Photo By Capt. Melanie Nelson | Capt. Ed Callahan and Capt. Andrew Edelman pose for a photo outside the Area Support...... read more read more
Subscribe
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait - The 2017 tax season is a wrap for millions of Americans. The Area Support Group-Kuwait Tax Center team, led by members of the Office of the Command Judge Advocate, helped more than 550 service members actualize over $1.2 million in refunds and save more than $500,000 in filing fees this tax season.
In total, more than 750 clients were met and advised on their taxes, said Capt. Ed Callahan, tax center officer in charge. The tax center held regular hours on Camp Arifjan since February, but also provided assistance to mobile troops.
“We’ve assisted clients in seven bases in Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan and Jordan,” said Callahan. “We still plan to assist service members stationed in Saudi Arabia and Egypt before the ASG-KU Tax Center officially closes on April 30.”
Callahan, a Massachusetts Army National Guard member who volunteered for this individual tour of duty, was assisted by Capt. Andrew Edelman, an Illinois Army National Guard member who also volunteered. The two rounded out their staff with additional military manpower from tenant units at nearby Camp Patriot, Kuwait Naval Base, including five enlisted soldiers who volunteered for the position.
One of those volunteer tax preparers is Sgt. Jeramie Thibodeaux, a petroleum supply specialist with 40th Engineer Battalion who left his unit in January and moved to Camp Arifjan to be part of the team.
“I volunteered for the detail because I wanted to learn something new,” Thibodeaux said. “I learned a lot.”
Tax preparation training included a 40-hour course dictated by the Internal Revenue Service. Each Soldier had to pass several tests prior to becoming IRS certified. Thibodeaux not only prepared his own 2017 taxes, and nearly a hundred others, he says he plans to prepare his taxes again next year.
"This team has done the work that over 20 preparers did last year. They worked and travelled more than any other team, and I couldn't be prouder of them,” said Callahan. “There were times we had to turn clients away because we didn’t have the staffing, but this team continued to perform at a very high level no matter how busy we were."
In early April, there was a regular line of Soldiers out the door needing tax help, but the pressure of the mid-April deadline is one that most deployed Soldiers need not worry about, said Callahan. Many service members receive an automatic 180-day federal extension to file their taxes. Most states offer the same extension.
For those deployed, extra filing time is dependent upon how long they serve. According to the IRS, service members deployed in a combat zone are authorized up to 180-days from the day they leave the combat zone to file. Callahan added that all areas Area Support Group-Kuwait services are considered a combat zone to the IRS.
With the conclusion of tax support season, the Soldiers will go back to their normal duties, but the knowledge and experience they gained will go with them. Whether in theater or at home, they now have the skills to help themselves, and their fellow Soldiers navigate the complex process of tax preparation.
+
| Date Taken: | 04.23.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 04.24.2018 10:28 |
| Story ID: | 274230 |
| Location: | KW |
| Web Views: | 114 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, ASG-KU Tax Center saves service members $1.2M, by CPT Melanie Nelson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
