Graves To Host Free 'Tax Time' Workshops

On Feb. 20 and 21, U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA-14), in conjunction with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), will host two free tax filing workshops for the 14th Congressional District. The workshops will take place in Dallas and Rome.

“Georgia’s families and businesses deserve a simpler, fairer tax code that leaves more money in their wallets and opens more job opportunities in our towns,” said Graves. “As we work to modernize the system, this time of year reminds us that we still have to deal with the burdensome laws in place. To help ease some of the burden on my constituents, I’ve partnered with the IRS to offer free workshops on how to file basic individual returns. We’ll have experts on hand to take questions and walk folks through the tax preparation process. When the government writes a tax code with four million words, citizens deserve some free help.”

Rep. Graves will give opening remarks at each event, followed by remarks from an IRS representative who will provide tax filing tips. The IRS representative will then take questions from the audience before tax preparers help individuals fill out basic forms.

Date:   Wednesday, Feb. 20
Time:   1 to 4 p.m.

Place: Paulding County Board of Commissioners

Date:   Thursday, Feb. 21

Time:   1 to 4 p.m.

Place: Rome-Floyd County Library

Coosa Room

205 Riverside Parkway NE

Rome, Georgia 30161

Both events are free and open to the public. No RSVP required.
Each location will have free parking available on site.

Constituents with questions about the events may contact Tracey Bartley in Congressman Graves’ office at 706-226-5320.

The IRS will help prepare the following forms at the workshops:

1040 EZ

1040 A

Non-complex 1040 forms.

Note: The tax preparers at the workshops will not be able to assist businesses or individuals with complex forms.

Individuals seeking tax preparation help need to bring the following forms:

W2 forms.

1099 forms.

Interest statements.

Any non-taxable statement, such as Social Security Disability statements.

Any record of income of any kind.

Expense deductions, such as home mortgage interest statements.

If claiming dependents, then have full names and Social Security numbers.

Tax Filing Facts:

National Taxpayer Advocate issued its 2012 Annual Report to Congress. Key findings include:

• It takes U.S. taxpayers (both individuals and businesses) more than 6.1 billion hours to complete tax filings.
• For 2010, the Taxpayer Advocate estimated that it cost individual and corporate taxpayers $168 billion to comply with the code.
• Today’s tax code contains almost four million words.
• On average, more than one new tax provision is added to the tax code each day.
• Roughly nine out of 10 Americans rely on paid professionals or commercial software to prepare their tax returns (nearly 60 percent of taxpayers hire paid preparers; another 30 percent use software).
• In 2000, (the most recent tax year for which the Taxpayer Advocate found data), taxpayers spent about 18 million hours completing and filling out Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) tax forms to determine whether they owed the tax, leading the Advocate to suggest repeal of the AMT.
  
  (This NTA report summary was provided by the House Ways and Means Committee.)