Yokota opens tax center for community

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Suzanne Northern
  • 374th Airlift Wing Judge Advocate
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  It is that time of year again - tax season! Starting Feb. 5, 2013, several service members, through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, are helping Team Yokota members file their income taxes to receive the most out of their refunds.

The VITA program here provides free tax advice and tax preparation assistance to military members and their families.

The tax center is entirely manned by volunteers, both active duty and civilian, who have received their training from the Internal Revenue Service VITA Representative program. All volunteers are qualified to assist in the preparation and filing of 1040EZ forms, 1040A forms, 1040 forms, interest and dividend income and earned income credit.

Volunteers are able to help community members with the preparation and filing of most of the additional schedules: itemized deductions, child and dependent care credit, capital gains, foreign moving expenses, foreign excluded income, sale of home tax and non-deductible IRA contributions. Volunteer also train on military-specific issues, such as combat zone tax benefits.

The VITA support is free and allows service members to see their expected return before receiving it. Volunteers help prevent some of the more common errors, such as incorrectly entering Social Security numbers or income information.

Members can set up appointments by calling the Legal office at 225-4927. Beginning Feb. 5, the tax center is offering appointment times Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The tax center is located at the legal office on the first floor of building. The tax center will be open to active duty military, retired military, dependents and Department of Air Force civilian employees stationed at Yokota Air Base.

For scheduled appointments, members should bring their client intake form, or last year's tax return, along with any other supporting tax documents. Those who wish to have their tax refund direct deposited should bring a blank check. The refund wait time reduces to two weeks if members elect to use direct deposit.

For additional information, and to make an appointment, please call 225-4927.