Information about free income tax filing for military
personnel.
Military Turbo Tax
According to
the Intuit Turbo Tax Website, Active Duty military personnel are
eligible for free federal income tax filing with the
TurboTax Freedom Edition. To qualify, you must have a 2006 W-2
form from the military and earned an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)
of $52,000 or less. Active Duty Military includes Reservists and
National Guard.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2006 - A partnership that enables military
members and their families to file their tax returns
electronically without charge is proving tremendously popular,
with 103,000 returns already filed as of Feb. 7, a Military OneSource official told the American Forces Press Service.
"That's a
big response!" the official said. More than 97,000 people filed
their returns electronically within the first 20 days after
being offered free access to Turbo Tax software, she noted.
Military OneSource and Intuit, a financial services company, are
partnering to offer the Turbo Tax basic product for both federal
and state returns at no cost.
In
addition to active-duty members and their families, National
Guard and Reserve members and their family members also have
access the program, regardless of their activation status.
Deployed DoD civilians and their families also qualify.
Users can
access the software through the Military OneSource Web site. A
simple, secure, step-by-step system allows them to save, print
and send completed tax forms electronically to the Internal
Revenue Service, officials said.
While the
Defense Department has a long history of offering tax help to
military members, this is the first time DoD has offered the
opportunity for them to self-file electronically.
Another
free service enables military members and families to make
toll-free calls to tax experts from any deployment location in
the world, Jan Burke, deputy undersecretary of defense for
military community and family policy, said in announcing the
program in January. The toll-free number is (800) 342-9647. More
phone numbers for people living overseas, non-English speakers
and people with disabilities are posted on the Military
OneSource Web site.
That
service could come in particularly handy this year, due to
deployments and other circumstances that affect taxable income,
Army Lt. Col. Janet Fenton, executive director of the Armed
Forces Tax Council, noted recently.
For
example, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo all qualify as
combat zones where military income is tax exempt. In addition, a
recent change in the tax code provides provisions for victims of
hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
Military Turbo Tax