Free tax preparation help available at HRDC March 8

Rural Dynamic's Tax Help Montana team will be coming to District 4 Human Resources Development Council March 8, offering most people in the area free help preparing their taxes.

Rural Dynamics Volunteer Manager Adair Peach said they will be at HRDC from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a six-person team and they will help as many people as they can.

Peach said they can do taxes for anyone under the age of 60 with less than $60,000 of income, and people 60 or older of any income level.

Tax Help Montana, she said, is a Great Falls-based organization that tries to provide free tax assistance to as many people as possible and it's one of Rural Dynamics' most popular programs.

She said there are a lot of people out there who don't understand that their tax refund is something they are legally owed and the fact that so many people pay hundreds of dollars to get that refund isn't right.

"We believe no one should have to pay to get the money that they're already entitled to," Peach said. " ... It's their money."

She said the organization is trying to get to as many communities as possible for events like this, and Havre is thankfully within a day's drive, so they can spend time here to help people out.

She said people interested in coming to the event should bring their W-2s, 1099 form, identification for themselves and their spouses and Social Security cards for them, their spouse and dependents.

Peach said brining the previous year's tax return is always helpful as well, and if they have student loans or a child care provider, they should also bring info on that.

People 62 and older, she said, should bring their mortgage forms, or lease if they rent, because there is a specific credit they can make use of.

There are some restrictions on the service, she said.

Peach said they can't do the tax returns of people who rent properties to others, and while they can do tax returns for people with small businesses that made a profit, they can't do returns for those that suffered a loss this year.

As for people who can't make it to the event or who they aren't able to get to, she said, they can go to https://myfreetaxes.com, which the program makes use of and is very simple and user friendly.

She said they have a limited time and they may have to turn some people away as time runs out, but they will be handing out fliers with information to help those people as much as possible.

"We'll help as many as we can in the time we have," she said.

As general advice to people during the tax season, Peach said, her biggest piece of advice is to update their withholdings if the last year has a major life change, like a marriage or the birth of a child.

The tax filing deadline is April 18 this year, she said.