Servicemembers offer tips for tax season

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Marnee A.C. Losurdo
  • 512th Airlift Wing
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Tax season is just around the corner and military members have a few tips to make filing a little less taxing. 

Tech. Sgt. Quincey Hester, 512th Airlift Wing Family Support Center, is available to answer questions and assist reservists with filling out tax forms Monday through Friday by appointment and during the March UTA from 1-3 p.m. 

Returns are filed electronically, and people will receive their refunds within seven to 10 days, said Sergeant Hester who was trained by the Internal Revenue Service. 

As a reminder, tax deductible items for reservists include un-reimbursed clothing expenses and mileage on UTAs, if the member lives outside of a 50-mile radius, said Sergeant Hester. 

Servicemembers who spent time deployed have important things to keep in mind when filing their taxes, said Army Lt. Col. Janet Fenton, executive director of the Armed Forces Tax Council. For example, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo all qualify as combat zones where military income is tax exempt, she said. For enlisted servicemembers, all income earned in a combat zone is exempt, but for officers, income is excluded up to a certain limit. For 2005, the limit for officers’ tax-exempt income was $6,529 a month, she said. 

Tax-exempt income is a great thing, but it has worked against some servicemembers by exempting them from important credits, Colonel Fenton said. Two credits that military members often qualify for -- earned income credit and child tax credit -- require earned income to be claimed, she said. Starting this year, servicemembers can elect to include their combat zone income to qualify for these credits, she said. She stressed that this income will not be taxed, but will allow servicemembers to receive credits for which they qualify. 

Sergeant Hester said he can answer wing reservists’ questions concerning these two credits. 

Servicemembers in a combat zone during tax season get an automatic extension to file their taxes, said Colonel Fenton. Servicemembers have six months from the time they leave the combat zone to file, she said. Servicemembers who are stationed elsewhere overseas have a two-month extension to file. 

There are also provisions to the tax code this year for victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, she said. The provisions for hurricane victims are lengthy and complicated, so servicemembers who were affected by the hurricane should seek advice from the base tax center or the Internal Revenue Service. The provisions can include extensions for tax filing and help for those who lost homes or property, said Colonel Fenton. 

Documents that servicemembers need to have when filing taxes include W-2 forms from the military and any other jobs they had in the past year, said Sergeant Hester. Servicemembers should also make sure they have a valid picture I.D., Social Security cards for themselves and their dependents, proof of account and routing transit numbers for direct deposit into a savings or checking account, and a copy of their prior year’s tax return. 

Military personnel can also get help online with their taxes. The IRS provides a free filing service on its Web site at http://www.irs.gov/, which lists several tax preparation services, many of which provide free service to military members, said Colonel Fenton. 

The Web site Military OneSource, http://www.militaryonesource.com, also provides free tax assistance and downloadable tax software under “Other Helpful Resources,” said Sergeant Hester. Reservists can access their W-2s on MyPay at https://mypay.dfas.mil/mypay.aspx. (Army Sgt. Sara Wood, American Forces Press Service, contributed to this story)