European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 17, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                8 the stars and stripes your income fax part j february 1981 its that time of year again by Walter Yohey editors note this is the first in a series of tax articles by Walter Yochy a noted tax accountant and author of 1981 income tax guide for military which is now available at your stars stripes its income tax time now that the holidays arc behind its time to turn our thoughts to the Ever popular task of filing our annual income tax return most of you should have received your tax form booklets by now if a word to the Wise is its Best to get an Early when it comes to filing a tax members of the armed forces have Many special rules and benefits not generally available to civilian these special entitlements often provide you additional tax saving benefits for your own you should take advantage of them who must file a tax return generally All military person Nel must file a tax return but the requirement to file depends on the amount of income received during the tax As Well As your marital status and age at the end of the tax a tax return must be filed if your tax and you have Sta t us is Gross income of age 65 or filing filing and one spouse is age 65 or filing and both spouses arc age 65 or filing separate a surviving a nonresident a person who can be claimed As a dependent on a parents return and who has unearned income of or a person who received Advance payments of the earned income these Gross income Levels include Only income which is any nontaxable income such As your housing bad or sub is stance Bas social Security a tax free should not be counted to determine if you must file a on the other if you meet or exceed the amount for your filing you must file a return even if you owe no tax if your Gross income is below the amount which requires you to Check youths go on rampage in downtown Cleveland Ohio up about 60 youths armed with boards went on a ram Page in downtown breaking win Dows and looting in the Public Square police squads were rushed to the area and dispersed the crowd within about 45 about half those involved were arrested on theft and disorderly conduct police one person removed from the area was pronounced dead on arrival at a but police said they did not believe the death was related to the Yemen Paris embassy target of rocket attack Paris a a double rocket attack caused major damage to the offices of the South Yemen but police said it caused no police said the rockets were apparently fired at the embassy from the courtyard of an adjoining some offices of the egyptian embassy were previously located in the same building As the yemeni Dele a your w2 form to determine if Federal income tax fit was withheld from your if it youll have to file a return in order to receive a refund of these the tax form Booklet you receive from the irs usually contains an envelope for mailing your return to the if you didst receive a Booklet or the address on the envelope is mail your return to the irs Center for your state of Resi if youre stationed outside the Continental and have an and mail your return to the irs Center indicated below 00501 93888 Utah 84201 31101 when to file your return your return should be filed As soon As possible after receiving your tax forms and information necessary to Complete the the deadline for filing your 1980 return is april unless youre entitled to use an authorized filing the most common extensions Are 1 members stationed outside the United states and puerto Rico on the april filing Date Are authorized an Auto Matic 60day Extension for this Extension also applies if one spouse is outside the and puerto Rico and files a joint return with a spouse who is 2 a 60day Extension will also be granted to a taxpayer who submits an application for Extension form 4868 to the irs before the Normal due Date for file april a word of caution if you file your return after the Normal due Date of april 15 even if you use an authorized Exten Sion and you owe additional youll have to pay interest on the additional taxes owed the rate of interest is presently set at 12 per if you use the automatic 60day Exten Sion authorized for personnel stationed be sure to attach a statement to your return explaining the reason for delayed a statement similar to the following will suffice this is to certify that i provide your full name and social Security number was outside the and puerto Rico on april and qualify for an automatic 60 Day Extension for filing this tax be sure to sign the statement the address and social Security number used on your return Are extremely important and care should be taken to in sure they Are since members of the armed forces Are subject to frequent the irs prefers that you use your permanent Home address when when you no longer maintain a residence at your permanent Home and use your current Home or military earnings statements like All other the armed forces Are required by Law to Issue a form w2 wage and tax statement to All personnel who had earnings and taxes withheld during if you Haven received your w2 form by the end of Janu Contact your finance or payroll since Many members have a working spouse or have of duty its quite common to receive More than one set of w2 when you file your be sure to include both the amounts of in come earned and taxes withheld from these different forms be sure to at Tach copy b of each set of w2 forms to the front Page of the the addition Al copies you receive Are to be used for filing any state or City tax As Well As a copy for your personal Many taxpayers have investments or savings accounts which earn taxable in the financial institutions which control these investments Are required to report to both the investor and the irs the taxable income these investments earn this reporting is usually accomplished on a form 1099 which looks similar to a w2 form but they Are different although such earnings must be reported on your tax do not Send your form 1099s to the irs with your return these forms Are your record of the earnings and they should be kept with your copy of the re turn we All make mistakes if you discover an error on your tax return after youve sent it to the you can Correct the error without having to redo the entire the irs has a Spe Cial form form 1040x called an amended return for corrections to a re turn that has already been form 1040x is not too difficult to Complete and can be used to Correct almost All your amended tax return must be filed within a period of three years of the tax due Date or within two years form the Date the tax was whichever Date is the due Date for 1980 returns is april you have until april to file an amended return for tax year if youre correcting a mistake that involves More than one tax a separate form 1040x must be filed for each year should the amended re turn indicate that you owe additional the additional tax must be paid when the amended return is editors note while the information provided in this article is of general use to military More detailed guidance on the subjects discussed can be found in Yohes 1981 income tax guide for military which is available at your stars stripes the next article in this series will Dis cuss your Zero bracket amount the former Standard deduction and How it is used in computing your income on a bicycle built for four w Mim Taj 5v Ijac Tufia