Aging Horizons "Tax Credits"
The Department, of Public Health and Human Services is, pleased to bring you aging. Horizons. Medicare. Medicaid, Social, Security fraud, legal, issues veterans benefits and caregiving aging. Horizons, is a program, dedicated, to inform and prepare Montanans. On these timely, issues making, a difference, to you and your loved ones here, now is today's program, host. Hi. Everyone, you know what we're smack, dab in the middle of tax season and, you probably have some questions about some. Credits. That you can take on your taxes, and maybe other questions, as well you, don't have to be afraid we have some great information and, some wonderful. Guests today to. Help answer all of our questions so. Please if. You have questions or just want to know stay, tuned. The. Face of the American workforce is, changing people. Are healthier, living, longer and living better baby. Boomers are a valuable, resource for the workplace of today and tomorrow, they're. Still active, and eager, to help, experience. Dedication. Wisdom, these, are just some of the significant. Assets, older, workers bring to the job. Age, is, an asset. Experience. Of benefit. Don't. Forget today you're going to Grandma's house oh man, I better grab a jacket it's always so cold at Grandma's house I know honey. Grandma and Grandpa are having a hard time keeping, a house wearing lately with all the medical bills oh really. Are they gonna be okay I, think. So they're, going to ask energy sheriff for some help, energy. Share helping, Montanans, facing energy emergencies, one. Eight eight eight seven seven nine seven five, eight nine. We've. Been married for 57, years. And. We've always been very very close, and pet, she fell and broke her hip and we put. Her in the nursing home, and. I wanted to get her out of there in the worst way because we worried for better or worse and we're gonna stay that way and. The personal care that comes in here and. Gives us a hand as equally, as important. As I am to her personal. Care is the answer to it all and, without it we couldn't do it. Good. Care is your right in Montana there's over 11,000. Beds in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, if you, or a family member needs assistance, or help in obtaining information, about care issues and placement options call 1-800, three three two twenty two seventy two if you are a family member need information, about Montana's, long-term, care residents or.
If You need help solving a problem or a complaint, about a nursing home or an assisted living facility call. Us at. Some money today. With us we have Bryce Katz brace. Glad to have you thank, you and we have David, Marion and, you're both from the Department, of Revenue and brace, you are a management. Analyst. Yes and David. You are at income. Tax specialist. Okay, so let's start with you David because, there's some there's. Some program. Or there's at least one program that we really want to talk about and, that is the elderly, home owner or renter, tax. Credit, okay. That, sounds pretty wonderful tell, us what it is so, it's, it's a tax credit it's a refundable tax credit up, to $1,000. And. For. People, individuals. Who qualify elderly. People, so. You need to be 62. Or older by. December. 31st, to. Be able to qualify and. There's, a few more requirements so. You need to reside, in Montana for at least nine months okay. The year and, you. Need to be either a renter or homeowner. For, six months of the years and the. Last last, business least the. Requirement. Is the gross household, income requirement. Which, needs to be less. Than, $45,000. And by gross household, income we, mean all the. Gross. Income of all the individuals, living. In the household, added. Together and. If if the this. Sum, is under, forty five thousand dollars then, the, elderly. Text, we can qualify that's, awesome, in also. Apparently. You can file, for this, for up to five years back yes. If you miss this credit, in. The last five years, you. You can apply for it. As, soon as possible, yes. Because. If you miss the five years of the line then. You can't apply for anymore, right exactly, and. You. May have said this but the form is due when the. Form is due on April 15 like, the individual, income tax form so, if, if. You are required to file an interview income tax for Montana the. Form to that everyone. Knows. Then, you add this, an. Extra form that is called the form to EC, our elderly, credit to, your, individual. Income tax form and you report, your credit on your individual. Income tax form to if. You don't have to file a form, to because, for example your your income is too low. Then. You can apply, for. This credit on the. Form to EC as a standalone form, and, and. And you don't have to file a form to adjust the to EC and and then we can process this that's wonderful because that was my question is that so many seniors do. Not have to file for income, tax but, they can still file for this credit correct, that is just great, now. Let's stop here for just a minute because we've talked about a lot, of things that people might have questions, you. Have a call center that we're. Gonna put that number up on the screen now if people, call that number, they, can get someone who can answer some questions for them, exactly. They, will they will have trained, operators. Who have knowledge. About. Elderly, home owner or renter tax, credit and and, if the questions, are. More. About a detail, they can, forward a call to me for example and all right, that sounds great, now one, thing that's that's, new, that I just I love, is. Renters. In long-term care facilities. What's, up with that okay, that's, pretty that's. A great. That's. A that's a great thing yes. So renters, in long-term care facilities, in. General. Qualify. For this credit the, the, requirement. Is that they their long-term. Care facility, must, not be exempt, from property tax, okay but. Usually they know, that so, when, when, this, is out of the way they can if. They. Are in a facility that qualifies, they, can apply and, in. The, past I mean, when. You rent in the long-term care facility. The. Bill you receive. Often. Have services. Mixed. With the rent sure it's it's it's technically. Hard to differentiate, what's. Rent what, in what's the part that is for services, or I should pay for right, and and. And in in the past when. Residents. Of long-term care facilities. Wanted, to apply and could. Not differentiate. Between. Rent. And services, we. The. The, rule was to apply, a per diem amount, 30. Dollars a day and. There's. There. Were some, technical issues, with this, with, this practice. So. It. Was it, was changed. And. With. A new way to actually, determine, the part of rent so, per in in the amount that the. The, individual, pays to the long-term care facility so. To. Wrap it up it's the. The, individual, takes, the. Total amount they pay and from, this amount they. Subtract. A percentage.
A Percentage, for. Board, services, that would be housekeeping. Or meals for example and, another percentage, for. Medical. Care or. Memory. Care so that would be 20%, for, board services, and 30%, for. Medical. Care the result, would be the rent they can use for, the purpose of calculating that, is wonderful. Because that's really an issue those would be issues now. When. We get back hoping. You'll tell us how to file these because there's a couple of ways yes. There's there's, many ways to file okay so folks stick. Around, because we have more information and, we want to know how to file this stuff. Crackling. Fire good, warm. Forest. Fire bad. Warm keeping. The home fires burning, good. Warm, watching. The home burn mmm. Bad warm your. Family, deserves, the kind of warmth that comes from being able to pay the heating bills whether, you're a homeowner or a renter, the low-income energy assistance program, may, be able to help call, today to find out if you're eligible we, can help you get comfortable with, winters, high energy, causes. Montana. Is a very rural state with very small communities, and I, think it's very important, that we get it out in those smaller communities, that, yes our older adults are having Falls it's very important, to prevent these Falls and now we have a program stepping, on that can help them with that, and teach them to have a better quality of life live, longer independently. By themselves or, with their spouses we. Can use stepping on program to help prevent those Falls and, to make people's quality of life better. I'm. Attorney general Tim Fox nowadays. All of you have to worry about cybersecurity. Something. As simple as visiting, pirate, websites, can put your computer at risk hackers, use pirate, websites to infect your computer and steal your ID and financial, information or, even take over your computer camera, without you knowing it don't let hackers, into your house be careful with the websites, you visit and warn, your kids on how to stay safe online to.
Learn More visit, my website. Be. Sure you can see ya. Are. The headlights on yes. Do. We need chains no. Need. To slow down you, know you're probably right what. A rise your vehicle then, winterize your mind stay, clear of snowplows until they pull over and it's safe to pass drive, safely and arrive alive. Hi. Everyone welcome back what, you're talking about taxes, today in tax credits, and. Have a couple of wonderful guests, from the Department, of Revenue, now David, before we left last time we were talking about the elderly home, owner or renter tax, credit, and we, need to make sure we, let, folks know how, to file this what do they do, so. You. Can file on paper however. This year it's, been decided, that we. Would not print any more booklet, or, our. Forms. And. What we're going to do is if if. People want, to find paper they can call the call center for, six four four four sixty nine hundred and we are going to send them a paper okay, super. So that that's one way the other way is to file electronically, and honestly. We do prefer, that people file actually because. There's, fewer errors it's. Faster, it's, safer, the. Processing, is faster as well so it'll get their check faster right. There's. Three. Ways three, main ways to file, electronically. You. Can just buy our software and we will we have the list of the software, that you. Can use for montaner purposes, on your website, oh great, revenue, that empty gov okay, you can also visit. Volunteer. Location, vitae or, AARP. And. Usually. It's per pointment so you can you, can, go. There with your, with, your documentation, and they'll help you file electronically, and it's it's free as well and, you, can there's, also a free. If on there, will be a free file on our website on tap. The tax payer, access, point and. That's especially for. People. Who file. The front we see as a standalone form this is going they are going to be able to do that there, and, if if they have to file form - they. Will have to go to another, place called. Free, file Alliance, it's. A, free filing. Programs. There are requirements, on, AGI. And. Age so, they'll have to be very careful, to meet. Those requirements so, we all lose all the ways they can use to. File. Electronically, that's what's wonderful and, and frankly, to if, if they're just confused and don't know exactly which one of these to pick they, can call your call center get a little bit of guidance or and be on their way correct to getting that great check, in the mail I love that. Okay, so Bryce, let's bring you into this conversation. Now. You, are also with, the Department, of Revenue and you're. Going to talk today about a couple, of other programs. That people. Really, really, need to know about um. Yeah we have two, different, programs, that could potentially, help people lower what, they end up paying in property, tax each year the. First program, is the property tax Assistance Program or P tab for short okay. This, program, is basically open to anyone, anyone, it's strictly, income. Based so, as long, as you meet the income requirements, you, own the property and you occupy, that property as your primary residence you could potentially qualify and. Depending. On where your income falls you could qualify, for either an eighty fifty, or thirty percent reduction, in your property, taxes, with. Some caveats it. Worth. Looking into right absolutely. Absolutely. The. Two caveats with that are it it only applies, to your general property texts, so usually. On your tax bill you have your general property, taxes, and then special fees and assessments so, the reduction only applies to your general property, tax and, it, is limited, to the first two hundred thousand dollars in value of your property okay. But. Yeah. As long as you can, fall, within those income. Requirements. Which for, a single person is, twenty-one. Thousand, six hundred and seven dollars for 2018. And for. A married couple or a head, of household filer, is twenty. Eight thousand, eight hundred and ten dollars and that's your, federal adjusted gross income. So, as far as the application is concerned you don't have to worry about trying to calculate that as long as you're filing a Montana tax return. Each year you. Just need to fill out that application and. Then we'll check our records to. Figure out what your income is whether or not qualify, or not and so that's something you must do annually. Actually, no this was a recent change a couple years back once, you apply you're, in the program and we will verify your income each year and send, you a decision letter usually. Around May or June of each year letting, you know whether you call a fight for that year and a super, and, what, I'm, really interested in the the, veterans.
Program What's that about okay it's a very, similar program it's the Montana, disabled, veterans, program er MBV for short. It's. Geared specifically, towards. Veterans but. It works in the same way if you, own the property you, occupy, their property. For seven months of the years your primary residence and you've. Been, rated a hundred, percent disabled. Or are, paid, at the 100 percent disabled, rate from, the Department. Of Veterans Affairs, you, could potentially qualify for this program again if you fall within the income guidelines, now. I, have. Looked into that for, my own husband, and they told me I had to get a letter so, that just means a letter, about the disability, correct, correct you just need to get a letter from the the, VA showing. That you're rated, at the hundred percent disabled, or paid at the hundred percent rate rate and again. A really, awesome thing is you, do it once because, it used to have to do it every year correct, it used to be an annual application but in, the 2015, legislative, session that got changed so once you apply you're, in the system in each year we'll verify to see if you still meet the income requirements and. If you do you, remain in the program without. Having to do anything else that that's really wonderful and, you. Know folks as I said I have, looked into the the veterans program. For. My own personal, reasons and it's, real easy just, call out to one of your service officers, and they can get you that letter or you may have the letter in your files so, we have a whole, lot more to talk about and these are awesome programs. That, you really want to know about and. Check out and see if, you might be eligible so, don't go anywhere stay with us. Suddenly. I couldn't speak I know, something, is wrong I called 911 immediately. Well. I'm didn't hurt it just stopped working, I knew the signs of a stroke I called 911. Signs. And if they happen to you or anyone with you call 911. Within. 3 hours from the start of symptoms can make a difference, stroke, is a major cause of disability it is also highly, preventable learn, the signs and act immediately, for more information, call 1 888, 4, stroke. You. Mean I can get help paying my prescription, drug premiums, let, me get this straight I could, be eligible for help with my family's prescription, premiums, even though I own my own home and our. Assets won't be counted if you're a montana resident, enrolled in the Medicare prescription, drug program you, could be eligible for help paying your premiums, call, or visit the big sky rx website today to find out even if you think your over income well, what. Do you know about that, I'm eligible. All. Right I'm talking with Duncan Adams from the attorney general's office Duncan, something. That's happening, during this crisis, this foreclosure, crisis, is that there's scams out there hard. To believe that people would take advantage of someone that's already, down but it happens a lot doesn't it it does happen a lot and they're, pretty blatant about it there are actual I've heard advertisements, on TV and on the. Radio for people that are scam, organizations. You, really need to be suspicious when you find stuff in on the Internet. You know what make be really suspicious if you find somebody. Who's willing to help you for money upfront that's, usually a big red flag, we're. Able to help all, the aspects of our program and we're free right so, essentially, they're saying hey we'll take this load off your shoulders we'll, fill out the paperwork we'll be able to negotiate and, they'll be really easy to get ahold of it first and then they'll just disappear boy it'd be suspicious of that and remember this is a free service keep.
By Montana home calm. Hi. Everyone welcome back to aging horizons, and. Brace, we're gonna we're gonna go straight back to you we've been talking, about Pete app which is the property tax assistance, program. And then also. The Montana, disabled, veterans, or the MDV programs. Now with. That. You. Were, saying off camera, about the surviving. Spouse is why is that important. That's, important, because a, surviving, spouse if, the qualifying, veteran, that was rated 100 percent disabled, are paid at that 100 percent rate. Has. Passed away unfortunately, the surviving, spouse is still a little and. Can still qualify for the MDV. Program, great and, how, do they how, do they get applications, for this program and ones. That do um the application, deadline is April 15th, so try, to make you see. Things. April 15, oh that's easy to remember and then, you. Can just call our call, center that. 406. 440, 460 900. Number. And ask for them to mail you an application and. They will put that application in the mail to you super. That, that's, really wonderful and frankly, it, you know veterans. Really. Deserve that benefit, and they should look into it if they haven't already, yeah you. Know personally. Again as I said I'm so happy that you can get to do it once now and not have to worry about it again. So. That's a wonderful change to that particular. Program. No, David, let's go back to you because we were talking off-camera a, little bit about. You. Know these programs. You. Know can, a person apply for more than one, yes. Absolutely, actually you can you can apply, for Pete, a program, and the, elderly. Home owner or renter credit. They. Can do both but. We, understand, also that it can be real confusing, there's a lot of paperwork, the first year probably and and whether or not people qualify, and highly qualified what's the benefit so if, they if, they, require, they request, they, require assistance they can call our call center and know Kosan or a call center will, help them identify, the. Benefits and how to apply for them you, know, together. So, that you don't have to have some, special tax, attorney, helping, you with this necessarily. Because. You know let's face it at that point in your life a lot of times your, your. Taxes, are not very. Difficult. And, so, you probably, don't need someone, to, be doing them for you, and you might be able to just get enough guidance calling, your your, call center to write, four, six four four four sixty nine hundred great I just, think that's really, really wonderful, and. You. Know what. About. Bryce. Let's go back to you how do, these programs differ. I mean we can tell that there's one that's a veteran sure, right that, it that is the main difference between the, two is they, both have, three. Requirements, with, the MDV program, having the fourth which is the hundred percent rated, or paid at. The other three requirements are, you. Have to own the property you. Have to occupy it as your primary residence for, at least seven months of the year you wish to qualify, and then you have to meet the income guidelines and. The. Income guidelines are, a little different between the two programs and the benefit, level so again for Pete app you, could potentially qualify for an 80 50, or 30%, reduction and, for, the Montana disabled, veterans you can qualify, for either a hundred, percent eighty, percent seventy percent or 50 percent reduction depending. On where your income. And. We. Want to remember. That, the. Elderly, homeowner. Credit, you. Can actually file, five, years back correct. Now, that doesn't exist what the programs you were talking okay. It only becomes effective, that first year you apply and then going forward like, we've mentioned you no longer have to apply will automatically. Run you through an income verification. Each year and send you a decision, letter letting you know if you've qualified and if you do qualify at what reduction. Percentage, and let's just repeat, about the surviving, spouse because that's so important, again yeah a surviving. Spouse of, your. Husband. Or whatever the case was was rated, at that 100 percent rate or paid at that hundred percent rate or else also, if they were killed while on active duty or died as the, result of a service-connected, disability. That, surviving, spouse is still eligible to, receive, this benefit, if they meet the other qualifications. As long as they remain unmarried and. For. Documentation. They. Can, the. The veterans anyway they can check with their service officer, or, they, may have that paperwork, in, their, paper all we need is the, letter from the VA showing. That you've, been rated a hundred, percent or eight or you're getting paid at the hundred percent right and then it's, just a pretty simple one-page application, and.
As. Long as you're filing a Montana state tax return you don't have to provide any other documentation. Will automatically. Be able to verify you meet, the income requirements super. So. David, I guess. Let's let's. Just talk, one more time but why is this so important. Why should people do this well. They, should do this because they can qualify to get. A refundable. Credit, up to $1,000. So it's, a credit that not, only, can. Offset part of your, state. Taxes, but you you, can get the. Money back you, can get an actual check exactly, that could help pay. For, anything. You wanted, to pay for correctly. And. You. Know with, the call center, you. Know what I'm hearing is it's not all that difficult. You. Just get some guidance if you need it correct, and, just when one last thing in. The past we. Used to send letters to people. Who qualified, previously. We are not going to do that anymore this year so. People. Shouldn't be surprised that they are not going to receive this letter but. Again, because. They. We don't print the. Returns. No the booklet but, if they need a paper, form. They can call the call center and we'll send it easy-peasy. Sounds, like well, you guys have been great, thank, you so much for coming and talking about these programs because, yeah. They are very very, important, and folks, you could get some cash back in your pocket who doesn't like that. Taxes. Don't have to be scary you can get some help for, aging horizons, I'm kami averman. Special. Thanks to the Department of Public Health and Human Services for their continued, support, posts. On Aging horizons, our program specialists. At the Montana office on Aging, production. Facilities, provided, by video. Express productions. For. More information, about Aging horizons, call the Department, of Public Health and Human Services toll-free, at.
2018-02-04 16:28
