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FORT HOOD, Texas – As tax season comes to a close, the Fort Hood Tax Center has submitted over 3,500 federal tax returns.
“The millions of dollars that we’re able to get back for our clients in refunds is a big success,” said Capt. Michael Lyness, the tax center officer in charge. “So, not only are we saving them money for preparation fees, the amount of money we’re putting back in their pockets for the amount of refunds is a big success.”
By utilizing Soldier’s who are familiar with base pay, combat pay, taxable income, and other forms of payment, the tax center has made it possible for Soldiers to save $350 in preparation fees.
Even with all of the benefits the tax center provides, some Soldiers still come across pitfalls when filing tax returns. Some of the hurdles come from issues with power of attorney and allowing the tax center an efficient amount of time to complete the tax return.
The type of power of attorney plays an important role when a Soldier is down range, said Lyness. If the power of attorney is insufficient, getting in touch with the Soldier becomes difficult for the tax center if his or her spouse is getting the Soldier’s taxes filed.
Although many paralegals at brigades handle power of attorney documents for Soldiers, their templates are different than the one’s produced at legal assistance.
“It’s a variation of the power of attorneys being produced from the civilian side to the military side, and it’s creating a wide range of power of attorneys that may be insufficient by IRS standards,” said Lyness.
Another pitfall is simply not allowing the tax center enough time to process the returns, and with 90 to 180 clients a day, two hours may not be enough time to effectively go through a Soldier’s paperwork.
“Early on in the tax season it’s a madhouse here,” said Lyness. “In March we slow down a little bit, but the returns start to get a little more complicated though. So you’re balancing two different things, how complicated the return is and how much time the Soldier has allocated to get the tax return done.”
Even with the pitfalls, the Fort Hood tax center is able to prevail over most complex tax returns.
“If a soldier comes in here, and is trying to get their taxes done, if there are issues, they get corrected,” said Lyness. “We’re able to overcome a lot of the problems that we see. It may take them a little bit longer, but we, most of the time, overcome them.”
The Fort Hood tax center will continue to assist Soldiers until April 15, 2014.
| Date Taken: | 04.11.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 04.11.2014 10:57 |
| Story ID: | 125536 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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