thedrifter
04-11-09, 06:42 AM
Al Asad tax center breaks new ground for deployed service members
4/10/2009 By Public Affairs Office , Multi National Force - West
AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq —
With the April 15 tax deadline looming, many Americans are feeling the pinch to file their 2008 tax returns in order to avoid stiff fines, penalties and higher interest rates imposed by the Internal Revenue Service.
While the IRS makes special concessions for deployed service members regarding taxable income and filing deadlines, taxes remain an inescapable fact of life that the men and women serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom must still address.
To help ease this burden, the Base Command Group, Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, working in conjunction with the Multi National Force - West Office of the Staff Judge Advocate and Legal Services Support Team, opened the doors of the Al Asad Tax Center, Feb. 22, 2009.
“We opened the tax center for the benefit of all service members and Department of Defense personnel on base,” said Navy Lt. Michael Yunker, the base environmental officer and manager of the tax center, which served more than 30 patrons opening day.
For years, the U.S. military has been proactive in assisting its members with filing their taxes, and at bases and stations around the world, tax centers open each spring and conduct a thriving, no-cost operation helping service members and their families navigate the sometimes complex IRS tax code.
According to Chief Warrant Officer Robert Hall, the MNF-W legal administrative officer, the Al Asad Tax Center takes its level of involvement with the customer further than many other military tax centers by putting them in front of certified tax preparation specialists.
“Many of the other tax centers abroad offer the filer a computer with loaded software or access to Internet-based programs so that they can do their own taxes,” said Hall. “These offices do offer advice and assistance, but the individual is ultimately doing their own taxes.”
Manning the Al Asad Tax Center is a small cadre of volunteers who have completed more than 40 hours of instruction and devote their free time to help their fellow service members and civilians.
“From the time the filer sits down until he or she leaves the office,” said Hall, “they have the undivided attention of a certified tax preparer.”
Hall went on to say that the tax preparers help the filer fill out forms, explain in detail the filing process, clarify tax codes and exemptions, and instructs the filer on how to read a W-2 form, or statement of earnings. If the case is more involved, the tax preparers have the ability to ‘reach back’ to the IRS and other tax specialists in the United States to ensure the returns are properly completed.
“This face-to-face interaction provides a sense of confidence to the filer that their taxes are being done correctly,” added Hall, “and does not leave any lingering questions as to whether or not they got every exemption they rated.”
The volunteer tax preparers devote most of their Sundays to the Al Asad Tax Center, and an exhaustive quality assurance process ensures a minimal amount of returns must be resubmitted. In its first six Sundays of operation, the tax preparers at the Al Asad Tax Center saw more than 200 customers who have received tax preparation assistance, and saved its patrons well over $13,000 in filing fees while netting them approximately $170,000 in refunds.
“It was easier than doing it myself,” said Lance Cpl. Jerry Leeman, an automatic rifleman with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and a tax center customer who opted to use the tax center even though his unit was returning to the States before April 15. “I went through the whole process in around 30 minutes, and now I’m just waiting for my money.”
Although service members can defer filing their taxes up to 180 days after their return from deployment, Hall, Yunker and others agree there is no point in waiting if the resources are in place to file their taxes in theater.
Hall went on to say that providing the resources to help service members, especially younger men and women who have little financial experience, complete their taxes has another important benefit.
“This service provides some level of normalcy for the individual,” he said, commenting on the fact the tax center’s availability is a sign of a command’s resolve to take care of their own. “It is tough being deployed for an extended period, and having certified tax preparers [in theater] offers service members one more service they would have back in the rear.”
“Completing taxes is a part of overall personal readiness,” said Yunker. “A Marine can’t fight if he’s got issues bothering him. We’re freeing them of burdens that would have their minds in other places so the member can focus on their mission and not have personal business distract them.”
Ellie
4/10/2009 By Public Affairs Office , Multi National Force - West
AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq —
With the April 15 tax deadline looming, many Americans are feeling the pinch to file their 2008 tax returns in order to avoid stiff fines, penalties and higher interest rates imposed by the Internal Revenue Service.
While the IRS makes special concessions for deployed service members regarding taxable income and filing deadlines, taxes remain an inescapable fact of life that the men and women serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom must still address.
To help ease this burden, the Base Command Group, Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, working in conjunction with the Multi National Force - West Office of the Staff Judge Advocate and Legal Services Support Team, opened the doors of the Al Asad Tax Center, Feb. 22, 2009.
“We opened the tax center for the benefit of all service members and Department of Defense personnel on base,” said Navy Lt. Michael Yunker, the base environmental officer and manager of the tax center, which served more than 30 patrons opening day.
For years, the U.S. military has been proactive in assisting its members with filing their taxes, and at bases and stations around the world, tax centers open each spring and conduct a thriving, no-cost operation helping service members and their families navigate the sometimes complex IRS tax code.
According to Chief Warrant Officer Robert Hall, the MNF-W legal administrative officer, the Al Asad Tax Center takes its level of involvement with the customer further than many other military tax centers by putting them in front of certified tax preparation specialists.
“Many of the other tax centers abroad offer the filer a computer with loaded software or access to Internet-based programs so that they can do their own taxes,” said Hall. “These offices do offer advice and assistance, but the individual is ultimately doing their own taxes.”
Manning the Al Asad Tax Center is a small cadre of volunteers who have completed more than 40 hours of instruction and devote their free time to help their fellow service members and civilians.
“From the time the filer sits down until he or she leaves the office,” said Hall, “they have the undivided attention of a certified tax preparer.”
Hall went on to say that the tax preparers help the filer fill out forms, explain in detail the filing process, clarify tax codes and exemptions, and instructs the filer on how to read a W-2 form, or statement of earnings. If the case is more involved, the tax preparers have the ability to ‘reach back’ to the IRS and other tax specialists in the United States to ensure the returns are properly completed.
“This face-to-face interaction provides a sense of confidence to the filer that their taxes are being done correctly,” added Hall, “and does not leave any lingering questions as to whether or not they got every exemption they rated.”
The volunteer tax preparers devote most of their Sundays to the Al Asad Tax Center, and an exhaustive quality assurance process ensures a minimal amount of returns must be resubmitted. In its first six Sundays of operation, the tax preparers at the Al Asad Tax Center saw more than 200 customers who have received tax preparation assistance, and saved its patrons well over $13,000 in filing fees while netting them approximately $170,000 in refunds.
“It was easier than doing it myself,” said Lance Cpl. Jerry Leeman, an automatic rifleman with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and a tax center customer who opted to use the tax center even though his unit was returning to the States before April 15. “I went through the whole process in around 30 minutes, and now I’m just waiting for my money.”
Although service members can defer filing their taxes up to 180 days after their return from deployment, Hall, Yunker and others agree there is no point in waiting if the resources are in place to file their taxes in theater.
Hall went on to say that providing the resources to help service members, especially younger men and women who have little financial experience, complete their taxes has another important benefit.
“This service provides some level of normalcy for the individual,” he said, commenting on the fact the tax center’s availability is a sign of a command’s resolve to take care of their own. “It is tough being deployed for an extended period, and having certified tax preparers [in theater] offers service members one more service they would have back in the rear.”
“Completing taxes is a part of overall personal readiness,” said Yunker. “A Marine can’t fight if he’s got issues bothering him. We’re freeing them of burdens that would have their minds in other places so the member can focus on their mission and not have personal business distract them.”
Ellie