Figuring out your taxes may not be easy, especially when the laws are constantly changing.
This tax season is no different with some new things being added to the code. Luckily, free assistance is out there for any Department of Defense identification card holder who wants help filing.
"The biggest question that is going to come up is the rebate from last year," said Army Capt. Laura Grace, who runs the Army’s tax program for U.S. bases in Germany’s state of Bavaria. "That was estimated off of 2007 income."
Additionally, families who have had babies in 2008 are among those who could be eligible for at least another $300 under the rebate program, Grace said.
One thing new to the tax code is a first-time homebuyer credit of up to $7,500 for anyone who purchased or will purchase their first home between April 9, 2008 and June 30, 2009. The credit must be repaid within 15 years.
"It is more of a loan. … You get the money up front if you buy within that time," Grace said.
The personal and dependency exemptions increased to $3,500. An unmarried person, for example, would get his taxable income reduced by that $3,500. Basically every year it is adjusted for inflation, Grace said.
Some deductions were increased for 2008 as well.
The standard deduction is now $10,900 for married people filing joint returns and qualifying widowers. The deduction for people filing as singles or married people filing separate returns has increased to $5,450.
The DOD is helping its employees and servicemembers make sense out of the tax laws by playing accountant and helping anyone with the an ID card file.
To help themselves, tax filers should have all of their documents organized, Capt. David Adamson, officer-in-charge of the Heidelberg, Germany, tax center, said in an Army release.
"The best thing the customer can do to prepare for visiting the tax center is having their documents in order," he said. "Get a power of attorney if your spouse won’t be with you, if you’re filing jointly."
And being based overseas has the added benefit of having a June 15 deadline to file, rather than the April 15 deadline back in the States.
But anyone who owes money should pay up with Uncle Sam by April 15 to avoid paying interest, Grace said.
Servicemembers who are deployed to combat zones have 180 days from when they return to file plus the amount of time they were gone during the tax season, Grace said. The tax season is Jan. 1 to April 15.
