Free income tax help available for active-duty, dependents

All active-duty soldiers and their dependents in the Fort McCoy area may receive free tax preparation services. Tax assistance at Fort McCoy is provided by the Fort McCoy Judge Advocate (JA) Office and Unit Tax Advisers (UTA), who are trained through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

All soldiers should have received their Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement for 1999, by Feb. 1. Military personnel who have not received their W-2 should contact their finance office to obtain a W-2.

Soldiers also should watch for tax statements from banks, credit unions, mutual funds, mortgage companies, and others reporting financial information needed to file income tax returns. If taxpayers have not received this information by about mid-February, they should contact the responsible provider and ensure that it is being sent. Once all the relevant information has been assembled, the next step is to prepare a state and/or federal income tax return and file it electronically or by mail.

The first step that active-duty military personnel in the Fort McCoy area should take to complete their personal income tax returns is to contact their UTAs to schedule an appointment and discuss the information that will be needed to prepare an income tax return. Any soldier uncertain about what financial information is needed to file a return should call his or her UTA or the JA Office.

In most cases, a UTA can assist soldiers and their dependents with the preparation of their 1999 income tax return. In cases where the tax return has complex tax issues, the UTA may refer those taxpayers to the JA Office for further assistance.

Soldiers should feel confident about consulting with their UTAs. Each UTA at Fort McCoy has received training from both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. UTAs also must pass a written examination after the training before they are allowed to prepare tax returns for soldiers or dependents. The bottom line is that UTAs are well prepared to advise soldiers on most personal income tax issues and know to refer soldiers to the JA Office for questions beyond their expertise.

Taxpayers should note, however, that Army tax assistance is limited to personal returns, including ordinary wage, interest, and investment income, but does not include advice on tax issues related to outside business activities.

UTAs, like all tax preparers, whether volunteer or commercial, have important ethical obligations to ensure that returns are prepared correctly and confidentially. While in many instances UTAs rely on the individual taxpayer for financial information, a UTA also must rely on the data contained on official wage, income, and tax documents provided by the taxpayer. UTAs have an obligation to treat all the information they receive from a taxpayer as confidential so that the information is not discussed or released beyond preparing and filing an income tax return.

The following persons are UTAs for their respective units in the Fort McCoy area and may be contacted at the following telephone numbers: ARRTC, Sheri Dickinson, (608) 388-7104; 788th Ordnance Company (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Kulas, 388-3807; SEABEES (Naval Mobile Construction Battalion-25), YN1 Corrine Johnson: 388-2106; RTS Maint., Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Allen, 388-3938; 2nd/85th (Training Support), Tammy Olson, 388-2480; NCO Academy, Staff Sgt. William Gazley, 388-2977; Volk Field, Master Sgt. Larry Peterson, DSN 946-3237; Tech Sgt. Kip Arity, or Tech Sgt. Patty Mueller; and USAG Fort McCoy, Jim Markgraf, 388-2165 or Rita Byers, 388-4117.

Soldiers who are not assigned to one of the units listed above should contact the JA Office at 388-2165 for free tax assistance.

Although civilian employees are not eligible for legal assistance services, both soldiers and civilian employees may obtain federal and state income tax forms on the Fort McCoy corporate network. To access federal tax forms go to the Fort McCoy corporate network and select "Federal Income Tax Forms" under "Links." For state forms, follow the same procedure as federal forms, but then select "Frequently Asked Downloading and Printing Questions." Next, select question 12, and finally select "Link to State Tax Forms."

Additional questions should be directed to the JA Office at 388-2165.