IRS to Hold Special Open House Saturday, Sept. 25 for Veterans and Persons with Disabilities
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service will host a special nationwide open house on Saturday, Sept. 25 to help taxpayers –– especially veterans and people with disabilities –– solve tax problems and respond to IRS notices.
One hundred offices, at least one in every state, will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. IRS staff will be available on site or by telephone to help taxpayers work through issues and leave with solutions.
In many locations, the IRS will partner with organizations that serve veterans and the disabled to offer additional help and information to people in these communities. Partner organizations include the National Disability Institute (NDI), Vets First, Department of Veterans Affairs, National Council on Independent Living and the American Legion.
“Taxpayers have tremendous success solving their tax issues at our open houses,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said. “I want to encourage veterans and people with disabilities to come in on Sept. 25. Just like we reached out earlier this year to small businesses and victims of the Gulf Oil Spill, we want to help other taxpayers put their toughest problems behind them.”
IRS locations will be equipped to handle issues involving notices and payments, return preparation, audits and a variety of other issues. At a previous IRS open house on June 5, over 6,700 taxpayers sought and received assistance and 96 percent had their issues resolved the same day.
At the Sept. 25 open house, anyone who has a tax question or has received a notice can speak with an IRS employee to get an answer to their question or a clear explanation of what is necessary to satisfy the request. A taxpayer who cannot pay a balance due can find out whether an installment agreement is appropriate and, if so, fill out the paperwork then and there. Assistance with offers-in-compromise — an agreement between a taxpayer and the IRS that settles the taxpayer’s debt for less than the full amount owed — will also be available. Likewise, a taxpayer struggling to complete a certain IRS form or schedule can work directly with IRS staff to get the job done.
Taxpayers requiring special services, such as interpretation for the deaf or hard of hearing, should check local listings and call the local IRS Office/Taxpayer Assistance Center ahead of time to schedule an appointment.
The open house on Sept. 25 is the third of three events scheduled after this year’s tax season. Plans are underway for similar events next year. Details will be available at a later date.
Reminder for Small Tax-Exempt Organizations
The IRS also encourages representatives of small tax-exempt charitable community organizations, many of which serve people with disabilities and veterans, to file Form 990-N before the Oct. 15 deadline. Community organizations that fail to file a Form 990-N by this date risk losing their tax exempt status. As of June 30, more than 320,000 organizations were at risk of losing their exempt status.
I feel assured our readers will embellish this posting till Thanksgiving.
Federal Tax Law Changes Update 03: Probably the most distributed email for the past month
has been a scare message (Subject: Tax Hikes in 2011) that talks about what would be in three waves the largest tax hike in history starting in January 2011. While the intent of the email is to tie in the increases in taxes and changes in law directly to President Obama‘s redistribution of income‘ scheme and some of the items in the email are directly related to the President’s health care bill, there are several items that should be of concern to citizens. The partisan language at the conclusion of the email is not warranted, and the assertion that this is an attempt to force America to ‘Soviet style Socialism and then Communism‘ is simply a scare tactic. So let‘s drop the partisanship and examine the particular items. MOAA sat down with their resident financial expert, Phil Dyer, CFP, and went over the list item by item. Their thoughts in brackets follow corresponding items:
First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief. In 2001 and 2003, the Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families which are all scheduled to expire on 1 JAN 2011. [These changes would become the regulations and terms only if Congress did not act to extend the cuts]:
Personal income tax rates will rise. The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes is: The 10%, 28%, 33%, and 35% brackets rises to an expanded 15%, 28%, 31%, 36%, and 39.6% respectively. [It is extremely unlikely that the tax brackets will not be extended, especially for anyone making under less than $200k annually or $250k for families filing jointly.]
Higher taxes on marriage and family. The ―marriage penalty‖ (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level. The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut. [This would be something that would hit the most American families directly and, by MOAA’s estimations, has about as much chance of expiring as the Rams have of winning the Super Bowl this year.]
The return of the Death Tax. There is a 55% top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes and a retirement account could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones. [This has a high probability of coming back in some incarnation, but it is extremely unlikely that the rate will be for estates worth over $1 million.]
Higher tax rates on savers and investors. The capital gains tax will rise from to 20% and the dividends tax will rise to 39.%. These rates will rise another 3.8% in 2013. [Will most likely increase in 2013 vice 2011.].
Second Wave: Obamacare. [Can hardly be considered a historic wave of new taxes and affects a much smaller portion of the populace than the email implies.]
Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines
except insulin.
A cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500. [For most people, the $2500 cap won’t be noticed.]
Additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA increases to 20%,
Third Wave: The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and Employer Tax Hikes. [Would only be an issue if Congress failed to enact an extension to the yearly fix that ensures that the number of families affected remains low.]
Without indexing families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level.
Small business expensing will be slashed to $25,000 maximum and 50% expensing for larger businesses
will disappear.
Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses. [The fate of any increases are, at worst, still up in the air, and at best, an almost sure-to-pass group of extensions. Especially in a hot mid term election year, MOAA expects Congress to ensure that these changes don’t come into effect.]
The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available. Tax credits for education will be limited. Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut. Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed. The student loan interest deduction will be
disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.
Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed. [Expired at the end of 2009.]
The W-2/1099R/1042S tax forms sent by a private concern or governmental body gross income figure will be increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are given. [The amount is not taxable and does not factor into your tax brackets.]
[Source: MOAA News Exchange 8 Sep 2010 ++]
God Bless
Jose M. Garcia
Past National Commander
Catholic War Veterans,USA josegarcia4@sbcglobal.net
Better to understand a little than to misunderstand a lot.
In God We Trust
The 2009 Census reports 23.2 million living veteran in the United States.
THOSE WHO SERVED
1.8 million are female. 2.3 million are Black. 1.1 million are Hispanic. 463.000 are Asian, Native American Indian, Alaska Native, Hawaiian Native, Other Pacific Native.
18.3 million are White
WHEN THEY SERVED
6 million in peacetime.
2.6 million WWll, with 182,ooo serving in both WWll and Korea
2.8 million Korea, with 245,000 serving in both Korea and Vietnam
7.8 million Vietnam (33%) with 50,000 serving in both Vietnam and Gulf War
5.2 million Gulf War Veterans, with 740,000 serving in both Gulf Wars
There are 5 states with 1 million or more veterans.
Pennslyvania, 1 million. (the only state that officially recognized Vietnam Veterans with a $350 check)
New York, 1 million
Texas, 1.7 million
Florida, 1.7 million
California 2.1 million
DISABILITIES/BENEFITS
There are 5.5 million disabled veterans. 3.4 million are service connected. And 2.9 million receive compensation for service connected disabilities for a total cost of $36.2 billion.
Last year we spent $84.4 billion on veterans benefits programs. $6.3 billion on vocational rehabilitation and related educational programs. $37.0 billion for medical programs.
And $40.2 billion was spent on compensation and pensions.
I often wonder if any nation comes close to our care for veterans. But then with us carrying most the load for cosmic security, I suspect not.
This is one veteran who has nothing but gratitude for the VA Health Care System. We are a lucky lot. Now if we can just not war, we would be pretty flush.
At the rate that Vietnam Veterans are dying from Agent Orange related illnesses, the cynicism in the ranks of us who have those illnesses, is such, that one might say, the contract disputes will assist in reducing the cost of delivery as many more will simply be dead before their claims are completed.
If a veteran dies with a disability rating and a service connected illness, the spouse will then be eligible for benefits. Add those costs to the treatment costs of the returning combatants, and you have an actuarial nightmare.
There have already been grave concerns about the delays in Agent Orange claims for the past 30 years. One of those speculative concerns is that the bean counters realize, the longer the delay the less the outlay. They never quite planned for the overwhelming number of veterans with AO issues to still be in the system this long.
Now in our 60’s, we are a tenacious lot, evidenced by the 1980’s movie with the late John Ritter, titled, “Unnatural Causes.” A must see for anyone familiar with the subject. It is a docu-drama based on the true story of a Veterans Benefits Counselor named, Maude DeVictor, who refused to quit.
One thing is for sure, the true cost of war, in prolonged real time,including the Un-Declared ones is now a matter of increasing transparency.
Must we really trouble ourselves with wondering why there is no money left over for jobs? How sophomoric to even worry about the answer.
While we build and prop up nations across the globe, without the substantial financial support of our Allies, we cannot build or prop up our own.
Tax cuts, schmax cuts! Red State, Blue State. Second AmendmentMortality Clock
rights and Mosque mania, are all distractions from the cost of war. And they are working!
Humpty Dumpty never did join a political party. He is awaiting his claim to be completed from his fall.
In my view, we are in an Alice and Wonderland, upside down world, America is the disabled veteran and we are the leaders, even with our Agent Orange, Senator Simpson.
The following is for your information and distribution to your members.
John A Miterko
Veterans Advocate
VA abruptly issues second contract for Agent Orange claims system
The Veterans Affairs Department awarded IBM a contract in July to develop within three months a system to process claims for veterans suffering from diseases related to the Vietnam-era chemical Agent Orange. But last week officials inexplicably issued another contract searching for a second contractor to do the job in one-third the time, while the IBM contract remains in place.
VA needs the new system to process up to 240,000 claims for 15 illnesses determined to be the result of military personnel being exposed to Agent Orange, a defoliant sprayed on the jungles during the Vietnam War. VA presumes all personnel who served in Vietnam were exposed to Agent Orange, and the 15 illnesses they might have are a result of coming into contact with the chemical.
According to VA, its policy of presuming the diseases are a result of exposure to the chemical will simplify the process for veterans receiving compensation because the department will forgo the normal process of requiring veterans to prove their illnesses began, or worsened, during their military service in Vietnam. Paying Agent Orange claims will cost the United States $13.4 billion.
Department officials decided this year to process the claims separate from the other systems the Veterans Benefits Administration uses. In March, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said he wanted to tap private sector skills to fast-track the development of the system. “This will be a new way of doing business and a major step forward in how we process the presumptive claims we expect to receive over the next two years,” he said at the time.
VA initially planned to award the contract in April, but delays pushed that move up to July. IBM eventually won the $9.1 million pact. The procurement calls for delivery of a production-ready prototype by October and full production by December.
VA asked IBM to develop a fully automated system and a machine-readable claims form that veterans can electronically download and, at their option, electronically submit.
Officials want the forms to be shorter than the current document, well-suited to an automated processing method, and they expect IBM to use commercial systems to the fullest extent possible. They also want employees and veterans to be able to access the system via the Web, with a separate data repository linked to existing departmental systems.
But on Sept. 3, officials quietly posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website a second procurement for the same processing system. The document was not accompanied by any public announcement. The new procurement includes roughly the samerequirements as the original contract, but a shortened delivery deadline.
VA wants the selected contractor to demonstrate the capability to electronically process claims within 15 days of the award and to provide a production-ready system 15 days later, a daunting task, according to one contractor who declined to be identified.
The system must be operational next month, and bidders must submit their proposals by Friday, only a week after the solicitation was issued, which are due Friday.
Harold Gracey, a consultant with Topside Consulting who served as chief of staff at VA from 1994 to 1998, said he assumed the department put out the second procurement as a backup plan in case IBM cannot deliver its system on time.
Gracey added VA could find a second contractor to meet its requirements, but bidders also have to recognize the negative publicity that would result if they fail to deliver. A source familiar with VA said he viewed the second source procurement as a poke at IBM to fulfill its requirements on time.
Veterans groups said whatever the reasons behind the second procurement they were worried the department might not be able to meet its deadlines. “VA’s unusual announcement for a second contract, without any details released to the public, raises significant concerns among veterans about VA’s transparency and VA’s ability to process Agent Orange claims in a timely and accurate manner,” said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense. “We hope VA issues an explanation about this and puts to rest veterans’ concerns.”
VA officials did not reply to numerous requests from Nextgov to comment on the status of the IBM contract and did not respond to a query on why they issued a second procurement. IBM executives also did not reply to calls and e-mails about the status of the company’s contract.
God Bless
Jose M. Garcia
Past National Commander
Catholic War Veterans,USA josegarcia4@sbcglobal.net
Better to understand a little than to misunderstand a lot.
In God We Trust
DENVER (Sept. 2) — A chaplain killed in Afghanistan this week was the first Army clergyman killed in action since the Vietnam War, the military said Thursday. Capt. Dale Goetz of the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colo., was among five soldiers killed by an improvised bomb on Monday.
U.S. Army
Capt. Dale A. Goetz, 43, is the first Army chaplain to die in action since the Vietnam War.
Before Goetz, the last Army chaplain to die in action was Phillip Nichols, who was killed by a concealed enemy explosive in Vietnam in October of 1970, said Chaplain Carleton Birch, a spokesman for the Army chief of chaplains. The Air Force said none of its chaplains were killed later than 1970. A spokesman for the Navy Chaplain Corps, which also provides clergy to the Marines, didn’t immediately return a phone call. Goetz, 43, listed his hometown as White, S.D. He once served there as pastor of First Baptist Church, the Argus-Leader in Sioux Falls, S.D., reported. Goetz, his wife and their three sons recently joined High Country Baptist Church in Colorado Springs, where Fort Carson is located, the newspaper reported. A church spokeswoman referred questions to the Army on Thursday, and Army officials declined to comment, citing the family’s wishes. Officials said Goetz had hitched a ride on a resupply convoy when he was killed. Birch said chaplains are considered noncombatants and don’t carry weapons, but they are accompanied by a chaplain’s assistant, a soldier who is armed. A chaplain’s assistant, Staff Sgt. Christopher Stout of Worthville, Ky., was killed in Afghanistan in July, Birch said. Chaplains don’t go on combat patrols but do go onto battlefields to conduct services and counsel soldiers, Birch said. “Many of those places where they travel are very dangerous,” he said. The Army has more than 2,800 chaplains, including those in the Guard and Reserve. More than 400 are in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I had to take a half day to collect enough balance of mind to even speak of this man Simpson.
This dude who has been slamming Vietnam Veterans for forty years! Simpson now suggests that upon the announcement of true and compassionate care for men who were sprayed with chemicals; Agent Orange/Dioxin, that they may not being doing enough for their country by accepting disability benefits. Holy crap, that is bold. The emotion and enmity that wells up in response to this troll can only be released on a mountain top, not in polite company.
To join the siren cry of veterans across the nation who are asking for his ouster is way to cliche. I would like to see this cowardly man who served only one year in the Army, a mystery to this day, be marched out in front of every victim of Agent Orange, who is living. That would be me. He could then sit in his local church auditorium while we host the families of all our warriors who died of Agent Orange exposure. Chemicals folks, chemicals made and sprayed on us by our own Dow Chemical!
I would not ask him to resign, too light for this big wide Wyoming Worm. I would mandate that his penance, which is never meted out for this smart aleck, be to wear an Orange Letter on his outer clothing for the next year. His very own Scarlett letter of shame.
Years ago, this Senator who is some odd form of GI Joe wanna-be, used to refer to the Vietnam Veteran as a “professional veterans.” He was peeved that we fought so hard for our health care rights and attention to disabling illnesses, including the diagnosis of PTSD being officially included in the DSM, (Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Psychiatry), in 1980. He must be mad that they did not include his own psychiatric illness—interminable sick sarcasm, like last weeks comment about social security being a cow with 310 million tits. Who is this man? How can he speak like this with impunity?
I wonder what he sacrificed in his generational Rosie the Riveter heart, for this last seven years of war in Iraq and ten in Afghanistan? Is his lifetime free health care helping America balance the budget? Maybe he should pay back his GI Bill benefits he used to get his JD. Possibly the only reason for serving in the Army for one year?
This man has been about Corporate conquest and tax cuts for the top 2% his entire life. Are they sacrificing to pay for this war?
Maybe we could forgo paying for the disabilities and financial malfeasance of Halliburton, KBR and Blackwater, so as to have some chump change left over for a wheel chair for a veteran dying of Agent Orange.
Maybe the private contractors making a quarter million each in tax free dollars could tithe, so as to pay for some medication for the veteran dying of lymphoma and leukemia.
Maybe Boeing and Dow Chemical could set up a fund to pay for the hospital visits at the VA. Just like the way you want to privatize Social Security.
With the exception of his most bizzare and shocking support for gays in the Military in 2007, he has been no friend of veterans. Makes you wonder why he lent his support for the gays? May have something to do with his dislike for tits.
Patriots support soldiers, Simpson supports the Military Industrial Complex, not the warrior. Shameful.
Since the man never saw a day of combat, I am suggesting that his service on the Armed Services Committee was some form of compensatory guilt that leaks out periodically with his very macabre brand of “Freudian slips.” One thing is for sure, when he leaks, he lets us know his true self— a lost sad soul.
See you at Christmas Senator Simpson, we will hand deliver your Orange Sweater.
