One taxing exercise

Haven’t filed your taxes yet? Hurry up; Tuesday’s the day. Don’t happen to own a computer, or aren’t adept at operating one? You really need to hoof it. That’s because tax collectors make it a damnnear scavenger hunt to get ahold of the forms.

Years ago, with ever more people filing via computer, both the IRS and the New York tax department stopped mailing out forms by default. Defensible.

But the agencies have now made it hard even to find hard copies, which are supposed to be at all local libraries.

Fully 13% of U.S. adults don’t use the internet. And the vast majority of those happen to be older folks who can’t get around quite so easily.

Yet visiting libraries in all five boroughs, we found that the big Bronx Library Center was left high and dry. Manhattan was spotty, with the none of the larger branches having forms, even though some neighborhood locations did.

The Brooklyn Central Library was in good shape, but it was hit or miss among local branches. The two big Queens branches, at Jamaica and Flushing, had everything, but smaller branches had none. Staten Island’s St. George Branch was well stocked.

For those using computers, the IRS can teach New York a lesson.

While the feds let anyone e-file with their free software, New York only offers e-filing for people who buy TurboTax or the like, or use a private preparer.

Other schlubs can use a computer to fill out the forms — but then have to print them out and mail them in, defeating the whole the purpose of the computer.