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CAPITAL REGION
Fee to file tax forms on its way Idea called burden to those who use paper
BY SARA FOSS Gazette Reporter

    This time of year, AARP volunteer Andy Ekblaw keeps busy helping seniors file their tax returns. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays he visits the Glenville Senior Center, where he provides free assistance to people who have scheduled appointments with him.
    Almost all of those people fi le their taxes electronically, by computer. But there are always a few who ask to file on paper.
    “I assume they’re just more comfortable that way,” said Ekblaw, with the AARP’s Tax-Aide Program, which helps those 60 or older. “Maybe there’s a little fear or skepticism about the computer.” But he always recommends e-fi ling to obtain refunds more quickly.
    Gov. David Paterson’s 2009-10 budget would make New Yorkers who file their taxes on paper pay a $10 fee.
    Josh Barro, a staff economist at The Tax Foundation, said that states are encouraging residents to file taxes online but no other state has proposed a filing fee. Barro said fees are charged for specifi c services, to cover the cost of the service.
    “Ten dollars passes the smell test,” he said. “There are real costs for states to process tax returns. It’s a real expense.”
    People who provide tax assistance said that most of their filings are already done by computer.
    Catherine Mueller, director of the Senior Citizen Service Center of Gloversville, said that some seniors are computer savvy while some are not, but “an extra fi ling fee would be more than many of them want to deal with.”
    Since early February, a volunteer from AARP has been assisting se- niors with their taxes by appointment. According to Mueller, he schedules five appointments a week and is booked through April.
    “We’re seeing more people than in past years,” he said.
    There are computers at the Senior Citizen Service Center of Gloversville, and the center sponsors computer classes.
    “It’s definitely a learning process,” Mueller said.
NOT JUST THE ELDERLY
    The fee could also impact people who live in rural areas without broadband access.
    Last year, the Schoharie County Telecommunications Task Force surveyed residents about broadband access and found that broadband is available to 42 percent of county addresses and unavailable to 50 percent and 8 percent of respondents did not know.
    “A lot of people did the survey online,” said Stanley France, director of Schoharie County Central Data Processing and co-chairman of the Schoharie County Telecommunications Task Force. “They said it was frustrating to do online because they had dial-up and it took a long time.”
    A filing fee would impact people who can’t afford to pay someone to file their returns online for them, France said.
    “To a certain extent, it’s discriminatory against a whole slew of people who don’t make any money,” he said.
NEED HELP FILING?
    Free tax help is provided through the Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, which helps low-to-moderate-income people. Locally, the VITA program is coordinated by United Way of the Capital Region, in partnership with CASH of the Capital Region, a coalition of community, education, religious and fi - nancial organizations that formed about four years ago. There are more than 45 VITA sites in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Schoharie counties.
    Herm Hill, a spokesman for the United Way, said that the VITA sites are seeing more taxpayers than in past years.
    “Attendance is probably twice as large as previous years,” Hill said.
    He attributed this to expanded community outreach.
    “You see VITA signs at bus stops,” he said.
    In Schenectady County, there are four VITA sites, at the Schenectady Community Action Program, the YWCA, Union College and the Schenectady Weed and Seed program.
    Dick Michaud, the VITA coordinator at SCAP, said that the IRS prefers electronic filings but that a handful of people — maybe 1 percent of VITA clients — need to fi le a hard copy because their return isn’t accepted through e-file. For instance, if a more than one taxpayer claims the same dependent, the return will get rejected by...............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01104

Gee, if we do away with 'paper filing' will that mean less government jobs?

And more tax preparers out of work

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And more tax preparers out of work

Not true. My tax preparer fills out my taxes and files them on line. Has been for the past few years.

And I still pay him $150.

The 'Idea' is just moving the sheeple to the next pasture on the World Wide Web....control control control.......

prevent chaos and anarchy=government's main job........