No print tax forms 4 u!

The Duncan Banner is reporting a little secret Oklahoma librarians have known for a while. And it's a secret that will impact those without H&R Block.

Traditionally this time of year has librarians are found sorting through boxes from the state and getting tax form displays ready for the public -- not this year though:

This tax season, people expecting to get their Oklahoma tax forms at the Duncan Public Library will be in for a surprise.

No state tax forms will be delivered to any libraries, post offices or banks in Oklahoma in the next tax cycle.

Instead, the tax forms will be primarily available online. The Oklahoma Tax Commission will continue to mail tax forms to residents.

Library Director Ann Brown said, “Basically, the State of Oklahoma has decided not to do the bulk mailing. It’s not that we don’t want to carry them. We can’t get them.”
Brown said the library gets quite a few people picking up forms each year and, because of this change, they’ll have to find a way to get the forms or locate a computer to use.

I know at the university we would get a lot of students wanting the paper (normally so they could take it home for mom and dad to help).

“There’s a lot of people who move and the form goes to their old house,” Brown said. “It always seems to penalize the people who can afford it least.”

She said she thought the state was trying to reduce costs by doing away with additional tax forms.

Now the thing to keep in mind - is that the forms themselves are only a few pages - at 10 cents a copy one form will probably cost you less than 50 cents. BUT the directions on how to fill out the forms will cost you because they tend to run many pages. Of course you can always be like me and furniture and say screw the directions and then wonder why you have an extra leg to a chair.

Despite the lack of Oklahoma tax forms, the federal tax forms will still be available at the library, she said. The change will affect only the state forms.

The federal forms will be available starting Jan. 2.

Brown said people can call the taxpayer assistance number at 1-800-522-8165 to request a tax form. The Oklahoma Tax Commission will begin taking requests for forms during the last week of December.

“People can not only request forms, but they can also state they are very upset,” she said.

“It probably won’t do any good this year, but might make a difference next year.”

Although the state tax forms will not be available to be picked up at the library, people can still stop by the library and fill their forms out online.

And don't worry you all don't have to drive to Duncan to use the computers to file your taxes - this applies to other Oklahoma libraries as well. :-)