Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
By GINNY WRAY - Bulletin Staff Writer
People seeking to fill out the tax forms to get their federal economic stimulus checks are flooding the VITA free tax assistance sites.
About 600 people have gone to the sites to do this, even though it takes five minutes to fill out the 1040A forms and they are available around the community and online, according to Alicia Solomon, coordinator of the HOPE initiative, which operates the three local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites.
The 600 are in addition to the 264 federal tax returns prepared through February, Solomon said. Those returns refunded $275,344 back to clients; the average refund is $1,122.
By comparison, last year, the HOPE Initiative completed 104 free income tax returns, resulting in $93,035 in refunds.
The VITA sites were established before Congress approved the stimulus program in response to the nation’s slowing economy.
“They were set up for the regular taxpayers,” Solomon said. “The number of volunteers and mechanisms were not set up to handle the extra load of people.
“It’s wearing out everybody,” she said of the demand on the sites, with long lines but patient people. “They (the sites) were established so they can handle the flow, but the additional 600 tilts the scale.”
Solomon is not complaining about the increased load, but she wants people to know they can get the economic stimulus forms and fill them out easily on their own.
Social Security recipients with no other income, such as some who are retired or on disability, and who do not file income tax returns have to submit form 1040A to receive the payments, according to Solomon and the IRS’s Web site.
“We will be happy to continue to help these individuals file, but the public needs to remember volunteers are donating their time to help. Already over 22 volunteers have worked 750 hours to be able to report these results,” Solomon said.
The form is available at all branches of the Blue Ridge Regional Library, the Martinsville Municipal Building and the three VITA sites operated by the HOPE initiative at Liberty Fair Mall, Grace Network and Southside Community Action.
Also, instructions are available on the United Way and IRS Web sites. To get to the IRS site online, go to www.IRS.gov, and then click on “Use Free File to Prepare Your Taxes.” Then click on the line for free filing for the economic stimulus payment.
Printouts of the instructions are available at the Liberty Fair Mall VITA site.
Completing the form takes five minutes, Solomon said. It asks for a person’s name, address, Social Security number, total amount of benefits received last year, the applicant’s signature and date.
“You write ‘Stimulus Payment’ on top of the form and mail it in,” she said.
The mall site is open from 6-9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. The Grace Network, on Commonwealth Boulevard, is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, and on Thursdays it is open only to handle the stimulus payment forms. The Community Action site on Church Street is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
The sites will continue to help with the stimulus form if people do not mind the wait, she said. They also will continue to help with income tax returns for anyone who makes less than $40,000 a year.
“There’s only a month left,” Solomon said, explaining that the services will end April 6. That is so that if any tax returns are rejected, there will be enough time to make needed adjustments before the April 15 filing deadline, she said.
Eligible recipients will begin receiving the stimulus payments in May. They will be direct deposited for taxpayers selecting that option when filing their 2007 federal income tax returns, according to the IRS.
Payments will be calculated based on 2007 tax returns. The maximum amount is $600 for individuals or $1,200 for taxpayers filing jointly, according to the IRS.
People with little or no tax liability may qualify for a minimum payment of $300 ($600 if filing jointly) if their tax return reflects $3,000 or more in qualifying income.
Parents and others eligible for a stimulus payment also may get an additional $300 for each qualifying child.
For more information, go to www.IRS.gov and use the link “Economic Stimulus Payment Questions.”
|
| |
|
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
