Every April 15th in the United State the IRS places a hard deadline for everyone to file his or her taxes. And if you don't,  the penalties and interest start piling on. There are serious consequences for failing to file your taxes. At the most sever level you could end up spending time as a guest in the Federal penal system.

Why are the consequences so harsh? Easy, if they don't make it so tough then hordes of folks will "forget" to file their taxes.

Working in the tax industry I found it amusing how the tax season works.

It starts in late January when people receive their W2's from their employers. People who are likely due a tax refund rush in to get their taxes prepared and filed.  They can't get their refund fast enough. From late January through February it's wall-to-wall customers at the local tax shops.

Then comes the month of March - Crickets! Hardly a customer in sight. The challenge during this time is trying to stay awake. March gave me an appreciation for how the Maytag repairman feels.

Starting in April the pace picks up again, and as you get closer to the 15th it gets busier. The customer pace becomes more frantic as does the customer's level of stress. As April 15th nears,  people are in a near panic and most of the time it's because of their own procrastination.

I'm amused that with all the pain and penalty the IRS will impose for missing the tax filing deadline, people still push the envelope.

The marketing lesson is that no matter when you put a deadline on your offer, people will wait till the last minute act. Some people will miss the deadline, and still want the special price or offer.  That's the point of the special offer, it's extended to those that order within a specific timeframe, not afterwards; otherwise there would never be any specials or sales.