FORT SILL, Okla. (Jan. 19, 2017) -- For over a month, about 22 volunteers have been attending the Internal Revenue Service Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) training in preparation for the Fort Sill Installation Tax Assistance Center opening.
They've spent 120 hours learning basic and complex returns, reviewing military-specific tax codes including military spouse tax protections, and how to e-file returns for all states which require them, said Sheila Olsen, installation VITA coordinator, who led the instruction.
Volunteers had to complete five competency proficiencies levels to become IRS certified preparers.
"Training has been going very good," said Olsen, on the last day of the instruction Jan. 12. "We have an excellent group of volunteer Soldiers and civilians, who are capable of doing very advanced returns."
This year's tax deadline is April 17 because April 15 falls on Saturday
.
The ITAC's last day of operation will be April 14, however, the Fort Sill Office of the Staff Judge Advocate's (OSJA) Client Services branch is open year-round for tax help, Olsen said.
VOLUNTEERS
Brigades throughout the post provided 16 Soldiers to work at the ITAC, she said. They are detailed to the OSJA from Dec. 1 through April 30.
Volunteer Staff Sgt. Tina Brown, a chemical defense instructor with Headquarters and Headquarters Sup-port Battery, 434th Field Artillery Brigade, said she was happy to be working at the ITAC.
Brown said Olsen has trained them well, and that she was looking forward to the ITAC opening.
"I feel very well prepared and I'm very excited about being here," Brown said.
Military spouse Natalie Jordan said she regularly volunteers and wanted to work at the ITAC to keep her customer service skills relevant on her resumé. She described the VITA training as fun.
"I definitely learned a lot, and I'm ready to apply it to the real world," Jordan said.
Although she has never worked at an ITAC, dealing with figures is routine for supply specialist and ITAC volunteer Pfc. Kemeika Hopwood, 696th Forward Support Company, 75th Field Artillery Brigade.
She said the VITA training was interesting, and added that Olsen made complex tax-return preparation easy to understand through her instruction.
"She would break it down and break it down and that was very helpful," Hopwood said.
She said she understands the responsibility clients entrust to them.
"It's money, and you don't want to mess up somebody's money," Hopwood said.
ELIGIBILITY
Active-duty service members, family members, military retirees; and National Guard and Reserve service members who are on Title 10 orders (drill weekend) are eligible to use the ITAC. Olsen urged all eligible patrons to use the ITAC.
"It's a free service and the volunteers are specialized to prepare returns from the various states," Olsen said. She has customized the training to cover states which have large Soldier populations, such as California, New York and Oklahoma
.
"Our volunteers have more hours of dedicated training and certifications than any of those (commercial) franchise, part-time workers," she said. "On top of that, we (Client Services) don't pack up and close when the tax season is over. I will still be here."
Before an ITAC tax return is e-filed it is reviewed at least three times, Olsen said.
"The first time it's reviewed by a quality reviewer on the floor when the taxpayer signs," she said.
The second time it is checked in the evening to ensure all supporting documentation is provided with the return. And the third time, Olsen personally checks each form before she hits the send button to the IRS.
The Fort Sill ITAC has an excellent rapport with the Lawton IRS office and Oklahoma Tax Commission, Olsen said. If a military member, family member or military retiree receives a letter from the IRS or tax commission, the ITAC can assist them to remedy the situation.
HAPPY RETURNS
For 2015, the Fort Sill ITAC staff prepared almost 6,000 combined state and federal returns, Olsen said. The total tax refunds for the clients was more than $10 million. Clients saved themselves about $1.7 million in preparation fees had they used outside tax services.
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