May 1st is the deadline to have your 2016 income tax return filed.

Between now and then is crunch time for tax preparation businesses, including First Choice Income Tax in Portage la Prairie. Karen Olafson says people are still in the process of gathering their paperwork, adding the more ordered it is when it's brought in, the better.

"It certainly helps us in the end," she says, "Being able to process it timely. Look through last year's, and see what T-slips you had -- if it's T-4's, T-4A's, RRSP's, your medical in order -- those kind of things. If they come in with everything, it makes it a lot easier for us."

She points out with the deadline not far away, it's important to get your information in quickly.

"Just bring your stuff in, get in as soon as your can," she points out, "For ourselves, we're at least two weeks behind at the moment, and at this point, not taking any new clients. Just trying to do what can for the clients we do have, and the ones that we know are coming back."

She says despite the volume of work, they're managing.

"We have wonderful front (office) staff, that help us tremendously, taking everybody's information, and making sure things are in order for us," she says, "And then there's Sandra and I preparing the tax returns. Lots of long hours -- seven days a week for these couple of months. It's like farmers' harvest season -- you have to do it when it's the time."

The reason they're a couple of weeks behind -- boxes of returns that just came in