Don’t make the mistake of including your tax credit on your tax return

Federal tax returns are due in less than a month and many Iowans are making the same mistake on them. Those federal government checks most of us got last fall should -not- be claimed as income, but one tax preparer says many Iowans are making the error.Des Moines C-P-A Jeff Strawhacker says that tax credit of 300 or 600-dollars should -not- be claimed on state or federal returns. He says many Iowans saw significant losses in the stock market during 2001. Strawhacker has a special reminder for people who took big capitol losses from the sale of stocks.Up to three thousand dollars in losses can be claimed for the tax year and any excess can be used in following years until it’s used up. A few weeks ago, state revenue officials encouraged Iowans to file their tax returns electronically, saying e-filers would get refund checks within two weeks while paper filers might not get paid back for twelve weeks. Strawhacker says those numbers are -not- holding entirely true.Paper filers are being told to expect delays up to nine months before they get refund checks.