Last year, the IRS received almost 134 million individual income-tax returns, according to www.irs.gov. Twayne Neal is doing his part to make sure drivers on Orem's State Street know they don't need to fill out those forms on their own.

Whether it's sunny or snowy, Neal will be there. Most days between mid-January and April 15, the 50-year-old man is standing outside, wearing snow pants, work gloves and a green velour Statue of Liberty costume outside Liberty Tax Service.

"I'm basically just a billboard, just a human billboard," Neal said.

He's usually waving a sign equipped with handles entreating drivers to come in and file their taxes, but sometimes he just has a giant, red, foam hand.

"Human beings are visual creatures, and our eyes are attracted to motion," Neal said.

Neal, along with another Lady Liberty impersonators employed by the franchise, is a chief marketing tool for the company. Greg Moser, Neal's boss, said three-fourths of the tax service's first-time customers come because they saw the Statue of Liberty outside the office.

"It actually catches people's eyes," said accountant Jonathan Gray, who worked at a private tax-preparation service in Minnesota before coming to Utah. He said he likes using the waving billboard method.

People wearing the Statue of Liberty costumes can be seen across the country waving signs for many Liberty Tax Service franchises.

"I thought it was kind of crazy at first," Moser said.

Neal is good at his job, though, and uses different attention techniques.

"He's just been very creative and very animated," Moser said.

Neal has several different waves he uses to get attention, such as the tomahawk and crazy wave. He said he tries to make each passing driver feel important.

"I like to make the person feel like they're the center of the universe," Neal said. "If a person is waved to, it makes them feel noticed."

There is a downside, though, when people are disrespectful.

"I don't like being mooned. I don't like being flipped off," Neal said.

• Brittani Lusk can be reached at 344-2549.