Death and taxes are all we look forward to. It has been said that the only things that are certain are death and taxes. And after all of the heists and schemes that Al Capone managed to get away with, the greatest gangster in the history of gangs got pinched for not paying his taxes. In case you didn't know, taxes are due this week, with the deadline of 11:59 p.m. on Monday, April 17. Generally, taxes are due on April 15, but because that date falls on a weekend this year, Uncle Sam has granted an extension. So essentially, everyone gets to keep their money two days longer this year before it gets turned into M-16 rifles and paved highways. Ben Yazersky, one of the many local caffeine-charged Certified Public Accountants burning the midnight oil the past few months, has been bogged down with work for as long as he can remember. "I'm either working or I'm sleeping,' Yazersky said. The Hoboken-based CPA said that so many people don't file their taxes on time for many different reasons. "Too many people procrastinate," Yazersky said. "They wait until the last minute. Some people owe money and are in no hurry to hand it over to the government." By definition, tax evasion is different from failing to file your taxes this week. Tax evasion is an outright failure to pay any taxes to the government throughout the year, while failing to file your taxes is not quite as serious. If you are employed and taxes have been taken out of your paycheck each month, you have been paying taxes all along and there is no jail time in your near future. But if you have not filed, for whatever reason, there are ways provided by the government to right your wrongs. One such way, and the easiest way to keep federal agents from bursting through your front door at the crack of dawn with an arrest warrant in hand, is to simply file for an extension. Without the disappointing scowl of a teacher that you are asking permission from to have an extra weekend to work on a term paper, the Internal Revenue Service is willing and ready to grant an extension to those scofflaws that will not make Monday evening's deadline. "It's not a wise thing to do," Yazersky said of missing the deadline. To obtain Form 48-68, the extension form, potential taxpayers can go to a local post office of library. Internal Revenue Service offices are located here in Jersey City at 30 Montgomery St. and are open from 8 a.m. until 4:40 p.m. According to the IRS, there is no guarantee that the proper forms will be available at other locations other than their offices. If you need an extension Once you have Form 48-68, all you have to do, according to the IRS hotline (1-800-829-1040), is to fill in your name, social security number, and what your estimated tax liability will be. Note, however, that the IRS was adamant about filing extensions and payment extensions being two separate things. You can request a filing extension, but according to the IRS, that is not the same as having an extension on when you must pay your taxes by. Separate services are available on the hotline that can help financially-strapped taxpayers work out some sort of personal program with the tax collection agency. If you do not file anything at all by 11:59 p.m. Monday night, heavy penalties can come down from the government. According to Greg Semanick, a communications manager for the IRS, failure to file taxes will result in a 4.5 percent late charge for each month delinquent, which can grow to as much as 22.5 percent. In addition, the IRS will also charge an extra .5 percent charge on any underpaid amounts of money. When no money is collected, as in the Al Capone case, charges of fraud then come into play and violators are subject to much worse than a simple late charge and a slap on the checkbook. "The IRS has become somewhat more accommodating," Yazersky said. "You can at least get their attention now."