The Iowa Department of Revenue won’t be mailing out income tax forms and instruction books to taxpayers this year. Department spokesperson, Kay Arvidson, says it’s a move that many states and the I-R-S have already made. Arvidson says you can still call or e-mail the department if you want the paper forms. She says they wanted to be sure that people can still have access to the information, they are just not mailing them to homes any more. Iowa is one of the leading states for electronic tax filing and Arvidson says fewer people actually need to have the paper forms.

Arvidson says they have cut back on the number of paper books over the last several years and she says they are like the rest of state goverment and watching every dollar that is spent. She says they can save over 50-thousand dollars by only sending the documents to the people that want them rather and mailing them to everyone’s home. Libraries have been one of the main places people could pick up the tax forms but that is changing too.

Arvidson says they’ve provided information to the libraries on how to direct people to their website for the forms, but she says the paper forms will no longer be given to the libraries to be handed out to the public. Arvidson says it is part of the evolving use of on-line tax filing. Arvidson says it’s a big change, but an important change for efficiency as people move into the electronic realm. She says they don’t want to leave anyone out, so the paper forms will still be available.

If you still want paper tax forms you can get them online at: www.iowa.gov/tax. You can call the state forms order line at 1-800-532-1531 or request a form by e-mail at: IowaTaxForms@Iowa.gov. You can also request forms via mail from the department of stop by their office on the 4th floor of the Hoover State Office Building at 1305 East Walnut street in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa)