COLORADO SPRINGS — Filing your taxes can be challenging for many of us, especially for our active duty military members and our veteran community here in Colorado Springs.
We spoke with one organization that is making that process a little bit easier.
"I was so lost in the sauce, as they say in the military, when it came to filing taxes for the first time on my own. And I was active duty Army. I didn’t really know where to start."
Justin Verhulst is an Army veteran who is now the operations manager atMt. Carmel Veterans Service Center in Colorado Springs. Mt. Carmel helps around 2,000 service members during tax season, along with AARP.
"It's all about sharing that knowledge that I've, you know, ensuring those experiences that I've already been through and kind of sharing the wealth of knowledge and letting passing that on. Then they're more prepared than I was, so that's very important to me and to continue to serve, I mean, even though I'm not in anymore, it's kind of my way of continuing to serve the military community," said Verhulst.
Mark Smith is the director of programs and operations at Mt. Carmel. He says it’s important for our veteran community to save up during that transition to civilian life.
"You know, you go from getting money back and then when you're out of the military and now you're having to pay back."
Verhulst tells News5 he wants to help make this process easy for those who have served.
"We want to make sure there’s no barriers when it comes to filing taxes, because it's stressful enough already."
Many military members live in multiple locations in a given year, so be prepared to wait for all your state documents to reach you before beginning your taxes.
You may be tempted to get a head start, but it’s necessary to have all your tax documents in hand before you file.
Watch the full story above.
___
El Paso County Judge Blocks Marijuana Ballot Measure
On Monday, an El Paso County Judge blocked the City of Colorado Springs City Council from referring a ballot measure to the April election concerning recreational marijuana sales in Colorado Springs.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
