Financial Readiness Program staff offers tax time tips for community
Mike Strasser
Fort Drum Garrison Public Affairs
FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Jan. 20, 2022) – With the tax filing season less than a week away, the Fort Drum Financial Readiness Program staff is sharing some helpful tips to get everyone ready.
“The best advice is, regardless of how easy or complicated your tax return may be, to make a file of all the documents you are going to need,” said Robert Clark, financial readiness counselor. “This is going to include personal information for all of your dependents, income information and expenses that you can deduct.”
This file may include:
- Wage and earning statements from employers (Form W-2, W-2G, 1099-R)
- Interest statements (Form 1099-INT) and dividend statements (Form 1099-DIV) from banks and brokers, as well as mortgage interest statements (Form 1099)
- Unemployment compensation (Form 1099G)
- Brokerage statements
- Crypto/virtual currency transaction statement
- Expenses paid to day care provider (include day care provider’s name, address and tax identification number)
- Health Coverage statements (Forms 1095-A, B and C)
- Bank account and routing number to receive refund by direct deposit
People who received Advance Child Tax Credit payments (Letter 6419) or the third Economic Impact Payment (Letter 6475) in 2021 will need the amounts of these payments when preparing their tax returns.
“The IRS started issuing information letters to Advance Child Tax Credit recipients in December,” Clark said. “Recipients of the third round of the Economic Impact Payments will begin receiving information letters at the end of January. Using the information in these letters when preparing a tax return can reduce errors and delays in processing.”
People who received the advance payments also can check the amount of their payments by using the CTC Update Portal at www.IRS.gov.
Although the tax filing season begins Jan. 24, Clark said that, by law, the IRS cannot issue a refund involving the Earned Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit before mid-February.
“The law provides this additional time to help the IRS stop fraudulent refunds from being issued,” he said. “Using the information in these letters when preparing a tax return can reduce errors and delays in processing.”
Eligible families who did not receive any Advance Child Tax Credit payments can claim the full amount of the child tax credit on their 2021 federal tax returns.
The Fort Drum Financial Readiness Program provides financial planning and consumer affairs services for Soldiers and their families. Although the staff does not offer tax preparation assistance or classes, Soldiers can contact them with questions at (315) 772-2919.
Clark said there are other free tax preparation services available, such as the Tax Resource Center at Military One Source (www.militaryonesource.mil/financial-legal/tax-resource-center).
The Tax Advisory Program at the Legal Assistance Office provides free income tax preparation assistance for Soldiers, retirees and family members with taxable incomes of less than $38,000. It is also available to Gold Star family members regardless of their incomes.
The service will begin Jan. 31 and end April 14.
Tax returns prepared by Legal Assistance staff will be processed in the order submitted to the office, and clients will be notified when the return is ready for signature before it can be electronically filed.
For more information about this service, to include eligibility and a list of required documents, visit https://home.army.mil/drum/index.php/my-fort/all-services/tax-advisory-program.
The Legal Assistance Office is located in Room A2-68, inside Clark Hall, Bldg. 10720, on Mount Belvedere Boulevard. For more information, call (315) 772-5261.