By Randy Tucker
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Wal-Mart allows the Jackson Hewitt firm to set up tax preparation kiosks - a move that has proven beneficial for both the retailer and the tax preparer. Bobbie J. Hedrick manages the kiosk in the Wal-Mart in Florence. The Cincinnati Enquirer/ERNEST COLEMAN

Tax time has become a major sales event for some Greater Cincinnati retailers, who launch a variety of promotions each year to snare a share of the hundreds of billions of dollars in tax refunds collected by consumers.

Wal-Mart, Meijer and Home Depot are among the major retailers that have taken steps locally to encourage their customers to spend tax refunds in their stores.

And the response has helped those retailers rack up big sales at a traditionally slow period in retailing.

"Every year, (tax refund promotions) have become a little more popular, and we see every reason to continue and expand them in the future," said John Simley, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc.

Home Depot has offered tax-refund incentives for the past three years and recently began advertising a promotion in which customers can exchange their refund checks for a Home Depot gift card and also receive a coupon for a 5 percent discount up to $200 off their next purchase. The offer ends April 21.

OPEN TILL MIDNIGHT

Several U.S. Postal Service branches across Greater Cincinnati will accept tax returns until midnight. These branches will offer drop-off service:  Anderson Township, 1320 Nagel Road.  Don Marrs, 3644 Werk Road, Westwood.  Parkdale, 670 Northland Blvd. Forest Park.  Sharonville, 11069 Reading Road.  Symmes Township, 9370 Fields Ertel Road. Three branches will have window and drop-off service:  Florence, 7101 Turfway Road.  Main post office, 1623 Dalton Ave., Queensgate.  Fairfield, 700 Wessel Drive.

"Most of our customers already know they want to make a purchase when they walk into our stores with a refund check, and we're just trying to erase any barrier that might prevent them from turning that check into a home improvement purchase," Simley said.

Carol Tome of Erlanger, who filed her taxes late last month and is expecting refunds totaling about $2,000, was shopping for new kitchen cabinets this week at the Home Depot in Florence when she heard about the promotion.

"I was probably going to spend (the refund) here anyway, so this will save me a trip to the bank," said the 34-year-old nursing assistant.

Recent surveys show consumers are in the mood to shop.

Future consumer spending is likely to benefit, at least in part, from the size of tax refunds, which are projected to exceed last year's returns thanks to revisions in the tax code for marriage penalty relief and higher child credits, according to Columbus-based market research firm Retail Forward.

"The first wave of tax refund checks, with amounts that are tracking significantly higher than last year, appears to be lifting some of the caution (in consumer spending) that has persisted in recent months," said Steve Spiwak, an economist at Retail Forward.

About $133 billion in tax refunds were certified through the end of March, according to the Internal Revenue Service, compared with $121 billion by the end of March 2003. The average tax refund is $2,151.

Experts say the retailers who stand to benefit most from the tax windfall are sellers of big-ticket items that require a sizeable down payment and financing.

That includes furniture stores, electronics retailers and car dealers.

Locally, Beechmont Ford has tempted car buyers for several years with an offer to reimburse them for the cost to have their taxes prepared if they sign an agreement to use their refund toward buying a car.

"Buying a car is something that most people are going to have to finance, and a lot of people just don't have the cash for a down payment except at tax time," said Brent Martin, used car director at Beechmont Ford.

Some retailers even offer on-site tax preparation and refund check cashing to equip customers with money to spend in their stores.

Wal-Mart and Meijer, for example, allow tax preparer Jackson Hewitt to set up tax preparation kiosks in their stores - a move that has proven beneficial for both the retailers and the tax preparers.

"It's just a great symbiotic relationship,'' said Linda Cecil, district manager for Jackson-Hewitt in Greater Cincinnati. "In our freestanding stores, we have to draw clients in. But with our retail locations, it puts us right out there with the clients. We do a huge percentage of our business from the retail locations."

E-mail rtucker@enquirer.com