Saipan Tribune

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

2013 tax filing season begins

The Department of Finance Division of Revenue and Taxation has begun the 2013 filing season.

With the opening of the tax filing season, the self-service counter at the Division of Revenue and Taxation on Saipan and Rota is now available to assist qualifying taxpayers. The self-service counter is available only to those taxpayers with CNMI source income only and for simple tax returns and income only from wages, minimal interest income, with filing status as single or married filing jointly, and with no dependents to claim and are taxpayers that normally can use Form 1040EZ-CM.

For more information on who can use the self-service filing, visit www.cnmidof.net. There is a fee for this service, due at the time of service.

All forms are available online and paper forms of the Form 1040EZ-CM, 1040A-CM and 1040CM will be available sometime within the next week.

DRT will begin data entry processing in March as taxpayers file their returns and by mid-July will begin the processing of refund/rebate checks, as well as Additional Child Tax Credit refund checks.

The Department of Finance anticipates the initial distribution date for the first batch of refunds to be in early August.

“In order to expedite release of refunds and rebates, we would like to encourage all filers to review their returns prior to filing to ensure completeness and accuracy,” said Finance Secretary Larissa Larson in a statement yesterday.

Common errors that will delay the processing of personal income tax refunds or rebate check are as follows:

1. Incorrect or missing name and/or social security numbers;

2. Incorrect filing status;

3. Incomplete wage and salary or income and withholding tax information;

4. Failure to report information for additional Form W-2CM or Form 1099.

For taxpayers that received Form 1098-T or paid higher education expenses, you may be eligible for a tax credit or deduction. Refer to IRS Publication 970 (Higher Education) on the IRS website www.irs.gov.

If you are still having issues with a prior year tax return, call Taxpayer Assistance Section 664-1040/1000. Correction of any issues from prior tax years will prevent delays in release of 2012 rebates and/or refunds. To assist in the identification of these issues, we would like to ask that you bring copies of your tax records to expedite the resolution of any and all outstanding issues. (Department of Finance)