It's tax time again!

And for some of us, that means a last minute to dash to file taxes online or, gasp!, drop off an actual, filled-out-by-hand tax return at the post office.

But while taking a tax break during the day Wednesday or once the task is done, there are plenty of freebies and discounts around the Bay area to lift your IRS-depleted spirits.

Here's a sampling of the some the goodies:

Barnes & Noble: Use coupon code X8W8L3A when shopping online to get 20 percent off a single item through May 1.

Beef O' Brady: Get 15 percent off your purchase April 15 at Beef O Brady's.

Boston Market: The restaurant is offering a tax day buy one-get one free meal offer on April 15.

Burger King: Get a free Whopper with a purchase of a Whopper.

The Humane Society of Tampa Bay: The agency is offering a one day special on adoptions of pets over four months old at just $15.

KFC: Get a free red velvet cake with the purchase of a 10-piece (or larger) family meal.

McDonald's: Bay area McDonald’s restaurants will offer Big Macs and Quarter Pounders for buy one, get one for just a penny on April 15 at select locations.

Office Depot/Office Max: The stores will offer two pounds of free shredding until April 29.

Sonic Drive-In: Sonic is offering half-price cheeseburgers all day April 15.

Sonny’s BBQ: The restaurant is offering a half-price rib dinner plate all day on April 15 at participating Bay area Sonny’s locations. The offer is good for both dine-in and takeout.

Staples: Shred all those old tax documents for free at Staples until May 2.

Whole Foods Market: The Carrollwood store, located at 3802 Northdale Blvd., Tampa, is offering one free 12 oz. Allegro coffee from the coffee bar to customers who bring in their own reusable mug on April 15.

A closer look at taxes

A Bit of Tax History
Income tax was first introduced in the United States in 1861. A rate of three percent was levied on incomes above $800 per year, and the resulting revenue was used to help fund the American Civil War effort. However, income tax was seen as unconstitutional, and the law was repealed in 1872. The idea of a tax on personal income, at a rate of two percent, was reintroduced in the Revenue Act of 1894, but the legal status of this kind of tax was still unclear. In 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified. This cleared the way for the modern income tax system in the United States.

Income Tax Fast Facts

2014 (for 2013)
Individual Income Tax Returns
Total Receipts: 147,444,789

Individual E-filing Receipts
TOTAL: 124,585,594
Tax Professionals: 77,275,927
Self-prepared: 47,309,667

Total Individual Refunds
Number: 116,562,491
Amount: $330.561 billion
Average Refund: $2,719
Source: CNN library

Top 10 Google Tax Questions

Google made a list of the top tax questions since the beginning of this year.

1. What is income tax?

Google’s first search result provides a definition of income tax: (noun) tax levied by a government directly on income, especially an annual tax on personal income.

2. When does tax season start 2015?

Tax season for paper and electronically filed returns opened on January 20, 2015.

3. When is tax day?

It’s Wednesday, April 15.

4. Where is my refund?

Visit the IRS page irs.gov/Refunds about 24 hours after the IRS has received your e-filed tax return or four weeks after you mailed your paper return.

5. How to calculate income tax?

The first result provides a link to a free H&R Block calculator estimator.

6. What is state income tax?

Google’s first search result is a preview of Wikipedia’s answer. Essentially, it’s a tax levied on your income by the state in which you typically work. But not all states assess income tax, including Alaska, Florida, Texas and Nevada.

7. What states do not have income tax?

Feeling the urge to move? Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming don’t assess state income taxes.Most people don’t pay a state income tax in Tennessee.

8. How to calculate federal income tax?

Google refers taxpayers to IRS’ Withholding Calculator, which suggests using your most recent stubs and income tax return.

9. What is adjusted gross income?

Again, Wikipedia’s definition is a top result. TurboTax, another top result, has a similar definition: your AGI is your total income you report that’s subject to income tax, before you take exemptions and deductions.

10. Who has to file income tax?

Not everyone who had an income last year has to file taxes, depending on your income, age and filing status, though many professionals recommend you do so. A loose chart on efile.com is one of Google’s top search results, which shows a single person under 65 has a minimum income requirement of $10,150.