IRS uses YouTube to clue viewers in on tax rebates
The IRS is taking a cue from aspiring comedians and Barack Obama aficionados this week, making use of YouTube to get its message out.
The agency produced four 30-second public service announcements that tell viewers how to claim their tax rebate from the economic stimulus plan.
The rebates range from $300 to $600 for individuals and $600 to $1,200 for married couples filing jointly. Each YouTube video features an IRS employee standing in front of an American flag.
The videos were put on the Web site starting Friday through the American Payroll Association's YouTube channel. The videos are getting mixed reviews from young YouTube watchers.
"I don't see myself or anyone else I know looking for IRS information on YouTube," Michele Meyer, a 22-year-old Ithaca College senior from Stanhope, N.J., said in an e-mail.
"Even if we did," she said, "those videos would not be appealing to us in the slightest. They have no real information, and the tone is almost patronizing."
Boston University junior Ashlie Chandler said that while the IRS videos were "boring and seemingly ridiculous," YouTube was a smart route for the IRS to take.
Going on YouTube "has literally become second nature to checking your e-mail and Facebook account when you first log on to the Internet," Chandler, a 20-year-old from Guam, said in an e-mail.
One video points out that filing a tax return is the only step Americans have to take to receive their rebate. A second explains that those who may not normally file tax returns could still receive a rebate. The third warns of scams.
More than 20 million people who don't normally file tax returns could be eligible for the tax rebate, said IRS spokesman Terry Lemons. They include people who received at least $3,000 through Social Security, veterans' benefits, railroad retirement benefits, earned income or a combination in 2007.
On Saturday, 320 IRS locations around the country will be open for walk-in counseling, an event dubbed Super Saturday on the fourth IRS YouTube video. The program is limited to individuals who are filing a tax return solely to get a rebate.
While the YouTube videos may not draw droves of viewers, the IRS hopes its message will spread by word of mouth or that other organizations or news networks will post the videos, Lemons said.
"It really fits in with our attempt to turn over every stone in this program," to communicate with those eligible for the rebate, he added.
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