Death & Taxes

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- the seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter series that hits streets July 21 -- is being pre-sold at various stores and sites, including eBay. While just a few have sold over the past week at an average of $13 each, it's been the Death Hallows t-shirts that have actually sold more and, at $20 each, commanded a higher price.

While CPAs everywhere have begun hunkering down for yet another busy tax season, it appears many eBayers plan to go it alone. TurboTax tax preparation software jumped 81 percent between Feb. 6-12, no doubt inspired by receiving W2s in the mail recently. About 500 copies of 2006 software are selling weekly, at about $41 each. Apparently, buyers are eager to get started this year as the software is getting an average of 11 bids per item (by comparison, a black 4GB iPod nano is receiving 13).

Tags: Harry Potter, IRS