Base VITA tax center opens Jan. 22

  • Published
  • By John Ford
  • Tax center manager

The volunteer income tax assistance center opens here Monday. The tax center is a joint effort of the Air Force and the Internal Revenue Service's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program.

The tax center's hours of operation throughout the tax season, which runs through April 16, are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.-noon.

From Monday through Feb. 8, all services will be done on a walk-in basis only. Starting Feb. 12, all services will be provided by appointment only.

During the walk-in period, the tax center will assist only those filing 1040EZs and 1040As. Generally this means that those who itemize will need to wait at least until Feb. 12 and make an appointment in advance. To make an appointment, please call 853-1700 after Jan. 22.

As suggested by its title, the VITA program is almost totally a volunteer operation. The center is staffed by both military and civilian volunteers who offer their time to provide free tax assistance to active duty and retired military, and their dependents.
VITA sites do not do Schedule Cs or Schedule Es. Volunteers are not trained to do the depreciation calculations normally involved.

Note also that when the tax center does an electronic tax return for a married couple, both husband and wife need to be present in order to sign the IRS forms. Married filing joint tax returns will not be prepared when only one person shows up.

Don't forget to bring all necessary documents. They will not be able to download your W-2 from the MyPay Web site, call a bank to find out how much interest was earned or call child care providers to find out how much expenses were during the year.
For those who would prefer not to wait for an appointment, or for those that would prefer to do their own tax return, the IRS is offering another way to file free.

The IRS has entered into a partnership with the Free File Alliance, a private-sector consortium of tax software companies one of whose goals is to help taxpayers electronically prepare and file their federal tax returns for free. Each company in the consortium sets its own criteria for free usage, and the criteria vary but are often based on income level, state residency, age, and in some cases whether the taxpayer is a member of the military. Those with adjusted gross incomes of $52,000 or less are eligible.

Anyone interested in using this free file service should take the following steps:
* Go to www.irs.gov, which lists the Free File Alliance members and their free services.
* Browse the information available from the various companies to see about eligibility.
* From the IRS site, link directly to the Alliance member's Web site where the free services are provided.
* Use the Alliance member's online software on their Web site to prepare your tax return. Completed tax returns are sent electronically from the alliance member to the IRS. After submitting your return, you then receive an acknowledgment of receipt.

Many states also have provisions for filing free over the internet. For example, New Mexico has a system to encourage electronic filing. Go to http://www.state.nm.us/tax/home.htm and then follow the links to find out more.