The Staff Judge Advocate installation office officially opened its control center in 2021 during a brief ceremony on January 20, 2021 in Fort Bliss, Texas.
The facility, operated by OSJA and staffed by soldiers from Bliss with diverse mission backgrounds, provides income tax assistance to soldiers and families on active duty, as well as retirees and their families and reservists who have been on active duty for more than 30 days Preparation of the return free of charge. In a coronavirus-disabled 2020, the Fort Bliss community center saved estimated business tax filing fees of nearly $ 1 million.
Located at 2910 Cassidy Road, west of Fort Bliss, next to the Stout Physical Fitness Center route, the center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays and non-scheduled days (DONSA) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. can call 915-568-1040 or on the Facebook page at @fortblisstaxcenter.
Customers visiting the center in 2021 will see some changes to minimize the risk associated with coronavirus.
Upon arrival at the tax center, customers will assign their parking lot numbers to tax advisors who they will meet in the parking lot for a health screening and paperwork. After everything is ready on the side of the road, when customers enter the building they sit at desks that correspond to their numbered parking spaces. There they will work with their soldier preparers through installed Plexiglas. There will be no walk-ins – there is no waiting room.
The 26-enlisted Tax Center team, which will include seven civilian volunteers this year, with the help of the IRS, spent eight weeks training on learning tax legislation for 2020, including direct assistance from the agency’s El Paso office.
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program is an IRS initiative designed to provide free training and certification to volunteer tax advisors so that they can better serve their communities during the tax season.
Fort Bliss OSJA’s mission is to provide legal advice and support for the command of the Army while providing legal advice and support, such as running the control center.
Captain John Monroe, this year’s tax officer in charge, said he was, despite the challenges of getting the tax center up every year – no matter what year the COVID-19 pandemic affected all facets of public life – optimistic about the 2021 version of the annual control center program.
“Tax law and tax issues are not easy to teach through Zoom,” he said of her eight-week training. “We had to split up [the preparers] keep socially distant in groups; and that kind of thing stretched the process … so it was kind of “hard mode” if you will, but we still faced the challenge. “
He said regardless of his team’s diverse military backgrounds, soldiers are good tax advisors.
“They know what it’s like to do a PCS move and have to pay for something out of pocket,” he said. “You have a special connection to certain subjects that you would only see on a military base to be better prepared.” serve the military community.
“Soldiers are used to showing where to be, when to be and how to be,” said Monroe of the Control Center 2021 team. “They’re flexible – every soldier here is trained to be trained. They know how to learn things, and these soldiers showed that. ”
You can find an FAQ about the Fort Bliss Tax Center in the graphic for this story or at https://www.dvidshub.net/image/6501487/soldiers-helping-soldiers-bliss-tax-center-opens-offers- Free-Tax -Prep.
More information about the program can be found at https://home.army.mil/bliss/index.php/my-fort/all-services/staff-judge-advocate/fort-bliss-tax-center.
| Recording date: | 01/20/2021 |
| Release Date: | 01/29/2021 4:27 PM |
| Story ID: | 387967 |
| Place: | FORT BLISS, TX, USA |
| Hometown: | EL PASO, TX, USA |
| Hometown: | LAS CRUCES, NM, USA |
| Web views: | 5 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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This work, Soldiers help soldiers: The Bliss Tax Center opens and offers free tax preparation, by David Poe, identified by DVIDSmust comply with the restrictions stated on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.