Catherine Wright is with the Internal Revenue Service Taxpayer Assistance Center in Washington. This 39-year-old Baltimore resident has been working for five years at the D.C. center on N. Capitol Street, assisting with tax law questions and resolving account issues. She volunteered recently for “Super Saturday, a program helping free tax help to people who earn less than $42,000 a year. (For information, go online to www.irs.gov/index.html.)
In these economic times, how important is something like Super Saturday?
It is very important, because a lot of people this year are relying on their refunds just to meet their basic living expenses. We’ve seen a lot of jobs lost. Incomes have drastically decreased.
Anything new for this filing season?
We have the Rebate Recovery Credit. It’s designed for people to receive the stimulus payment or the remaining part of the stimulus payment. … They may not have received what they were entitled to or they may have not requested it at all. The self-help-facilitated program is new. For the Washington, D.C., taxpayers, they can come in and use our computers to access the IRS Web site.
Tips for people filing their own taxes online?
Make sure you have all of your income documents. Make sure you have a working e-mail address in case there is a problem with your return. Also, if their income is $56,000 or less, they can go to our Web site to get a list of sites that will file the tax returns electronically for free. …They can do it online on our Web site for free if their income is less than $56,000.
When can people expect their refunds?
If they electronically file, they can expect it within two to three weeks. They get it faster if they elect direct deposit.
