"The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax," Albert Einstein once said. But it doesn't take a genius to work out that tax is a tricky issue. Still, even Homer Simpson figured it out eventually

You may remember the episode - Ned Flanders bounds out of bed at midnight on January 1st to get cracking on his yearly tax return, but Homer only realises on the day of the deadline that he hasn't done his own return. He scrambles to complete it on time, includes false information ("Okay, Marge, if anyone asks, you require 24-hour nursing care, Lisa's a clergyman, Maggie is seven people, and Bart was wounded in Vietnam"), and ends up being charged with tax fraud.

In Ireland, people who are self-employed or who have a certain amount of income outside their employment must complete and submit a tax return to the Revenue. And most, like Homer, procrastinate, putting off the dull job until the 11th hour.

For those who choose to file their tax return the traditional way, ie by completing a paper form and posting it to the Revenue, the deadline passed on October 31st. For these folk, tax returns are just one more Halloween horror.

However, individuals willing to move with the times can let their tax return linger on their to-do list for a little bit longer, thanks to the Revenue Online Service (Ros) introduced in 2000 in a bid to increase efficiency and productivity. The deadline for submitting tax returns electronically through Ros is extended to November 16th.

The service has expanded so that taxpayers can also claim tax credits, apply for refunds and request forms and information by simply logging on to the Revenue website or by sending a text.

According to the Revenue, these new services were necessary to deal with the changing demands of its customers: "The Irish economy has grown strongly over the past decade. One of the consequences of this growth has been a substantial increase in the number of people in employment and paying tax.

"This has implications for Revenue in terms of the resources it needs simply to administer a growing customer base."

The Revenue says its electronic services have allowed it to free up staff "previously involved in the labour-intensive task of processing paper and dealing with low-risk customer contacts that are equally well-served using the new self-service options".

But why do we have to pay tax in the first place? Well, taxes are used by the Government to pay for public services - everything from roads to schools, hospitals to unemployment benefit - and are grudgingly accepted by most as a necessary evil.

However, creating a tax system that is considered fair is far from easy. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, employees were paying very high rates of income tax on their salaries, while self-employed people were seen to be lightly taxed.

Public anger finally peaked when several hundred thousand workers took to the streets in protest against the unfair distribution of the tax burden.

Ultimately, a tax burden that was perceived as unfair triggered an era of tax evasion that is only recently coming home to roost for some.

Since the dark days of the 1980s, income tax rates have fallen, but a simmering undercurrent of discontent bubbled up again when the phenomenon of "tax-free millionaires" (very wealthy individuals who reduced, or in some cases completely eliminated, their income tax bills by availing of tax reliefs) - was brought to public attention in recent years.

This issue was addressed to a certain extent in last year's budget, which saw restrictions placed on the tax relief available to high-income taxpayers. This year, the stamp duty toll being levied on housebuyers is grabbing the headlines and many interest groups are lobbying the Government to change the regime.

Next week, the Department of Finance will release its Book of Estimates, which summarises how much money will be allocated to each Government department in the coming year.

This is the first instalment of the Budget, which will be revealed in full by the Minister for Finance Brian Cowen on December 6th. It will lay out detailed plans for public spending and specify any changes to the tax system.

Whatever tax changes Mr Cowen unveils in his budget speech, they will inevitably draw applause from some quarters and criticism from others - but at least he can take some comfort from the fact that even Einstein would have found his job a challenge.