Free tax help in the neighborhood; IRS ID theft pilot in DC

No one needs to tell you it’s tax time. But here are a couple of tax resources you might not know about.

Free tax help, nearby: UDC offers free tax preparation services for eligible DC residents through April 30th. This program, called Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA, is for people who generally make $53,000 or less, persons with disabilities, the elderly and those taxpayers with limited English-speaking ability. The volunteers are IRS-certified and provide basic income tax return preparation with electronic filing.

The UDC VITA is at the School of Business and Public Administration, Building 38, Room 304. The hours of operation are:

Mondays – 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Wednesdays – 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Saturdays – 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

For more information contact Professor Deborah Robinson-Foster at 202-274-7057.

Fraud prevention: The IRS says incidences of tax-related identity theft are unusually high in DC, so residents are being invited to participate in a pilot program aimed at fighting this type of fraud. Anyone who filed a tax return here last year is eligible to apply for a personal identification number that is used on a tax return in addition to your Social Security number.

According to the IRS:

The main purpose of the program is to add an additional layer of protection to taxpayers who live in areas where tax-related identity theft is more prevalent.

To opt into the program taxpayers who qualify should visit www.irs.gov/getanippin, to register and create an account. Taxpayers must also verify their identity as part of the process. You can get an IP Pin immediately even if you plan to file later in the year.

Once issued an IP PIN, taxpayers need to use it to confirm their identities on all federal income tax returns filed during the 2015 calendar year.

Once a taxpayer opts into this program, they will need to use an IP PIN for future year filings. At this time, there is no way to opt out of the program once you sign up for an IP PIN. A new IP PIN will be mailed to the taxpayer each year before the filing season, and the current IP PIN must be used on the tax return before it will be accepted by the IRS for processing.