Local Government and National Policies: Enhancing HP: The City Project (VIDEO)

By Andrew Faust

Tax Tips and Resources

Filing federal income taxes can be difficult and stressful, however there are many resources available to assist individuals with tax-related problems.

David Hiatt, Certified Public Accountant at Sharrard, McGee & Co. in High Point, N.C., offered several valuable tips for individuals preparing to file taxes.

Take your time.

“One common problem we we see with people preparing their taxes happens when people get themselves in trouble because they do them too quickly,” said Hiatt.

In order to avoid tax fines and IRS audits, Hiatt said that it is better to file your taxes after making sure you’ve included all important information regarding taxable income.

Choose the best way to file your taxes.

With many options on how to file your taxes, including submitting paper files, using tax software or hiring a tax professional, you should choose the method that best suits you.

“The tax code has a huge amount of statutes, and sometimes people need help,” said Hiatt.

According to Hiatt, choosing the best method for filing taxes is crucial, and determining this depends largely on a person’s comfort level on working with government financial documents

“How much is your time worth?”

Hiatt said that one of the benefits that goes along with hiring a tax professional, such as himself, is that it allows people to spend time doing other things without worrying about their taxes.

Another option that Hiatt mentioned is using tax software, such as TurboTax. These programs can be especially helpful for individuals with simple returns, although he warned that returns can be more complicated and time consuming for certain individuals and businesses.

Resources:

Tax Facts

The 2009-2010 fiscal year General Fund budgeted $100,312,040, which is comprised of tax funds.
The police and fire departments received the most funding, followed by the “Other” category and debt service department for the 2009-2010 fiscal year
CItizen’s property taxes do not cover water and sewer, electric, landfill, mass transit, or parking funds , which is a common misconception among taxpayers.
The general fund of the city’s budget only comprises 32.4% of the total budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year

Tax-funds in action: High Point Public Library

With over 300,000 books on the shelves and programs offered almost every day, the High Point Public Library, in High Point, N.C. is one of the city’s many tax-funded resources.

“Tax dollars from the city of High Point are our primary revenue,” said Lorrie Russell, assistant director of the High Point Public Library. “This allows us to buy materials and pay for our salaries and for programing.”

Among the abundance of services provided by the library is a mobile library, various children’s and adult programing, a program that brings books to people who are not able to visit the library and an adult-literacy program titled Reading Connections.

For more information on the High Point Public Library or for a calendar of events visit http://www.highpointpubliclibrary.com/ .

Local Government and National Policies

Friday, April 8, 2011

Enhancing HP: The City Project (VIDEO)

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