Question of the week: "Do you have tax forms?"

Every year around tax time, we get lots of questions about filing income taxes, most of which are in regards to whether we have the forms and instruction booklets for people to take home with them. The quick answer to this is, yes, here at the Mission Branch we do have some of the forms. However, our stockpile is dwindling.

Now here is the long answer: Every year we request the federal 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ forms and instruction booklets from the IRS, and the state 540 EZ and 540 2EZ booklets (which contain the forms) from the California Franchise Tax Board. As mentioned, we currently still have most of the forms and booklets, but they're going fast. Once they're gone we always keep some reference copies which you can use to make your own copies. (We do have a copy machine here at the branch).

Additionally, you can download all the federal forms and instructions from the IRS Web site and state forms and instructions from the California Franchise Tax Board Web site. Here are some direct links to those Web pages...

Federal Income Tax forms and instructions:
IRS home page
IRS forms and publications
Have IRS forms and publications sent to you

State Income Tax forms and instructions:
California Franchise Tax Board (CFTB) home page
CFTB forms and publications
Have CFTB forms sent to you

For more tax information, please have a look at the Web page set up by the staff at SFPL's Government Information Center. Here you will find information about where to pick up free tax booklets, where to file your returns and where you can get free help preparing your income tax returns. Our reference librarians can also help find the answers to some of those questions and help you locate the nearest post office.

Don't forget: Federal and state forms are no longer mailed to most residents --- except by request. And remember, this year Tax Day is April 17, 2011!