California’s Web Site Overwhelmed by Visitors Downloading Tax Forms.

Daily News (Los Angeles, CA) April 16, 2003 Byline: Rachel Uranga Apr. 16–Last-minute tax filers trying to download California tax forms overwhelmed the state’s Web site Tuesday, blocking access for hours as procrastinators facing a midnight deadline fumed.

Despite the online shutdowns, the state won’t be waiving any penalties for those who owe tax and file late.

“There is no ‘my dog ate my tax return, I couldn’t download the form,”‘ said Denise Azimi, spokeswoman for the California Franchise Tax Board.

Forms were available at regional tax offices as well as print shops and some libraries, she said. Those awaiting refunds would not face penalties, she said. see here california tax forms

On Monday the site had 2.7 million visitors, with 2.2 million of them downloading forms without a glitch. That’s more than double the amount of visitors during the same time last year.

Tuesday, the Web site hit its capacity.

“Today is knocking our socks off,” Azimi said, unable to give an estimate of how many Californians used the site but noting that an estimated 5 million taxpayers had yet to file by Tuesday.

Missing the filing deadline can result in penalties ranging from 5 percent to 25 percent of your tax liability, tax experts said.

Victor Omelczenko, a spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service in Los Angeles, said the IRS did not face similar problems.

Anxious taxpayers wandered into the Van Nuys branch of the Los Angeles Public Library on Tuesday hoping to download California’s standard tax form along with a slew of other forms from the stalled site, said senior librarian Lupe Canales.

“It had been working fine for the past two weeks and then it went out,” Canales said. this web site california tax forms

Explaining the situation to a few of the patrons, Canales said some became frustrated.

“We gave them the Web site so they could try later,” she said. “I am sorry to say that some don’t have computers so I don’t know what they are going to do.” The “e-services” address, through which Californians can pay taxes online, operated without problems Tuesday, Azima said. Only downloading tax forms gave online users difficulty, she said.

“We will be looking at this, why we have this bubble and what we can do,” Azimi said.

Already, the board has doubled its traffic capacity.