RADIO NEWS: Gerri Miller of Coudersport’s radio station has a
message for one of our readers : “”Please let Denny Ordiway know
that WFRM-AM is alive and well, still broadcasting in the Ed Easton
tradition. He, by the way, remains the ‘captain’ of our sports
broadcasts. Something he’s been doing for more than 50
years.””[neWLine]

[neWLine]

TAX TIME: Robin Kuleck of the Elk County Cooperative Extension
Service can vouch for how many people each year give the government
free use of their money by overpaying their taxes.[neWLine]

She writes, “”This was my second year to provide taxpayer
education through the IRS VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance)
Program. I served over 100 families in the four-county area and am
in the process of summarizing the data.””[neWLine]

“”Of the 42 families I served that had earnings – their income
averaged $8,301 and they received a $1,736 refund which represents
an additional 21 percent of their income they sent to the IRS for
safekeeping – without the benefit of earning interest![neWLine]

“”These families also received earned income tax credits of
$1,305 equal to 16 percent of their income.””[neWLine]

Robin has two suggestion that could help these
families.[neWLine]

“”As you mentioned – adjust their withholding. For visual
learners, charts in the IRS publication 15 – circular E- Employer’s
Tax Guide available on the IRS website has charts beginning on page
38 that are extremely helpful in seeing exactly how much each
exemption is worth based on: frequency of pay, earnings per pay and
number of exemptions claimed.[neWLine]

“”Consider reducing the number of exemptions and placing the pay
increase in a savings account each payday rather than allowing the
IRS to bank it interest free.[neWLine]

“”Folks who over-withhold must wait until tax time to get their
refund. This banked money can come in extremely handy if you face a
situation like loss in hours, layoff or plant closing.[neWLine]

“”A second strategy available for lower income working folks is
Advanced Earned Income Tax payments. By filing a W-5 certificate
with their employer, they could be getting the EITC money in their
paycheck rather than waiting until the end of the year for the big
refund.[neWLine]

“”Using the figures above, instead of an annual income of
$8,301, people following these two suggestions would increase their
income to $11,342 annually. Another way to look at it, they would
go from a monthly income of $692 to $945!””