PANAMA CITY— Procrastination is the thief of time, and for those who have put off filing their taxes until Tuesday’s deadline, tax counselors have suggestions to trim down the amount of time spent on last-minute tax filing.
“It’s going to be a madhouse,” said Rick Vela, tax counselor with the AARP Tax-Aide Program. “We tell them to bring categorized folders with copies of anything they have transacted, but if they don’t have the paperwork, we cannot help them.”
AARP and VITA provide free local tax preparation at the Bay County Fairgrounds and Panama City Beach Library, and at the A.D. Harris Learning Village campus, respectively. While some with simple W-2s could be filed on one of the many free tax-preparation websites, many people who are not confident in their technology capabilities can bring in completed but not-yet-filed returns for review.
“A lot of people don’t have confidence they are doing those right,” said Dave Davis, site coordinator with VITA. “They can fill them out online and bring those in for us to check over.”
People with more complicated incomes or people seeking more deductions should show up to get professional assistance in person, Vela said.
“You don’t want to make a mistake or be asked to buy some other software in order to file at the last minute,” he said. “There is a catch to using those.”
Vela said AARP locations do not have a cap on income amounts, but VITA can assist only those who made less than $58,000. A six-month extension could be filed with a Form 4868, but that form would have to be filled out and any owed amount would have to be paid by midnight.
Appointments are not necessary with the free local tax preparers but, depending on the turnout, some locations could begin turning people away a couple hours before operations close.
“If we have too many people, we have to cut it off,” Vela said.
People are required to bring their 2013 tax returns, Social Security cards, identification and receipts for applicable deductions.
Need tax help?
- AARP Tax-Aide Program: PCB Library, 12500 Hutchinson Blvd., 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday; Bay County Fairgrounds, 2230 E. 15th St., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Details: Rick, 774-2259 or Tom 784-1452.
- VITA: A.D. Harris campus, 819 E. 11th St., 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Details: 481-1322.