E-filing another sign Illinois is broken

Chalk it up as another sign that Illinois government is broken: The state's e-filing site for income taxes is as slow as an obese pol lumbering up the Capitol steps. I encountered a string of Web server errors and crashes and down time with the department of revenue's e-filing system that was aggravating to the Nth degree. I have been filing my state tax returns online for years and never have I faced the series of problems that I've seen this year. I tried in vain for three hours the night of April 13 to access the site, but I was thwarted by a string of internal server errors. I finally was able to file my return April 14, but not after encountering three server errors and having to wait an inordinate length of time for each page in the process to load. If anything, the system should run better than in years past as Web servers and networks constantly improve. Also, the amount of traffic to the site should come as no surprise given that Illinois has long been encouraging taxpayers to file their returns online and the department must have e-filing statistics from years past. Surely, Illinois officials weren't prepared to withstand the April 15 crush. But just as surely they won't excuse tardy tax returns.

Paul C Zelewsky

Wheaton