Football + taxes = New Year’s fun!

January 2, 2016

It's the favorite time of the year for college football and tax fans. Their worlds converge.

As I type, the Georgia Bulldogs are whupping up on the Penn State Nittany Lions. OK, so the Pennsylvania fans aren't having fun.

But tax geeks who also are college football fans have noticed that the two teams are meeting in the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida.

TaxSlayer Bowl banner

Older football fans will remember this as the Gator Bowl, but the tax software company has been the primary sponsor since the 2011 game. It was officially renamed the TaxSlayer Bowl when the Bowl and the company inked a new deal in 2014.

It's a smart move by the tax preparation company. The tax filing season will start in a few weeks, and it doesn't hurt to get your name in front of football fans who'll be among the millions using software to fill out and e-file their 2015 taxes.

TurboTax on TV, too: Taxes have already popped up in other games thanks to ad for Intuit's TurboTax program. I can't remember exactly which games I've seen them in; they're starting to run together by now.

But I have spotted a couple of the leading online tax prep and filing program's "It doesn't take a genius to do your taxes" ads.

The hook is that to ease consumers' self doubt when doing their own taxes, actual eggheads show up to help. The seven 30-second TV spots are leading up to TurboTax's commercial appearance in the NFL's Super Bowl on Feb. 7.

UPDATE: Just caught a TaxAct ad in the Valero Alamo Bowl where the Oregon Ducks are crushing the TCU Horned Frogs.

Yep, it truly is tax kickoff time.

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We made it. Tax Day 2025 is finally over. For most of us. When the filing season started on Jan. 26, millions who were expecting refunds filed immediately. Most of us got our returns to the Internal Revenue Service by April 15. But plenty of taxpayers also got extensions. They are looking at an Oct. 15 filing deadline.

Those procrastinating filers aren’t a problem. In fact, the IRS appreciates taxpayers who take time to fill out their 1040 forms correctly. It also is grateful that tax submissions are spread out a bit, especially now that the IRS is a leaner agency. Processing returns is easier when they arrive throughout the year instead of in massive bunches.

But enough about Uncle Sam’s tax collection issues. The focus now is on all y’all who filed for extensions, giving you another six months to complete your return. Since your new mid-October due date will be here before you know it, let’s get started now on meeting it.

The ol’ blog is here to help you finish up your extended Form 1040. You can start with January’s tax tips page, which has links to the rest of the year’s tips by-month collections. You also can peruse various tax categories for more tailored advice by clicking on the More Tax Posts drop-down menu at the top of this (and every) page.

And to make sure you don’t miss your new filing deadline, the count-down clock below will let you know just how much time you to file by Oct. 15. At the latest.e. (Note: I’m in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.)

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