This income tax filing resource list is available at the Multnomah County Library (and other Oregon public library websites):
“Taxes in 2021: Forms and assistance
The deadline to file federal and state tax returns is April 15, 2021. Though the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more difficult to get help in person, there are resources available in the community and online….” [Link to MCL 2021 tax resources list.]
The owls and the tree huggers weren’t to blame after all (surprise, surprise):
“Big Money Bought Oregon’s Forests. Small Timber Communities Are Paying The Price,” by Tony Schick, The Oregonian and Lylla Younes, ProPublica, and OPB, June 11, 2020:
Excerpts:
The loss of timber revenue to local governments and states is a lot more complicated than “we need more logging on public lands.”
There are federal and state taxes, tax credits, and tax cuts – and there is this 7 Sept 2018 article by Emily Green, from Street Roots (Portland, Oregon):
“Cut and run dry: Do Oregon tax laws favor the timber industry?
See this 3/28/18, post by Gavin Blake at the ALA District Dispatch:
“We did it! CRS reports will be public”
Excerpt: “After 20 years of advocacy by ALA, the public will soon have access to reports by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). A provision requiring public access to CRS reports was included in the omnibus appropriations law signed by the President on March 23.
The Prime Minister of Iceland is most likely only the first “casualty” in the Panama Papers whistleblowing (or leak) and investigative reporting saga.
Read The Guardian article: “Why the Panama Papers should be a US election issue,” by Trevor Timm, 4/5/16.
Tracking “Panama-Gate“: Whether it’s Ponzi, Watergate, S&L Crisis, Iran-Contra, Madoff, the Big Short (see whole Michael Lewis oeuvre), and other 1% scandals too numerous to mention (including our recent Bank of Oswegao scandal), we now have The Panama Papers, brought to us this time by Mossack Fonseca, one of the thousands of law firms and companies that provide similar services.
A few days ago a Trimet buddy told his fellow riders about an appalling tax return grab and go theft that happened at the downtown post office earlier this week. He was jostled from behind and when he turned the mail in his hand was grabbed, including, especially, the easily identifiable IRS tax return envelope.
He spent the remainder of the day, and week, doing the rounds of police, credit reporting agencies, IRS, and all the other ID theft checklist items, including a couple hours looking at security video, sadly to no avail.
Yes it’s a lesson to file electronically, but it’s also a lesson we all need to keep in mind – watch out for other people and not always strangers who invade your personal space. And keep those valuables out of sight!
1) Some public libraries and U.S. Post Offices distribute federal tax forms via the IRS “Tax Forms Outlet Program,” e.g. Washington county libraries and Multnomah County Library. Locate contact information for your own public library.
2) For tax preparation sites, visit the IRS “Free Tax Return Preparation for Qualifying Taxpayers” website:
Visit the IRS Affordable Care Act website for publications and other information about the Affordable Care Act tax provisions.
IRS Publication 5187 provides information for taxpayers who:
a. Had health insurance coverage for the entire year
The IRS does still distribute some paper tax forms. It does this through their Tax Forms Outlet Program.
“The Tax Forms Outlet Program offers tax products to the American public primarily through participating post offices and libraries.”
For Free Tax Help in Oregon: Libraries, Post Offices, Senior and Community Centers, etc.
About once a quarter we’re asked where to find IRS Private Letter Rulings and other IRS documents that used to be tough to find outside a law library that subscribed to expensive tax databases and treatises.
You can still find these documents in the usual fee-based resources, Lexis, Westlaw, and (maybe) Bloomberg (we don’t subscribe to Bloomberg, so I don’t know).
But there are also some free sources. One of those is Legalbitstream: “Your Source for Free Federal Tax Law Research, Comprehensive and timely updated databases.”
Oregon Legal Research Blog