THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 23, 1995 TAG: 9512230456
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Virginia taxpayers will be able to file their income-tax returns electronically for the first time in the upcoming tax season.
The state Department of Taxation said Friday that it decided to offer electronic filing statewide after a successful pilot last tax season in Charlottesville.
Electronic filing of federal returns is already available nationwide. And about 30 other states, including North Carolina, allowed state returns to be filed by computer last year.
For federal returns and for returns in some states, electronic filing is generally a quicker way to get a refund. But Virginia processes refund claims relatively quickly - in many cases within days. So electronic filing in this state may not prove to be an advantage for many taxpayers.
Janie Bowen, the state's assistant tax commissioner, said her department expects as many as 300,000 of the roughly 2.5 million individual returns filed in the state to be done electronically in the next filing season, Jan. 12 through May 1.
That's based on the 300,000 federal returns filed electronically last year by Virginians, she said.
Generally, Virginians will need to go to tax services like H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt to file electronically. However, three revenue commissioners' offices - including Virginia Beach's - plan to offer the service.
Sandy Coltrain, H&R Block's Norfolk district manager, said her service won't charge for electronic filing of state returns - as long as the return is prepared by H&R Block and the customer also files his or her federal form electronically.
Coltrain said H&R Block's minimum charge for preparing and electronically filing both state and federal returns is $73.
She said filing state returns by paper may in some cases actually be faster. In other cases, however, she said electronic filing may speed the refund. One potential example: people who've changed addresses in the last year. by CNB