Let tax season officially begin

By Ray Scherer St. Joseph News-Press

The curtain formally lifts this month on the 2011 tax preparation season.

Two tax planners recently contacted by the News-Press indicated they will soon ready themselves for the onslaught of filers they’ll see later on in the winter. In some cases, that means taking classes to bone up on tax law and other changes Congress enacted in the last session.

It’s the opening round in a series of dates that ultimately lead up to the mid-April filing deadlines.

For Ray Daws, tax preparation supervisor at the Bartlett Center, it means volunteers taking a weeklong course in mid-January to digest changes to tax law. He also volunteers his tax expertise on behalf of InterServ.

“All of the folks who do taxes will start training on Jan. 10,” Mr. Daws said. That includes learning about Internal Revenue Service guidelines and instruction in Missouri and Kansas tax law.

The classes cover “everything that we’re allowed to do,” Mr. Daws said. “Every volunteer has to pass a test to do this.”

The Bartlett Center opens up its services Feb. 1 at 409 S. 18th St. Those who file with the free IRS program don’t qualify unless they possess incomes of no more than $40,000.

“Most of the people who come (for the service), are pretty straightforward,” Mr. Daws said.

The month ahead presents ample time for taxpayers to assemble all necessary paperwork to bring to their appointments.

“They should be paying attention to the mail that’s coming in … so that they don’t throw anything (pertinent) away,” Mr. Daws said.

It could be advantageous for taxpayers to wait this month before diving headlong into their returns.

“The biggest reason is they don’t have to pay all those fees,” he said. “They’ll be anywhere from $200 to $500 ahead by waiting until February.”

Some taxpayers make the mistake of filing too early, before all necessary documents have arrived.

“We know it because they tell us,” Mr. Daws said.

Sherri Poppa, a tax preparation coordinator for InterServ, will also be involved in the tax preparation class. She said that agency will have its services set up by Feb. 1 in the former arcade space of the East Hills Shopping Center.

“We have already had people calling up for appointments,” Ms. Poppa said.

Important documents to bring include W-2s, 10-99s, and interest statements from banks, investments, stocks and bonds. Social Security, retirement and pension statements are also vital to the process.

Day care operators should provide paperwork to reveal the amount of money they spent on services rendered for children.

Tuition credit and other college expense-related documents aren’t expected to arrive in taxpayers’ hands until mid-February.

That’s because computer software to incorporate the related law changes by Congress isn’t available until that time.

Those who plan to itemize deductions will also have to wait until February.

Bertha Parker of Parker & Associates also cautioned taxpayers to wait until February before filing, to avoid chances of an amended return due to a lack of all records. Many of the required documents are anticipated in February.

“You need to keep track all year long,” she said.

Jerry Williams, a CPA with Sumner, Carter, Hardy & Schwichtenberg, said the new tax season is full of good news and bad news. In one example of the latter, refunds are not scheduled to be processed until mid- to late February, due to last-minute changes Congress approved in December.

In an illustration of good news, Mr. Williams said all tax credits will remain in effect through the end of 2012. “You’ve got two whole years to figure out where you want to go,” he said.

Self-employed individuals will be able to deduct their health insurance costs from their income, he added.

Assemble and list all records into categories — such as charitable contributions and real estate — before heading to the preparer’s office, Mr. Williams said. It’s also wise to gather questions for the preparer, for instance, asking what benefits can be derived from the returns and gleaning the personal impact of changes to law.

State tax deadlines are April 15, but the federal tax deadline has been extended to April 18 this year because of the Emancipation Day holiday observed in Washington, D.C.

Ray Scherer can be reached at ray.scherer@newspressnow.com.