Welcome to this Special Edition of the ACS Newsletter!

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo is transmitting the following information through the Embassy's warden system as a public service to all U.S. citizens in Japan. Please pass this message to U.S. citizens in your organization or to other Americans you know.

See us in Z Notes

The American Citizen Services section of the U.S. Embassy was recently featured in "Z Notes," the official blog of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. 

To assist taxpayers in getting answers to their tax questions, a representative from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service will visit the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to conduct 15-minute consultations with American Citizen or Legal Permanent Resident taxpayers. These consultations are free and by appointment only. To make an appointment, please send an e-mail to tokyoacs@state.gov.

In the subject line of the e-mail, please write: Tax Consultation Appointment Request. In the message, please indicate which day – April 6 or 7 – and when – morning or afternoon. We will reply as soon as possible by e-mail with your appointment time. Appointments will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. As of March 15, there were more than 20 slots still available. (Note: If you have already received confirmation of your appointment, you do not need to request an appointment again.)

In addition to the consultations, an IRS representative is offering the opportunity to attend a 45-minute presentation regarding taxes starting at 5:30 p.m. on April 6 in the U.S. Embassy. If you would like to attend, please send an e-mail to the address above. This presentation is for anyone with a U.S. tax liability who is interested. You will receive confirmation of your seat via e-mail.

The most comprehensive resource for taxes on the Web is the Internal Revenue Service website: http://www.irs.gov/. There is a page on that site that is specifically designed for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad. Please click here for that information.

Tax forms can be obtained online here.

Please note that the IRS has just released the latest comprehensive guide for your 2009 taxes called Publication 17. You can read all about it and download it here.

Also useful is Publication 4732, which contains specific tax information for Americans living abroad and can be downloaded here (PDF - 1.3MB).

For more information on U.S. taxes, please consult the list of websites and telephone numbers below to help find the forms and answers you need:

• Tax guidance for persons in the military
• Electronic payment website
• Refund information

Phone Services:

Please note: "1-800 numbers" are generally for use only within the U.S. but can be called using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) services such as Vonage, Lingo or Skype. If you do not have access to one of these services, some direct-dial phone numbers are listed below.

 
State tax returns:
For individual state income tax information, visit http://www.taxadmin.org/. The Embassy does not provide any state tax forms or state tax information.

Still looking for more tax information? The Tokyo Embassy website maintains a section that provides additional links to even more tax information, such as a list of tax preparers in the Tokyo area. Click here for more information.

The deadline to file both your federal and state tax returns is April 15. If you live overseas, you qualify for an automatic extension to file. If you owe tax, any tax due is still due by April 15. You will be assessed interest and penalties if you owe tax but do not pay by the April 15 deadline, but you can delay filing by two months.

For our military members, your base likely has a volunteer tax center where you can seek assistance in preparing your tax returns. Please call your base to confirm the accuracy of this information:

Yokosuka Naval Base Volunteer Tax Center
Location: Second floor of Building 39A
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Phone: 243-6465 or 243-6905

Yokota Air Base Tax Center
Location: Building 315
Hours: By appointment only.
Phone: 225-4926 or 225-4927

Misawa Air Base Tax Center
Location: Starting Feb. 11, Building 514
Walk-in hours: Fridays from 8:30 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Appointments: Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Tuesdays from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Phone: 226-3948 or 226-2513

Camp Zama Tax Center
Location: CS 109 in Building 101
Hours: Weekdays from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Walk-ins are welcome; however appointments are strongly recommended
Phone: 263-8268

Naval Air Facility Atsugi Tax Center
Location: Building 949, next to the Fleet and Family Support Center in the old training office.
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Phone: 264-4016.