The tax man started processing most tax returns yesterday, and while electronically filing is the quickest way to get any refund you might be owed, not all of It's Only Money's gentle readers have Internet access.
Unless, of course, you're reading this.
Regardless, the Internal Revenue Service no longer mails paper forms. Yet about 20 percent of returns are still filed by paper. The Oregon Department of Revenue only mails forms to taxpayers who filed paper forms the prior year. For the 2011 tax year, it mailed 190,661 paper forms. In December, the department mailed out more than 100,000 for this tax season.
You can still order or find IRS forms. Here's how to go about it.
Federal:
Call 1-800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676) Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to order forms. You'll get them in about 7 to 15 days, the agency says.Download forms from the IRS website or It's Only Money's bitly site.Go to an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center. In Oregon, they're in Portland, Salem, Medford, Eugene and Bend. There's also an office in Vancouver, Wash.Search the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide locator. The sites that host volunteer tax aides might also stock forms.Check with your local library or post office.
Oregon forms:
Download forms at the Department of Revenue's website.
E-mail the department. Include your name, phone number, mailing address, and which forms you need.
Call the department's Tax Services Unit at 503-378-4988 (Salem and outside Oregon), or toll-free within Oregon at 1-800-356-4222.
Write the department at:
Forms
Oregon Department of RevenuePO Box 14999Salem OR 97309-0990Some post offices have state forms, but only if it has requested them from the state revenue department, spokesman Dennis Thompson said.
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