The VITA Program in Kennett will offer assistance to people who make $53,000 or less and are in need of assistance in preparing their own tax returns. In Kennett, IRS-certified volunteers will provide free basic income tax return preparation with electronic filing to qualified individuals at O.A.K.S Nutrition Center located at 900 Kennett Street beginning on February 5, 2015. The service will be available every Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays at the Center until April 10, 2015. All returns will be filed electronically, which provides many advantages over paper filing.
Many tax filers are still using the old school method of doing their taxes. Although paper filing by mail is still permitted by the Internal Revenue Service, there are advantages of filing electronically. Over 126 million taxpayers filed electronically last year and this would be a great year for you to consider joining them. The first advantage is that e-filing is the most accurate and easiest way to file your return. The Internal Revenue Service estimates that 20 percent of hand-written returns contain mistakes contrasted to only 1 percent of e-filed returns. In addition, if you're writing is not legible or if you forget to sign the return, your tax return will be scrutinized much more than if you filed electronically. The tax software we will use helps us avoid mistakes by doing the mathematical calculations for us. It guides us along every step of the tax preparation process to insure we avoid mistakes and omissions on your return. The new health care law has the potential to cause headaches for many tax preparers. Our software will reduce the difficulty of navigating the new requirements imposed by the Affordable Care Act. Another advantage is we must follow Internal Revenue Service strict security guidelines. The software we use has secure encryption technology to protect your tax return and the personal information contained in it. The Internal Revenue Service has safely and securely processed more than 1.3 billion e-filed tax returns from individuals since the program began. The most important feature of e-filing is that in most cases taxpayers get their refunds faster. That's because the return is delivered electronically immediately when you file and paper mail often takes up to a week to simply arrive at the Internal Revenue Service's filing location. The reduction in mistakes also makes the processing of returns faster. If you combine e-filing with direct deposit into your bank account the time necessary to get your refund is significantly reduced. The Internal Revenue Service estimates returns are processed in a staggering 24 to 28 hours if prepared digitally. Typically, the average time required under this scenario for the IRS to issue your refund is 21 days. Finally, e-filing provides payment flexibility for those who will have a tax due rather than owed a refund. If you owe taxes you can e-file early and set up an automatic payment on any day until the April 15 due date. If you owe taxes, all methods of payment are still acceptable if you e-file including payment by check, money order, debit or credit card.
The program will be offered by appointment only and can be made by calling Sharon Montgomery, Administrator of the Kennett O.A.K.S. Center at 573-888-9852. , interested citizens may also contact Don Ray, CPA at the Dunklin County University of Extension Office at 573-888-4722.
The University of Missouri Extension office is open Monday -- Friday, located in Kennett, Missouri at 233 North Main Street. Contact 573-888-4722 with questions or comments. MU is an equal opportunity/ADA institution.