FederalDaily - April 13, 2005
Free Tax Help for Servicemembers
There is free help for servicemembers filling out their tax forms. The IRS’ Volunteer
Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, with offices at military installations
worldwide, provides tax advice, tax preparation and other assistance to servicemembers
and their families. Tax advisers are trained to address military-specific tax
issues, such as combat-zone tax benefits and the impact of new earned-income
tax credit rules. Some VITA stations are onboard ships. They could have two
or three computers and be staffed by military personnel—either a volunteer
or an on-duty sailor. There, sailors can sit down and do their taxes on computer.
During one tax-filing season, according to an IRS official, amphibious assault
ship USS Tarawa e-filed more than 300 returns from the middle of the Persian
Gulf. All told, VITA sites processed almost 400,000 electronic 2003 federal
income tax returns.
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USPS Anthrax Detection Efforts Improved
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is continuing to improve its processes to protect
employees and customers from biohazards—such as anthrax—in the
mail, according to an agency official. The agency has installed advanced biohazard
detection systems at 107 facilities, and plans to install them at 282 mail-processing
plants. Last week, USPS Vice President of Engineering Thomas G. Day testified
before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Nation Security, Emerging
Threats and International Relations. He said, to date, the Biohazard Detection
System has performed more than 550,000 tests involving more than 12 billion
pieces of mail. There have been no false positives. Day said USPS is also installing
a ventilation and filtration system to contain the release of biohazards as
mail moves through processing equipment.
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Defense Addresses Stress in Combat Zones
Everyone in a combat zone experiences some degree of stress, Army Maj. Dara
Josiah-Howze, a psychiatrist with the 55th Medical Company (Combat Stress Control)
in Baghdad said. When the Iraq operation began two years ago, the biggest source
of stress was the combat operations, she said. Now it is the more elusive threats,
such as improvised explosive devices and suicide bombers. Symptoms range from
eating and sleeping disorders to irritability or anxiousness. Some people startle
easily; others demonstrate low energy levels or wake up with nightmares. Others
have trouble maintaining focus or following through on a project or just feel
generally down, she said. The treatment offered is relatively simple: sleep,
rest and workshops—all as close to the unit as possible (instead of being
sent back home). Combat stress control teams are assigned throughout Iraq and
behavioral health teams are embedded in units in Iraq as well as Afghanistan.
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MSPB Employees Honored for CFC Contributions
Employees in the National Capital Area offices of the Merit Systems Protection
Board (MSPB) were honored last month with the President's Award for their participation
in the 2004 Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). The award recognized the efforts
of the 133 employees in the MSPB's Washington, D.C., headquarters and the Washington
Regional Office, located in Alexandria, Virginia. The MSPB employees qualified
for the President's Award with a per capital gift of $370 and exceeded their
contribution goal of $34,000, contributing a total of $49,263. MSPB employees
also qualified for the Summit Award, achieving an 8 percent increase in giving
over the previous year's results.
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