Help is once again available for taxpayers who may have questions about their returns. State Department of Revenue Secretary Rick Chandler says Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly sites will be opening around the state in the coming months.

The sites are designed for individuals of low to moderate income, seniors, the disabled, and members of the military. There will be about 200 locations operating around the state through the end of tax season.

AUDIO: Sec. Rick Chandler (:15)

Chandler says many people appreciate having the trained volunteers available, since they may not have easy access to a computer or may just be intimidated by the process.

Those interested in using the sites can check the Department’s website or just call 211 for a list of locations in their area.

State and federal officials are now accepting individual income tax returns, and officials remain hopeful that more people will continue choosing to file electronically this year.

Wisconsin Department of Revenue Secretary Rick Chandler says the agency is continuing its push to get people to use the state’s e-file system. He says the online system provides a fast, accurate, secure, and easy way for people to prepare their return.

AUDIO: Sec. Rick Chandler (:14)

The system also dramatically cuts costs for the state to process returns and can speed up the turnaround time for issuing any refunds. Chandler says most individuals can use the e-file system, unless they have a more complex return.

About 80 percent of individual taxpayers in Wisconsin used e-file last year. Chandler says the system has seen dramatic growth over the past decade, when only about 25 percent of taxpayers filed electronically.

Chandler says you will need copies of documents such as W-2 forms, property tax bills, and bank account information. You will also need to complete your federal return first.

The state also continues to remind taxpayers to make sure they report use tax owed to the state. The tax applies to purchases made online from vendors who do not charge Wisconsin sales taxes. There is a line item on the tax form to report total purchases, and individuals will end up owing about five percent on that number.

AUDIO: Sec. Chandler (:12)

Tax forms are due to DOR and the IRS by April 15th.

Tax collections are up in Wisconsin, but a new report shows that the impact on taxpayers actually went down last year.

Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance president Todd Berry says state and local governments collected nearly $27 billion in taxes last year, which is an increase of 3.2 percent. The tax burden fell slightly though because personal incomes rose by 4.5 percent, which means fewer people felt the impact of those higher taxes on the money they bring home.

Berry says the relief came largely from local governments, which only saw tax collections increase by an average of about a half percent. State taxes collections went up almost five percent.

Berry notes that state and local taxes come from very different sources. The state relies largely on income and sales taxes, which typically increase as the economy goes up. Local governments draw primarily on property taxes, which face strict limits on increases that have been imposed by the state.

AUDIO: Todd Berry (:22)

Berry says federal taxes proved to be a much bigger burden for many Badger State residents, with Wisconsinites paying nearly $40 billion to the federal government last year.

Rick Schuh, WHBY