Comments on: Free Tax Help Available!

By: jeromy

jeromy — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 03:16:33 +0000

I had a loan out of my 401k and i quit my job and went to work at another company. I called fidelity to roll over my 401k from my previous employer to principal which is with my new employer. When i was talking to Fidelity they told me that since i had a 15,000$ loan out of my 401k i could take up to 99% of that amount and pay it to the IRS so i took that option and now people are telling me that they have never heard of anyone being able to do that. Did i get scammed?

By: deborah in washington state

deborah in washington state — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:17:25 +0000

i owe for 2008. i have not filed for 2009 or 2010..where can i go for help?

By: jay

jay — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:39:12 +0000

If I owe the irs from 2006 and been makining payments is there a way I can get them to cut down the penalities and interest. I owe 2800 remaining and 1500.00 is for fees. I was hoping possibly i can get a refund this year.

By: Mackos

Mackos — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:22:35 +0000

How should I report 1098T which box 1, 2, 3, 6, 10 are zero in my 1040 ?
I received a 1098T which Box 1=0, 2=0, 3=0, 4=0, Box 5=$300, Box 6=0 Box 7( checked X- the amount in the box 1 or 2 including amounts for an academic period beginning January – March, 2010), Box 8 (Not checked), 9 (checked if graduate student (X), Box 10=0

Tuition spring12/16/2009= $6000
Technology spring 12/16/2010=$ 250
Total spring payments in eligible accounts = $6250
Minus total spring adjustment in eligible accounts =$6250
Net Springs payments = $0

How should I report this to my 1040, Thank you!

By: john

john — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:49:04 +0000

There’s a website freetaxhelp.com that is helpful and allows you to prepare and e-file your 1040 for FREE. I have used it to get help.

By: Jackson-Hewitt Stock Continues to Take Hit on Loan News | taxgirl

Jackson-Hewitt Stock Continues to Take Hit on Loan News | taxgirl — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:23:23 +0000

[...] If you do not have the means to pay a professional, free help is available. [...]

By: Melody

Melody — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:07:45 +0000

Andrew,

So true. I’m LC/ERO at an electronic site and LC at a paper site. Toward the middle of tax season, we get some REALLY complicated returns (Sched D’s where the taxpayer doesn’t know his basis – or even what a basis is), C-EZ’s, etc, etc. Imagine doing one of these by paper when you have one hour alotted to do the return. The others at your site have to pick up the slack while you’re tied up (on the phone with banks, mutual fund people, etc. and painstakingly filling out all of the paperwork — even worse for DRIPs). That’s why everyone in our district trains and certifies to the advanced level.

Still, I like the paper site. I still think that if you only work at a computer site, you lose your edge on tax returns, and it can become something akin to “garbage in-garbage out.” I’m sure many ERO’s will disagree, just my opinion.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:09:50 +0000

I would offer that some VITA sites are more suited to work with advanced returns than others. I manage a site on a university campus, and we have the students train all the way to advanced with follow-ups and more testing. We are well capable of handling anything within the scope of VITA.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:06:10 +0000

Thanks Melody!

I was a VITA volunteer/site coordinator at our local senior center and we very definitely had income restrictions, as well as a scaled back list of schedules. The IRS web site also limits income to “generally $49,000″ for VITA.

The AARP web site claims that those 60 and above get “special attention.” I will say, having volunteered, that I do believe that free tax assistance should be limited to those with “simple” returns. While volunteers are trained, many of those that I have worked with over the years were really just doing their best on the simple returns. The more complicated returns were just not appropriate in most cases.

By: Melody

Melody — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:55:55 +0000

Kelly,

As an AARP volunteer, I just wanted to make a few corrections to your post. We not only do Sched A&B, but also C-EZ, SE, EIC, and D (not to mention all of the forms to support the adjustments, payments, and credits for Form 1040). Because we are trained and certified by the IRS, we cannot limit our clients to seniors only. We have to take all comers as long as we’re qualified to complete their returns (I’ve done a return for a young couple with an AGI of $124,000!).

We like to focus on seniors and lower-income taxpayers, but we’re not allowed to discriminate on age or income.