DOING TAXES LIKE PULLING TEETH? AMERICANS KNOW THE DRILL - AND UNCLE SAM TAKES HIS BITE.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

What stings more, the threat of a tax audit or the grind of a dentist's drill?

With the income tax deadline looming Friday, the question was put to the test of public opinion, and the answer was a virtual dead heat.

According to an Associated Press/Ipsos poll released Monday, slightly more people preferred going to the dentist to preparing their 1040s. Both experiences bring to mind words such as ``pain,'' ``suffering'' and ``ordeal,'' but 49 percent of 1,001 taxpayers surveyed would rather have their teeth hacked at with metal picks while 48 percent would rather fill out their tax forms.

``The fact that the American public's equally split between preparing taxes and going to the dentist hints at the pain associated with the process,'' said Michael Gross, who serves as Ipsos' research manager and also prefers taxes to dental work. ``It's not something that any adult enjoys doing.''

The survey found that 14 percent of taxpayers still hadn't even pulled out their forms, although time is running out - the filing deadline is midnight Friday.

``The thing people are afraid most of is an audit,'' said Lawrence Richards, who heads an accounting firm in Encino. ``The specter of fear is that you could be the one out of a thousand. You just don't know when you're going to be the one.''

Seventy percent of those polled found the federal tax code to be too complicated, though only 45 percent were willing to give up some of their deductions and credits to make it simpler. Only 40 percent favored a flat tax over the current system of higher wage-earners paying a higher tax rate.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The dental profession took understandable umbrage at the comparison.

While Sue Merrell, executive director of the Los Angeles Dental Society, said it was every American's duty to pay their fair share, she wasn't exactly kicking up her heels over the chance to examine her W-2.

``I'd much rather spend my time doing something interesting,'' she said. ``I would absolutely want to go to the dentist. While people are hesitant to go because they're afraid of pain, most people trust their dentist with their health.''

For the 14 percent who haven't yet hauled out the calculator and pencil, time is running perilously short.

Free electronic filing through the Internal Revenue Service's Web site, www.irs.gov, can speed the process along, but still might not prove quick enough for the hard-core procrastinators. File an extension by Friday, cautioned IRS spokesman Victor Omelczenko, and then debate the details later.

``People who have refunds coming file the minute they get their W-2s,'' he said. ``The people who are waiting for the last minute may owe some money. Pay as much as you can - if you need, we'll work to put together an installment payment system. Whatever you do, file that extension.''

Already taken care of, said Alison Todd, a legal secretary from Woodland Hills. She got the documents to her husband and her accountant and washed her hands of the whole thing, preferring to let other people do the math.

``That's why you've got the tax guy,'' she said. ``I just want to sign on the dotted line.''

The tax-dental dichotomy didn't wash with her, however.

``The pain of taxes compared with the dentist?'' she scoffed. ``That's dumb. I gave birth to three children, if you want to talk about pain.''

While Derrick Walker, a 46-year-old account executive for an imaging company from Canoga Park, might not have had a comparable experience with childbirth, he prefers settling up with Uncle Sam to sitting down for dental work.

``It's not that I enjoy doing taxes,'' he said. ``Who wants to sit down with all those papers? Pretty soon your whole days's gone. But still, it's better than those dentist needles.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

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SOURCE: Ipsos-Public Affairs for AP