January 1st has passed, and that means that some people are turning their thoughts to taxes.  Those of you who are anxious to get your taxes started are probably looking for tax forms, and the library is a good place to start.  As a public service, the James Kennedy Library provides a variety of state and federal tax forms.  We have not received them yet, but when they arrive forms will be located just to the left as you come into the main library.  Due to space considerations we aren’t able to offer all the forms the IRS prints, but we try to have the most used forms on hand.   The forms are provided by IRS and are free for you to take.  Unfortunately, we are unable to provide every form you might need.  What do you do if the form you need is not at the library?

For forms not yet received or that on order by the library, you can access the IRS web site to print what you need.  You may do this at home if you have access to the Internet, or use the library computers to do so.  For federal tax forms go to www.irs.gov.   On the left side of the web page is a box labeled “Most Requested Forms and Publications”.  If the form you need is listed there, just click on the link and you will go right to it.  If it is not listed, click on the link “More Forms and Publications”.    This link will take you to a page where you can download and print forms by number, topic and more.   Once you have the correct form, you can select and print it.  The IRS will not accept some forms printed from the web page, such as the W-2.  The directions will specify this.  The IRS web site also has links for you to file electronically, check on your refund, locate tax tips, and more.

For state tax forms go to www.state.ia.us/tax. When this web site comes up, you can select “Businesses”, “Individuals” or “Tax Types / Forms” to find the forms you need.  The state also has links for e-filing, online services, and more.  The State of Iowa no longer prints the short forms, so these need to downloaded or printed.  Forms and publications are in PDF format (readable with Adobe Acrobat Reader) and can be viewed and printed.

    Of course, once you have the forms, you are only getting started.  Although librarians cannot offer any sort of tax advice, we can steer you to information that you can use.  There are books, such as “Turbo Tax Income Tax Handbook” and “Taxes for Dummies” that can help guide you through the forms.