Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Tax Filing Services for Military

by Love My Tanker From Spousebuzz.com
 
Tax filing season for the 2010 tax year is just around the corner.  Tax statement availability dates vary throughout the month of January depending upon service affiliation.

Military OneSource will offer free tax program services for the 2010 tax year beginning on 17 January 2011.  The program will utilize H&R Block electronic filing services again this year.  In order to access this program for free you must wait until 17 January to create an account.  You also must gain access to HR Block by linking  through the Military OneSource website.

According to the IRS, itemizers should wait to file tax returns until mid to late February until the IRS is processing systems for three provisions that were extended in the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010:
  • State and local sales tax deduction
  • Higher education tuition and fees deduction
  • Educator expenses deduction
Further information as stated by Military OneSource is listed  below and can be accessed in further detail here.
The Military OneSource Tax Program will begin on Monday, January 17, 2011. The program will provide free access to a customized version of the basic H&R Block at Home® electronic tax filing product. This customized product allows for free federal filing and free state filing (up to three states). In addition, free telephonic tax consultations are available to help with tax related issues. Please see our list of Frequently Asked Questions to learn more about the program and filing your 2010 taxes.
*An Important Note:  Please do not create a user account on the public H&R Block Web site. You will incur a fee if you file using the public H&R Block Web site/product. If you create an account on the public H&R Block Web site, regardless of how you access the account in the future, the H&R Block system will view you as a public user (the system tags the account when it is created, according to the version of the product being used at that time).
Please wait until Monday, January 17th, when the customized MOS version is made available via a link on the Military OneSource Web site to create your account.
The following people are eligible:
  • Active duty US Army, US Navy, US Marine Corps, and US Airforce
  • US National Guard and US Reserve (regardless of activation status). (NOTE: United States Coast Guard personnel, spouses and dependent children are not eligible for this service. USCG should contact their local VITA/Legal Office.)
  • Spouses and dependent children of the Services noted above, and who are authorized in DEERS
  • A family member who is taking care of the affairs of a service member (in one of the services noted above) when the service member is deployed
  • A Severely Injured service member of one of the Services noted above, or a designated family member of a Severely Injured member who is incapable of handling his or her own affair.

2 comments:

  1. I heard that the IRS said NOT to file until end of Feb.... is this true? Have you heard any different?
    BTW I have used Military One Source for years now and LOVE the ease of going through them to file taxes. Thanks for the info

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  2. No I didn't hear anything about that. I looked into it and this is what I found...

    According to the IRS (see web address below) itemizers should wait until the IRS reprograms is processing systems for three provisions that were extended in the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010:

    * State and local sales tax deduction
    * Higher education tuition and fees deduction
    * Educator expenses deduction

    If you plan to claim any of those three deductions, you should also wait to file your tax returns until mid- to late February.

    “The majority of taxpayers will be able to fill out their tax returns and file them as they normally do,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “We will do everything we can to minimize the impact of recent tax law changes on other taxpayers.”

    http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=233449,00.html

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