RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
From Seattle, NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports.
WENDY KAUFMAN: For the past several weekends, a portion of the fifth floor of the downtown Public Library has been turned into tax central. Individuals with low and moderate incomes are getting free help in filing their tax returns.
COURTNEY NOBLE: Is Cora here? 15?
KAUFMAN: Courtney Noble of the local United Way is in charge of the program.
NOBLE: We see more people every year - and this year, we see a lot of our same customers from last year. But people are in different circumstances, where they are receiving unemployment for the first time, or large amounts of unemployment for the first time.
KEITH GOBEL: Unidentified Woman: It's really bad, huh?
GOBEL: It's bad.
KAUFMAN: Keith Gobel is one of about 6 million Americans who've been unemployed for half a year or more. Marilyn Trick is another.
MARILYN TRICK: I am an American, born here, and I cannot find a job. I don't have a job.
KAUFMAN: Both Gobel and Trick are receiving unemployment checks, and both are having money withheld to cover the taxes that come with those payments. But not everyone does that. Some people don't realize unemployment income is taxable. But, says Courtney Noble...
NOBLE: I would say more often we see people who just couldn't afford to take less than the full amount at the time they opted into the unemployment system. So they needed the money immediately and they took it, and then they're frightened that they're going to owe taxes - and sometimes they do.
KAUFMAN: On the other hand, those who had money taken out on a regular basis, may well get a refund. What does Keith Gobel plan to do with his?
GOBEL: Buy the dog a bone. No. I don't know - save, hold onto it. Times don't look any better.
KAUFMAN: This year, the unemployed can take advantage of a new federal tax break. The first $2,400 of unemployment benefits are tax-free. But Marilyn Trick says understanding how that and other tax breaks worked wasn't easy.
TRICK: They're some things that you have to read several times to really understand what it's saying. But eventually, you figure it out.
DOUG SHULMAN: This time of year I feel - I feel proud and busy.
KAUFMAN: Doug Shulman is the Commissioner of the IRS. He says his agency will send out about $300 billion in refunds this tax season. He urges taxpayers to take advantage of all the tax breaks they're entitled to.
SHULMAN: If someone lost a job, had a decrease in income, they might be eligible for benefits such as the earned-income tax credit. If someone is job hunting, those expenses are generally deductible.
KAUFMAN: But in spite of those provisions, Doug Shulman knows that many people will still owe more than they can pay.
SHULMAN: My best advice to people is, don't disappear, don't drop out of the system. File your return; if you can't pay, put a note that you can't pay or give us a call. We have people who will work with you.
KAUFMAN: Wendy Kaufman, NPR News, Seattle.
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