy flooding this spring, the Internal Revenue Service gave taxpayers in seven counties in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and people in other flood-hit areas, an extension on the tax filing date until today. Local tax preparers say many people are taking advantage of the extension, which was granted to all residents in those areas regardless of whether they suffered flood damage.

Last week, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 taxpayers had yet to file because of the extension, which the state also offered to taxpayers. As a result, tax receipts for April were $469 million lower than projections the department had issued before the flooding.

In Rhode Island, the state delayed issuing 65,000 individual refunds totaling $39 million because the late filings resulted in $24 million less in tax receipts in April. Last month, state officials said they would hold refunds for at least three weeks longer than usual.

Gary Hayes, the managing director in the Tax Group of CBIZ Tofias, said the extended deadline is particularly appealing to those who know that they will owe the IRS money this year.

“Human nature being what it is, if people owe money and are given extra time to pay it, they’re going to take advantage of it,’’ he said. “If the government is going to give you an extension of the time you have to file and pay, why not take advantage of it?’’

Brian Meuse said he certainly had no qualms about taking the extra time to file his tax returns, even though he and his wife, Katherine, had no flood damage to their Woburn home. The couple filed jointly and owed about $900 in federal taxes.

“If we were getting money back, I would have filed as soon as I had all the forms,’’ said Meuse, 40, who works as a systems librarian at Boston College.

But all the late filing has been a headache for some tax preparers. Koppel, with the Westwood accounting firm, said it’s laborious because of an IRS requirement that the late filings be done on paper as opposed to electronically to avoid a costly rewrite of the IRS’s computer programs for a handful of taxpayers.

“People always have it in mind that they have to have all this stuff in by April 15. Now all of a sudden, that imposed deadline was gone, and the pressure was off,’’ he said. “This really didn’t help us.’’

For its part, H&R Block kept 15 offices open in Greater Boston to accommodate the late filing deadline, according to Boston metro district manager Jeff Pirner. In a normal year, the company would keep just eight offices open to help people filing taxes late.

Pirner said the extension has helped people who were affected by the flooding to claim casualty losses on their 2009 tax returns.

Pending changes to tax laws will mean that most taxpayers will get less of a credit if they wait until next year to claim casualty losses.

“There are very different rules if people claim the losses on their 2009 tax returns as opposed to their 2010 returns,’’ he said. “There are reasons why people would want to file those in 2009, beyond just getting that credit sooner.’’

Still, Pirner said some clients are taking advantage of the extra time even if they have not suffered flood damage.

“It gives people a few extra weeks to either come up with the tax payment or decide whether they are going to file for an extension,’’ he said.