Each year (usually before April 15), every U.S. citizen must file a tax return at three levels – Federal, State, and City. You must do it even if you did not have income in that year or if you lived in the United States for less than a year.
Filling out a tax return is mandatory, but it is not easy. There are many organizations that specialize in this area and offer their services for a fee that varies depending on the complexity of your taxes. Besides, there are several organizations that provide this service free of charge.
Taxpayer Assistance Center
TAC is sponsored by the U.S. government to help with federal tax returns. This Center has branches in each state that you can visit without an appointment to discuss your tax issues.
The nearest Taxpayer Assistance Center Office Locator can be found by entering your index on the Taxpayer Assistance Center Office Locator website. The center also has an online system where you can find answers to common questions about filling out a tax return – Interactive Tax Assistance.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance
VITA is focused on people with low income and provides its services for free. Volunteers will fill in your tax returns at all levels. To find out if you meet the criteria of this program, visit the Internal Revenue Service: Free Taxes website. There is also a way to become a volunteer if you want. No financial, legal or tax education is required. Every year, VITA provides free training on filling in tax returns for those who wish to do so.
The Armed Forces Tax Council
These centers are sponsored by the VITA and provide taxes for families of armed forces personnel – the army, navy, marines or coast guard.
Tax filing for Elderly
In the United States, there are two major programs that specialize in taxing poor older people. The first one is Tax Counseling for the Elderly, which is a part of the VITA program. The second is Tax-Aide by the American Association of Retired Persons.
Tax preparation companies
In addition to free or accessible organizations that offer assistance to low-income U.S. citizens, there are also companies that provide paid tax return services. You need to go there if you have a fairly high income or if you have a non-standard situation (for example, you bought a house this year or you have to pay international taxes). You have an opportunity to come to these companies to file a tax return yourself or fill out a form on their website that provides the program and step-by-step instructions for filling out the forms. Professional companies will help you to do everything quickly and efficiently. So you will not have to worry about your tax return.
A popular website to help with southwest tax is https://southwesttaxassociates.com/. This company will help you to fill in the tax return correctly. This is a rather complicated process, so you should take advantage of tips from specialists who will help you to solve this problem.