The end is near (at least for tax season) Published April 3, 2008 By Airman 1st Class Kali L. Gradishar 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Tax season is drawing to a close. With less than two weeks left, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program representatives are ready and waiting to aid you in filing your taxes. "April 15 is the deadline to file taxes, and our base program is up and running and ready to serve your needs," said Tech. Sgt. Ronnie Flores, 92nd Air Refueling Wing legal assistance and preventative law NCOIC, and Fairchild's tax coordinator. And what will happen if you don't file by April 15? Well, there can be consequences for not being timely when it comes to taxes. If you owe taxes, interest will accrue from April 15 at an alarming rate and you could be charged a hefty tax penalty. There are some important items to note about filing your taxes, especially as a military member. "If you were deployed during the 2007 tax year to a combat zone, you have an automatic extension to file. You'll have an additional 180 days from the day you leave the area of responsibility," Sergeant Flores noted. "But this doesn't alleviate the amount owed to the IRS. Interest will still accrue from April 15." It pays, literally, to file on time if you owe the IRS. On the other hand, it allows a little extra time to file for those who are expecting a return. Are you still in need of motivation to file your taxes? Try the Economic Stimulus Payment. "You can file any form to get the Economic Stimulus Payment. And if you used direct deposit when you filed your taxes, the payment will automatically be sent to that account," said Sergeant Flores. The IRS is expecting to see more than 20 million additional filers this year to get the stimulus payment due to those who typically do not have enough taxable income to file taxes. The stimulus payment is just one more reason to contact your VITA representative today, as well as to avoid enormous interest rates and tax penalties. As of April 1, the Fairchild's VITA program has assisted with 335 federal and 93 state returns, an estimated $757,000 in refund dollars, according to Sergeant Flores. For any other questions regarding the tax program on base, call the base legal office at 247-2838. The list of Squadron VITA representatives is listed below: 92nd Air Refueling Wing Lt. Col. Christopher Harper: 247-5957 Staff Sgt. William Crandell: 247-3208 Senior Airman Jocelyn Ford: 247-2330 92nd Operations Support Squadron Tech. Sgt. Tracy Pete: 247-3640 92nd Air Refueling Squadron Capt. William Soto: 247-3976 Capt. Juan Amaya: 247-8060 1st Lt. Dan Bodine: 247-8060 1st Lt. Walter Hale: 247-8060 93rd Air Refueling Squadron 1st Lt. Manuela Peters: 247-3422 Capt. Mark Thomas: 247-3965 92nd Maintenance Operations Squadron Staff Sgt. Jared Wilson: 247-4934 Tech. Sgt. Valorie Whitehill: 247-2804 Tech. Sgt. Christopher Miller: 247-4747 92nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Tech. Sgt. David Steele: 247-3109 Tech. Sgt. Scott Meyer: 247-8059 Staff Sgt. Dennis Demille: 247-3109 Airman 1st Class Aaron Evans: 247-3109 92nd Maintenance Squadron Master Sgt. Thomas Loggains: 247-8515 Master Sgt. Jeffrey Pursley: 247-5745 92nd Mission Support Squadron Linda Miles: 247-2246 Master Sgt. Woller: 247-2246 Tech. Sgt. William Scott: 247-2468 92nd Contracting Squadron 2nd Lt. Stuart Perlow: 247-4884 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron Senior Airman Justin Jones: 247-5215 Robert Bean: 247-5837 92nd Logistics Readiness Squadron Master Sgt. Judith England: 247-5582 Staff Sgt. Scott Keith: 247-5247 Senior Airman Rachel Kegley: 247-3078\ Senior Airman Antwuan Jamison: 247-5815 Senior Airman Seth McMillan: 247-5247 Airman 1st Class Dan Chacko: 247-8440 92nd Communications Squadron Master Sgt. Randall Brown: 247-2790 92nd Services Squadron Karen Schmehl: 247-2545 Master Sgt. Erika Fisher: 247-2003 Tech. Sgt. Sacko Raffensperger: 247-5737 92nd Medical Group Tech. Sgt. Tracy Dunn: 247-2617 Master Sgt. Cynthia Klaus: 247-4299