Cocktails, Free Food and Other Tax Day Deals
Freebies and special deals ease the pain of having to pay the tax man.
April 15, 2014 -- intro: On tax day, corporate America feels your pain. Providers of everything from French fries to cocktails to hotel rooms to apple-scented urinal screens reading "Abolish The IRS" will be going out of their way Tuesday to try to make you feel better (or less bad, at least) for having to fork over your money to Uncle Sam. "No taxation without relaxation" says one sympathetic hotel chain's slogan. Some upscale deals are aimed at "the one percent," others at "the 99 percent." You'll find a wide assortment of deals, freebies and limited-time offers on the pages that follow. Some apply only to April 15th. Others run longer. For details, for restrictions, and to find out whether or not a coupon may be required, we suggest you contact each provider to confirm what terms apply.
quicklist: 1title: Food: Takeout and Sit Downcategory: media: 23322126text: For the fourth year running, Arby's will be offering free snack-sized Curly Fries on April 15 to customers who have downloaded a coupon from Arby's website.
Orange Leaf Yogurt, at all of its 300-plus locations, is offering a soothing tax day deal on any flavor yogurt, including flavor-of-the-year, New Banana. You get a full cup for just $4.15. Customers must download a coupon to be eligible.
$10.40 will get you a "Tax Day Deal Chicken Meal" for two at Boston Market on tax day. Each consists of half a rotisserie chicken plus a choice of two sides and cornbread. (No coupon needed.) Company CEO George Michel says in a press release that, "while no one enjoys 1040 forms," the deal gives customers something to feel good about.
For any taxpayer willing to sing, the Hard Rock Cafe is offering a special deal on selected entrees on April 15. The "Sing For Your Supper" promotion applies to guests willing to take to the stage and sing a complete song.
DoubleTree by Hilton will provide “sweet” Tax Day relief to residents in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, among two of America’s highest-taxed cities, with “Cookie Care." Hotel team members will be handing out thousands of the hotel’s iconic chocolate chip cookies to consumers at local post offices and tax offices through the day and will be giving out free cookies from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Liberty Place Rotunda in Philadelphia and 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif.
Sonic Drive-In is offering half-price drinks and slushes all-day on Tax Day, or "Happy Hour All Day."
One day after tax day, Kona Ice, purveyors of gourmet shaved ice in 41 states, won't just give you a complimentary (and refreshing) cup of ice on April 16, they'll throw in a complimentary Hawaiian lei. Look for Kona Ice trucks that will be parked in community parks.
quicklist: 2title: Hotelscategory: media: 23324954text: In honor of tax day, the mixologists at the Burritt Room in San Francisco's Mystic Hotel by Charlie Palmer have created a special cocktail--The Tax Man--made of gin, thyme liqueur, Aperol, lemon, strawberry and seltzer. Price: $12.
The Hotel Monaco in Chicago has an IRS (Imbibe, Relax and Save) special, which includes: $25 beverage credit, $50 in room spa credit, and no taxes on your room rate. Mention rate code "NOTAX."
The Hotel Monaco in Portland, Ore., meantime, is offering complimentary in-chair massages to tense taxpayers during the cocktail hour on the 15th. Champagne will be on hand, should you have a refund to toast. To receive a complimentary cocktail at the adjacent Red Star Tavern, customers must present their tax return.
quicklist: 3title: Novelties, Miscellaneous Servicescategory:media: 23324241text: What better time to incorporate than right after you've had to pay a confiscatory personal tax rate? On tax day, MyCorporation is offering a promotion where filers can form either an LLC or their own corporation for free. The offer is good in all 50 states.
On April 16, the day after tax day, Southern California's South Coast Air Quality Management District opens registration for an annual exchange program that gives the energy-conscious 75 percent off the cost of a brand-name electric lawnmower for any gas-powered mower they bring in.
MVPee.com, which makes apple-scented urinal covers, is giving away 1,000 covers emblazoned with the words "Abolish the IRS" to the first 1,000 taxpayers who request them.