State says it can’t afford extra help for low-income taxpayers

There will be a big disappointment for some Iowa taxpayers this year. State budget cuts have left no money to hire temporary tax helpers. The Revenue Department’s Rene Mulvey says the agency used to employ them on a seasonal basis to help taxpayers with incomes under 30-thousand dollars.She says the department doesn’t have the resources do it anymore, but will refer people to AARP or tax helpers at the federal building in Des Moines. In the past, the state hired many temporary assistants to figure taxes for citizens with income under 30-thousand dollars. The department’s sending postcards to everyone who was helped last year, letting them know they’ll get no help this year but advising them to find a way to file electronically. Even for those not tech-savvy, Mulvey says there will be a reward for e-filing taxes online.Pay a preparer to file your taxes online, or do it yourself using a program like the revenue department’s telefile, and get your return in two weeks.People with “paper-filed’ returns will wait twelve weeks and the since 20-percent of those returns typically contain mistakes, those filers will wait up to six months. People who absolutely can’t handle doing their own taxes will be left to pay a preparer, see if they qualify for help at a federal office or find some organization like A-A-R-P that offers tax help to its members.