Pentagon Gouge: Taxes

It's that time of year again, so I'll redirect you to my post last year praising the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. This message from the Director of the Navy Staff talks about the benefits of the program and offers some statistics of what was done during last year's tax season.

R 151615Z DEC 09
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//DNS//
TO NAVADMIN
INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//DNS//
BT
UNCLAS
NAVADMIN 362/09
MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/DNS/DEC//
SUBJ/2010 VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE (VITA)
/ELECTRONIC TAX FILING (ELF) POLICY AND PROGRAM GUIDANCE//
REF/A/MSG/CNO/241821Z NOV 08//
AMPN/REF A IS NAVADMIN 334/08//
RMKS/1. THIS NAVADMIN PROVIDES VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE (VITA)/ELECTRONIC TAX FILING (ELF) POLICY AND PROGRAM GUIDANCE. THIS MSG SUPERSEDES REF A.
2. DURING 2009, VOLUNTEERS WITH THE VITA/ELF PROGRAM FILED MORE THAN 63,000 FEDERAL AND STATE TAX RETURNS, SAVING SERVICE MEMBERS AND FAMILY MEMBERS MORE THAN $7 MILLION IN COMMERCIAL TAX PREPARATION FEES, AND PROVIDING OVER $94
MILLION IN FEDERAL INCOME TAX REFUNDS. BASED ON THE SUCCESS OF VITA/ELF IN PAST YEARS, WE WILL ONCE AGAIN IMPLEMENT THE PROGRAM FOR 2010.
3. THE VITA/ELF PROGRAM IMPROVES BOTH MORALE AND READINESS BY SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCING THE EFFORT AND COST INVOLVED IN MEETING FEDERAL AND STATE TAX OBLIGATIONS.
A. VITA KEEPS MONEY IN SAILOR'S POCKETS. COMMERCIAL TAX PREPARERS MAY CHARGE OVER $150 FOR THE AVERAGE ELECTRONICALLY FILED RETURN. VITA/ELF VOLUNTEERS PREPARE AND FILE TAX RETURNS AT NO COST TO SAILORS AND THEIR FAMILIES.
B. FASTER REFUNDS. PAPER RETURNS MAY TAKE EIGHT OR MORE WEEKS TO PROCESS IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES, AND EVEN LONGER IF SUBMITTED OVERSEAS OR WHILE DEPLOYED. BY USING VITA/ELF, REFUNDS ARE DEPOSITED DIRECTLY INTO A SAILOR'S BANK ACCOUNT AN AVERAGE OF TWO WEEKS FROM THE DATE OF TRANSMISSION, EVEN FROM
OVERSEAS AND AFLOAT COMMANDS. THESE RAPID REFUNDS GREATLY REDUCE THE NEED FOR ANY TYPE OF REFUND ANTICIPATION LOANS, WHICH STILL HAVE HIGH INTEREST RATES AND CHARGES EVEN WHEN IN COMPLIANCE WITH DOD PREDATORY LENDING LIMITATIONS.
C. FEWER MISTAKES. VITA/ELF RETURNS ARE VERY ACCURATE, AVERAGING LESS THAN A ONE PERCENT ERROR RATE COMPARED TO 15 PERCENT FOR PAPER RETURNS.
4. PAST TAX SEASONS HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT SUCCESS OF THE VITA/ELF PROGRAM IS PREDICATED ON SUPPORT FROM LOCAL COMMANDS. WHILE THE LOCAL NAVAL LEGAL SERVICE
OFFICE (NLSO), STAFF JUDGE ADVOCATE, OR COMMAND TAX REPRESENTATIVE WILL MANAGE TAX ASSISTANCE CENTERS, THESE CENTERS DEPEND ON LOCAL COMMAND ASSISTANCE TO
PROVIDE THE PERSONNEL, EQUIPMENT, AND FACILITIES FOR A SUCCESSFUL VITA/ELF TAX CENTER.
5. SUFFICIENT MANPOWER IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS. THE SUPPORT OF EVERY COMMAND IS NECESSARY, FROM SENDING SAILORS ON TEMPORARY ADDITIONAL DUTY (TAD) ORDERS FOR THE DURATION OF THE TAX SEASON, TO ALLOWING PERSONNEL TO WORK PART-TIME AT TAX
ASSISTANCE CENTERS DURING NORMAL DUTY HOURS. PART-TIME SUPPORT IS ESPECIALLY CRITICAL DURING FEBRUARY, THE PEAK FILING TIME. THE GOAL IS TO PROVIDE ONE VOLUNTEER OR TAD TAX PREPARER PER 100 MEMBERS OF EACH COMMAND. ONE FULL-TIME TAD TAX PREPARER (TRAINED BY THE IRS AND/OR VITA/ELF TAX OFFICERS) CAN PROVIDE OVER $50,000 WORTH OF SERVICES. INFORMATION ON REQUIRED TAX PREPARER TRAINING OR ABOUT VOLUNTEERING CAN BE OBTAINED BY CONTACTING THE LOCAL NAVY LEGAL SERVICES OFFICE OR LCDR LEE AT THE OFFICE OF THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL.
6. THE VITA/ELF PROGRAM REMAINS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. WITH YOUR SUPPORT, WE CAN CONTINUE THIS VALUABLE QUALITY OF LIFE BENEFIT FOR OUR SAILORS AND THEIR FAMILIES.
7. RELEASED BY VICE ADMIRAL SAM J. LOCKLEAR III, DIRECTOR, NAVY STAFF.//
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If you aren't sure where VITA is offered near your homeport / duty station, call your local Navy Legal Service Office (NLSO). In each place I've been stationed, if the NLSO wasn't actually where VITA was offered, then they could at least point me in the right direction.

As I read the message above, I realize I should have posted this sooner in the tax season and encourage you consider volunteering for VITA. I don't know if it's too late to get in on it now, but it's a great way to support your local Navy community and get some training and experience working with tax software.